Noah N. Gillespie is a thought leader who helps financial institutions, payment processors, money services businesses, and fintech companies bring innovative consumer financial products and services to market. He advises clients on federal and state consumer compliance, licensing, and regulatory requirements across the banking, payments, and digital finance sectors. He provides practical, focused advice that translates complex statutory and regulatory requirements into actionable operational direction.
Noah draws on his experience defending financial companies, cryptocurrency and blockchain platforms, and other regulated entities through high-profile government investigations, criminal prosecutions, regulatory enforcement, and supervision. In particular, Noah brings insight from guiding the rulemaking, supervision, and enforcement activity at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as an in-house attorney for the agency, where he addressed challenging, cutting-edge legal issues alongside the agency’s General Counsel. Noah is also well-versed in the Administrative Procedure Act and its impact on the validity of agency action, and he has a detailed understanding of the 20+ federal consumer financial laws.
Noah counsels clients on compliance with consumer protection and privacy laws, with particular experience in the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, Truth in Lending Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, and Fair Credit Reporting Act. He assists with state licensure and regulatory approvals for money services businesses, including multistate change in control applications. He has frequently addressed novel legal issues for emerging industries including integrating cryptocurrency into the financial ecosystem, keeping pace with evolving cybersecurity standards, and guiding the design of innovative digital payment products. He also has substantial experience navigating federal and state unfair, deceptive, and abusive acts and practices claims, to help clients’ products and services stand the test of time and delight customers.
Concentrations
• Trusted product counsel with a business mindset focused on practical, operational, actionable recommendations to bring new products to market, ease compliance burdens, and support customer satisfaction.
• Experience with licensing and regulatory requirements in the consumer finance space.
• Forward-thinking privacy and artificial intelligence attorney to craft informed, resilient, and nimble uses of data to generate powerful insights.
Experience
Representative Matters
• Quickly overturned a directive that would have put a custodian in charge of a state-chartered bank, returning control to the board.°
• Convinced Securities and Exchange Commission staff that the asserted regulatory violations they pursued in a long-ranging enforcement action did not apply to the client, demonstrating that the client was not liable for the conduct at issue.°
• Negotiated among numerous stakeholders to secure finality and resolve a $6 million exposure for less than $150,000.°
• Designed structure for new venture that resolved an emerging dispute before it impacted the business.°
°The above representations were handled by Mr. Gillespie prior to his joining Greenberg Traurig, LLP.
Government Experience
• Senior Counsel, Office of Law & Policy, Legal Division, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 2024-2025
Recognition & Leadership
Professional & Community Involvement
• Judge, National Immigration Law Moot Court Competition, NYU Law School, 2019-2023
• Member, University of Texas McDonald Observatory Board of Visitors, 2020-Present
