I’ve been fortunate to hold many legal and compliance positions within banks and FinTechs, so my experience gives me a unique perspective into my clients’ worlds. Whether it’s applying old laws to innovative financial products at a FinTech startup, or building and operating a bank’s compliance program from the ground up, I understand the legal issues financial institutions face and I appreciate the practical difficulty of implementing their goals. I’ve always prided myself on my ability to help my business line, now my clients, successfully marry legal requirements with business objectives. With my FinTech clients specifically, I help clients think outside the box to view the regulations not as a stop sign, but as guideposts to reach their desired destination.

Aaron Kouhoupt offers a unique perspective shaped by more than 15 years’ experience as both in-house and outside counsel to banks, FinTechs, and other financial institutions of various sizes and formats. Aaron applies his extensive grasp of financial services regulation for clients ranging from marketplace lenders and other FinTech companies to community, regional, and national banks, automotive and personal property finance companies to small loan companies, mortgage lenders and servicers, and companies engaged in merchant cash advance and factoring.

Having served as Head of Legal at an alternative banking and digital payments company and in-house at a peer-to-peer lending and alternative investing company, Aaron is used to working with laws that might not yet be in sync with innovative financial products. He has also worked with a European company to launch a U.S. consumer finance product.

Aaron counsels clients on regulatory compliance matters including consumer loan documentation, e-commerce, underwriting, and advertising. Aaron also routinely advises clients on “traditional banking” issues including those arising under the BSA, FDCPA, and FCRA, as well as matters involving privacy, bankruptcy, and enterprise-wide risk management.

A testament to his broad and varied experience, Aaron has published extensively and presented continuing legal education on the topics of TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure, State Banking Regulation and Legalized Marijuana, the Military Lending Act, and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. He has experience as an Adjunct Professor teaching Business Law, Constitutional Law, and American Government at the University of Maine at Presque Isle.