Margaret E. Tahyar

Ms. Tahyar is a partner in Davis Polk’s Financial Institutions Group. [Full Bio]

Firm/Organization: Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Blogs: Briefing: Governance, Cyber Blog, FinReg

Latest Articles

In the decade leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, de novo bank charters averaged more than 100 per year.[1] This robust flow of new bank charters continued a trend since the 1960s and before.[2] It partially offset a decline in the number of banks in the United States that resulted mainly from the consolidation of the U.S. banking industry. In contrast, only 11 new bank charters have been approved since the 2008…
The move away from a one-size-fits-all regulatory framework based on asset size continues. On October 31, the Federal Reserve proposed a rule to implement Section 401 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act, tailoring enhanced prudential standards for firms with $100 billion or more in total consolidated assets, and the three U.S. banking agencies proposed corresponding tailoring of their Basel III capital and liquidity rules. Overall, the proposals would: for U.S. GSIBs,…
Davis Polk has submitted a comment letter on the FDIC’s Request for Information on FDIC Communication and Transparency.   Our comment letter concentrates on ways in which we believe that the FDIC could improve its website, with a particular focus on how the FDIC’s efforts could educate users and ameliorate confusion by: Providing background materials regarding the legal framework of the regulatory state Reorganizing and clearly labeling its content consistent with the hierarchy of the…
The future of resolution planning for U.S. global systemically important banking organizations (G-SIBs) has started to come into focus.  The FDIC and the Federal Reserve have recently laid out an ambitious agenda designed to put in place Resolution Planning 2.0.  This slide sets forth our collection of the publicly known elements of that agenda, as drawn from speeches, testimony and the cadence of agency review of resolution plans. The most recent of these speeches is…
A recent SEC Order should be a reminder to registered entities, including small- and medium-sized firms, that the SEC is monitoring the reasonableness of their cybersecurity policies and procedures, and that it may take action in the event of a breach, even in the absence of economic harm. The SEC’s $1 million settlement with broker-dealer and registered investment adviser Voya Financial Advisors Inc. followed the theft of personally identifiable information of thousands of Voya’s customers. …
It is no secret that the United States lags behind other countries in the development of a national real-time payments infrastructure.[1]  There are, of course, explanations for this lag, including widespread participation in the existing infrastructure rails and the existence of many different stakeholder interests limiting consensus over reforms.  So far, the Federal Reserve has been cautious, using its powers of moral suasion and its intellectual firepower to bring together stakeholders to start…
FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams has announced a “Trust through Transparency” initiative that is remarkable and well worth a read.  In our view, there are three main takeaways.  One is the importance of transparency to public trust in a Democracy, the second is how important it is that the government be accountable to the governed, which in the banking sector translates as consistency in the supervisory environment, and the third is a rethinking of what should…
This blog post lays out the pros and cons that boards and senior management of regional and community banking organizations should consider in light of the Zions decision to shed its bank holding company.[1]  Some have suggested that directors of BHCs now have a fiduciary duty to consider shedding their holding company structure.  This is too strong a recommendation in our view.  There are many pros and cons to eliminating a BHC, and whether doing…
Guidance is guidance, and rules are rules.  This straightforward statement was reiterated by Treasury Secretary Mnuchin, Federal Reserve Vice Chairman for Supervision Randal Quarles and Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting in separate Congressional hearings earlier this year.[1]  Nevertheless, for at least the past ten years, the failure to be in compliance with some guidance has often been treated as binding on banking organizations.  It has often been used as the basis for…
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The FTC is expanding its enforcement efforts for fintech, particularly in the areas of online and small-business lending, payments, and cryptocurrencies.  At a recent event in Washington, D.C., the FTC’s Director of Consumer Protection, Andrew Smith, stated, “Commissioners are really interested in [fintech].  Finance will be a steady part of our diet, and in particular fintech, ’cause that’s where the new entrants to the marketplace are and that’s where the action is.” Because the FTC…