Gerald S. Sachs (Gerry) is of counsel in the Global Banking and Payment Systems practice at Paul Hastings and is based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Gerry advises companies on all aspects of state and federal consumer financial protection law. He has assisted companies with compliance audits, supervisory examinations, enforcement investigations, and litigation. He also counsels emerging financial technology companies on issues related to consumer lending, mobile banking, privacy, data protection, and virtual currencies.
Prior to joining Paul Hastings, Gerry was Senior Counsel for Policy and Strategy with the Enforcement Office at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Gerry assisted the CFPB with strategic planning, drafting policies and procedures, coordinating with other regulators, conducting investigations, supporting supervisory examinations, and working on intra-agency initiatives. He led two teams of attorneys that focused on auto finance, credit cards, mobile payments, emerging payments, prepaid cards, and digital currency. In addition, he assisted the CFPB with its mortgage servicing rules implementation and internal oversight matters.
Before joining the CFPB, Mr. Sachs served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, where he prosecuted both civil and criminal cases ranging from the False Claims Act to money laundering, economic crimes, and computer hacking. One of Mr. Sachs’ cases involved the prosecution of an elaborate international computer hacking scheme in which hackers stole consumer information and used counterfeit payroll debit cards to withdraw more than $9 million from thousands of ATMs around the world in a matter of hours. Mr. Sachs also served as part of the Hurricane Katrina Task Force set up to prosecute fraudulent activity stemming from relief funds provided by the federal government to victims of the hurricane. As part of his duties, Mr. Sachs also instructed and trained Mexican federal prosecutors, agents, and expert witnesses as part of the DOJ Merida High-Profile Initiative through the Office of Overseas Prosecutorial, Development, Assistance, and Training.
Prior to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Mr. Sachs was an attorney for the Federal Trade Commission’s Southeast Region Office where he prosecuted various unfair and deceptive acts and practices in violation of federal consumer law. Mr. Sachs also worked in private practice prior to his government service.
