Joseph (Jay) E. Spruill III

Jay is a member of Woods Rogers Vandeventer Black’s (WRVB) Financial Services group. He provides strategic counsel to depository institutions, finance companies, and other financial institutions so that they can navigate their way to success. In an ever-challenging regulatory environment, Jay provides each client with insightful advice that leads to practical solutions.

Over his thirty-year legal career, Jay has gained a deep understanding of the business operations of his clients. His legal expertise extends across the spectrum of state and federal laws and regulations affecting the loan, deposit, trust, and payment products and services his clients offer. His expertise includes state and federal banking agency regulations; the alphabet soup of federal consumer financial protection regulations (Truth-in-Lending, Electronic Fund Transfers, Equal Credit Opportunity, Privacy and Cybersecurity, Real Estate Settlement Procedures, Fair Credit Reporting, and more); e-commerce regulations; Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering regulations; state licensing and related requirements for non-depository lenders and money transmitters; and the Uniform Commercial Code.

Jay has experience forming companies to engage in financial activities, designing and documenting new financial products and services, defending and resolving regulatory examination and enforcement matters, developing risk management strategies to ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, handling loan and asset sale transactions, addressing privacy and cybersecurity concerns, and resolving day-to-day operational issues involving deposit and loan products. Jay also represents clients before the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the Virginia Bureau of Financial Institutions, and other state agencies.

Financial technology (FinTech) is a growing part of the financial services industry. Jay’s experience in this area, particularly with respect to cloud-computing arrangements, allows him to help his clients take advantage of innovations in digital platforms and other online services to grow their business while staying compliant and managing risk.

During his time as the General Counsel for the Virginia Bankers Association, Jay authored many bills affecting banking and finance in Virginia. In addition, he advised the association on the impact of significant banking legislation enacted at the federal level. Jay uses that experience and expertise to assist financial institutions with state and federal regulatory compliance.

Jay devotes part of his practice to advising non-profit companies on governance matters and other issues affecting their operations.

Jay graduated from UNC Chapel Hill and the University of Richmond School of Law. He began his legal career as in-house counsel to a large national bank and supported the bank’s retail operations in several states. He has been named in Virginia Business magazine as a “Legal Elite” for Legislative, Regulatory, and Administrative Law.