Frank A. Mayer, III
Frank A. Mayer, III, is a partner in the Financial Services Practice Group of Pepper Hamilton LLP, resident in the Philadelphia office. Mr. Mayer focuses his practice on counseling regulated business enterprises including tax-exempt organizations, with a special emphasis on financial institutions.
Mr. Mayer is well-versed in the areas of bank regulations, international banking, bank insolvency, receiverships and related business disputes, public finance and corporate finance. His clients represent an array of industries, including financial institutions, health care, real estate, telecommunications, sports, utilities and energy.
Mr. Mayer’s representative engagements include:
Financial Services
- representing money center financial institutions and super regional banks and financial institutions in connection with:
- counseling regulatory: regulatory applications; Reg Y, Section 23A and 23B; Reg DD, Truth in Savings Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act; de novo, trust powers, financial holding companies, banking holding companies, Bank Secrecy Act, anti-money laundering, cash management, depository products, escheat, OCC, FDIC, federal reserve issues including enforcement and supervision; merger and acquisition, audit committee and governance issues; distressed debt and ORE issues; UCC Article 3 and Article 4 controversies
- international: trade finance, global supply chain finance, structured finance and letter of credit controversies
- public and government finance: credit enhancement, direct pay letters of credit, deposit insurance and credit insurance products; representing financial institutions in connection with transactions, for example, with the Delaware River Port Authority, Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Archdiocese
- serving as lead counsel to the receiver for the largest pre-Madoff SEC receivership in connection with a $4 billion Ponzi scheme with more than 100 financial institution victims, which has returned to date in excess of 90 percent of approved claims
- conceiving and developing the theories of the case resulting in the federal jury handing up a verdict in excess of $32 million against a broker dealer and other financial institutions, finding them complicit and conspirators in a Ponzi scheme which damaged more than 100 financial institution victims.
Public Policy and Public Private Partnerships
- representing Thomas Jefferson University in connection with its sale of Thomas Eakin’s painting “The Gross Clinic” for $68 million and developing the strategy to defeat the City of Philadelphia’s attempt to designate the work as an historic object
- acting as counsel to United States Senator Arlen Specter and Governor Edward G. Rendell in connection with regional health system issues
- acting as lead counsel to Microsoft, Inc. in connection with the Philadelphia School District flagship project “School of the Future”
- being instrumental in the formation of the Delaware River City Corporation designated as the lead redeveloper of the North Delaware River front
- serving as chief counsel to the transition team for City of Philadelphia Controller Alan Butkovitz
- acting as counsel to employees of the City of Philadelphia in connection with an investigation by the government
- successfully representing Doylestown Borough (PA) in achieving its goal of maintaining the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, court house in the center of the Doylestown Borough business district
- acting as special counsel to the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation in connection with the more than $1 billion Philadelphia Eagles football stadium and the Philadelphia Phillies baseball park
- while serving as its corporate chair, represented the City of Philadelphia in connection with the designation of the Tiffany masterpiece “Dream Garden” as an historic object in connection with an estate sale. Also defeated the attempted move of the piece to a Las Vegas casino, which resulted in maintaining the installation in its original Philadelphia location.
Mr. Mayer began his career in private practice, and later was a partner with several Philadelphia law firms. In 1991, he joined the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), where he was a senior attorney and acted as senior counsel for the Resolution Trust Corporation (RTC). His FDIC and RTC assignments included acting as a bank closing attorney, as general counsel to bank conservatorships and receiverships, the litigation of complex multi-state financial institution-related civil actions, and service on the National Bank Fraud Working Group. After six years with the FDIC, he then became a consultant with the AXA Group, counseling the company on federal and state legislation of interest to financial institutions, insurance companies and investment banking firms.
Mr. Mayer joined then-Philadelphia Mayor Edward G. Rendell’s staff and was corporate chair of the Philadelphia Law Department, where he supervised 20 deputies and a team of 225 attorneys and staff in the Commercial, Health and Human Services, Tax and Regulatory Affairs Units. Mr. Mayer then served on Mayor Rendell's gubernatorial campaign as co-chair of its Tax Policy Committee and as a member of its Finance Committee. Mr. Mayer also counsels business enterprises with respect to their relationships with federal, state and local government. He chaired Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter's transition team for the Office of the Finance Director, and helped lead the transition team with respect to Philadelphia’s Law Department.
Mr. Mayer serves on the Philadelphia Revenue Commissioner’s advisory board, as well as the boards of the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia, the Delaware River City Corporation and Lorman Education Services, for which he participates in the approval of the granting of the Certificate of Banking Compliance.
Mr. Mayer is a frequent author and speaker. His recent articles and engagements include:
- “FDIC Deposit Insurance,” Journal of Bankruptcy Law and Practice (March 11, 2009)
- “Ponzi Scheme Receiverships and Victim Remedies” The Legal Intelligencer (March 2, 2009)
- “Current Lending Problems and Trends: Are You Ready for the FDIC Exam?” Lorman Education Services Teleconference (December 17, 2008)
- “FDIC’s Role When a Financial Institution Fails: What Businesses and Bankers Need to Know,” Lorman Education Services Teleconference (November 14, 2008)
- “Facing Regulators at Home and Abroad,” Martindale-Hubbell Counsel to Counsel Forum, Philadelphia, PA (May 7, 2008)
- “Tax and Liability: Business and Corporate Reasons for Particular Entity Selection,” Lorman Education Services Seminar, Philadelphia, PA (April 24, 2008)
- “Commercial Real Estate Financing,” Lorman Education Services Seminar, Philadelphia, PA (March 28, 2008)
- “Anatomy of a Stadium Deal,” speaker, Philadelphia Real Estate Club (March 20, 2008)
- “Risk Guidance on Commercial Real Estate Concentrations,” Lorman Education Services Teleconference (February 2008)
- “Stadium Financing: Where We Are, How We Got Here and Where We Are Going,” Vol. 12, Villanova Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, Issue 2 (2005).
Mr. Mayer is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and before the United States Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Tax Court.
Education
B.B.A. 1974, with honors, Temple University
J.D. 1977 Duquesne University School of Law
LL.M. 1985 Villanova University School of Law
Bar Admissions
Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania
