Janet Hale

Janet Hale, co-lead of the Consumer Financial Services practice group, has extensive experience in the implementation of effective risk management structures, compliance with consumer laws and regulations, as well as remediation of regulatory enforcement.

Ms. Hale is experienced in governing high-priority consumer finance regulatory engagements, including large-scale consent order remediation efforts reportable to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”). These engagements included Servicemember Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”), Electronic Funds Transfer Act (“EFTA”) and Unfair, Deceptive, or Abusive Acts or Practices (“UDAAP”) remediation, as well as Fair Lending. She advises on effective compliance management systems and consults on regulatory internal control processes. Her clients include financial institutions of all sizes, with a specialty in banking-as-a-service providers and fintechs, particularly regarding third-party risk management oversight, testing and remediation. Ms. Hale’s subject matter expertise includes consumer deposit and loan product laws and regulations, including mortgage origination and servicing, fair lending and the Flood Disaster Protection Act (“FDPA”).

Ms. Hale oversees fair lending analytics, including regression analysis and comparative file review. In addition, Ms. Hale has extensive compliance and operational experience in enterprise risk management, regulatory exam supervision, regulatory change execution and complaint review and trending analysis. She also headed efforts ensuring compliant banking platform software for an international financial technology firm.

Prior to consulting, Ms. Hale held executive risk leadership positions with KeyBank, including as vice president, compliance and operational risk manager, as well as senior compliance and Community Reinvestment Act (“CRA”) manager. At KeyBank, she instituted the bank’s governance risk and compliance (“GRC”) program and directed the compliance functions supporting consumer lending, credit cards, mortgage origination and servicing, collections, deposits, product development and marketing. She was also a member of KeyBank’s Compliance Risk Committee and Fair Lending Committee and chaired the corporation’s Flood Governance Committee. Ms. Hale began her more than 25-year career as an Examiner with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”), participating in safety and soundness as well as compliance examinations.

Ms. Hale has been a speaker on several regulatory topics, including third-party risk management, FDPA, UDAAP, risk assessment processes and regulatory examination preparation practices. Ms. Hale holds an M.B.A. from John Carroll University and a B.S. in Business Administration (Finance) from Miami University. She is also designated by the American Bankers Association as a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (“CRCM”) and Certified Enterprise Risk Professional (“CERP”). Additionally, Ms. Hale was previously recognized by the Institute of Management Accountants as a Certified Management Accountant (“CMA”).