It is with a very heavy heart that I write to report that our longtime friend and retired Partner, Walt Moeling, passed away peacefully on Monday night. Walt was at home and surrounded by family, including his wife Nell who has become a friend to many throughout the firm. Nell was Walt’s lifelong best friend and true companion, and is almost as well-known as Walt within the banking community in the Southeast for always being by his side and helping to grow his practice. Walt was important to our group, to the firm and to every person whose path he

As Jonathan and I mentioned on our podcast on succession planning a few weeks ago, our patriarch and founding father, Walt Moeling, formally retired at the end of 2016.  However, his knowledge and influence continue to permeate almost everything we do (and he still has the same office down the hall).  One of the ways that

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Walt Moeling joined us on March 29th for the latest episode of The Bank Account with a lively discussion of bank sales tactics.  In this regulatory environment, banks need to balance growth goals with expectations for scrutiny of their sales tactics.  Regulators, investors, the press and consumers are all paying more attention to bank sales tactics.

While none of us hopes to be asked whether we “want fries with that?” as we conduct business with a

The February/March 2017 edition of Banking Exchange contains a lengthy interview between Bank Exchange’s Executive Editor, Steve Cocheo, and our own Walt Moeling.  Framed in the context of seven questions asked of Walt, the interview does a great job illustrating Walt’s use of stories to prove a point.

Talking to banking attorney Walter Moeling about an

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Jonathan and I were joined by the godfather of banking law, our Senior Partner, Walt Moeling for Episode 7 of The Bank Account.

Enjoy Walt’s thoughts on where the banking industry is headed in 2017, what he sees as the biggest concerns today, what one regulatory change he would make if given carte blanche power to improve the system, and a prediction on the number of community banks in the future.

For nearly 50 years, Moeling has been

Atlanta Senior Counsel Walter Moeling has been selected as a Lifetime Achievement Award recipient by The Fulton County Daily Report. Moeling received the honor for his considerable contributions to the legal profession in Georgia.

For nearly 50 years, Moeling has been with Bryan Cave and its predecessor firm in Atlanta, Powell Goldstein. Moeling has counseled financial institutions on corporate governance matters, operational and regulatory issues, capital and acquisition strategies, board disputes and dissident shareholders, as well as other strategic decisions.

He has been recognized by Who’s Who in America. He has been ranked since 1998 in Best Lawyers, including

Jim McAlpin and Walt Moeling recently sat down with the American Bankers Association to address bank board practices, which formed the basis for an article in the ABA’s Directors and Trustees Digest for March 2015.

Some of the best practice recommendations were:

• fostering a meaningful agenda;
• making the committees work is the foundation of the board’s oversight role;
• use directors in the examination process; and
• make use of special-purpose board meetings.

The complete article is available here.

With attorneys and staff worldwide, Bryan Cave attorneys are often quoted in the news.  Recent mentions of Financial Institutions group attorneys include:

Jerry Blanchard in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Atlanta Partner Jerry Blanchard was quoted July 18 by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on reasons behind the shrinking number of banks in Georgia. The state, which led the nation in bank failures stemming from the real estate bust, has seen an increase in the number of banks being bought up at a rate of about one a month as healthy banks grow through the acquisition of other healthy banks. Blanchard said the question on

With attorneys and staff worldwide, Bryan Cave attorneys are often quoted in the news.  Recent mentions of Financial Institutions group attorneys include:

Walt Moeling in American Banker

Walt Moeling was quoted May 8 by American Banker concerning an uptick in interest from outside investors in the Florida banking industry.  A number of banks in the Midwest and elsewhere poured money and resources into Florida a decade ago, only to absorb large losses when the housing market collapsed.  “That was an interesting phenomenon,” Moeling said.  “The theory is that Florida has good deposits and is a good growth market . . . But those

Walt Moeling recently sat down with Donna Fay, the Director of Examinations for the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, to discuss the future of community banking in connection with the Federal Reserve’s 2014 Banking Outlook Conference.

As noted by the disclaimer at the beginning of the video, Walt’s views unfortunately don’t necessarily represent the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. However, we can be hopeful that the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta continues to be open to our point of view.