ILCs and the Growing Risk to Consumers and Safety and Soundness in Banking

Dafina Stewart is Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel at the Bank Policy Institute. Ms. Stewart serves on BPI’s legal and regulatory affairs team, where she assists in the development of bank regulatory policy, strategy and advocacy. Prior to joining BPI, Ms. Stewart was a Senior Counsel in the Legal Division of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the Banking Regulation and Policy Group. While at the Board, Ms. Stewart advised the General Counsel and Federal Reserve Board staff on a variety of banking applications, supervisory, and regulatory matters, which included: evaluating complex proposals by domestic and foreign banking organizations to engage in mergers & acquisitions and banking and non-banking activities; implementing and interpreting liquidity regulations applicable to domestic and foreign banking organizations; and participating in examinations of banking institutions’ liquidity positions, risk management practices, and stress testing. Prior to joining the Board, Ms. Stewart was an associate in the Financial Institutions Regulation and Enforcement practice group at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. She received her J.D. from Columbia University Law School and holds a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Rebecca Borné serves as senior policy counsel at the Center for Responsible Lending, which she joined in 2008.

Rebecca advocates for federal protections against predatory practices that exploit the financially vulnerable, particularly in the areas of payday loans, high-cost installment loans, and depository overdraft practices. Rebecca engages with federal regulators and legislative offices, authoring comment letters to inform policy proposals, providing input on draft legislation, and occasionally testifying before Congress. She has authored a number of research and policy reports and has served as a contributing author for the National Consumer Law Center’s Consumer Banking and Payments Law manual. She also serves on the board of Capital for Change, a Connecticut-based CDFI.

Rebecca received degrees from Louisiana State University and Yale Law School. Prior to law school, she worked for six years as a CPA, auditing a range of companies for a global accounting firm. Rebecca worked in CRL’s DC office before relocating to New Haven, CT, where she now resides.

Chris Cole is executive vice president and senior regulatory counsel for the Independent Community Bankers of America® (ICBA). He focuses on a broad portfolio of issues including deposit insurance, regulatory restructuring, safety and soundness, corporate governance, accounting and taxes, credit unions, and capital requirements. Cole has also served as ICBA’s staff liaison for the association’s Regulatory Review Committee, Mutual Bank Council, and Large Community Bank Council.

Before joining ICBA, Cole was vice president and assistant general counsel for First Virginia Banks Inc., which merged with BB&T. Prior to that, he served as counsel for the Marriott Corp. and as a tax attorney for the Department of Treasury.

Cole has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, American Banker and CBS Market Watch, and he has appeared on the PBS Nightly Business Report and Bloomberg Television.  Cole received a BA with honors in history from University of Virginia, a JD also from the University of Virginia, and an LLM in Taxation from Georgetown University.