Seward & Kissel LLP today announced that Jeannette Rovira has joined the firm’s Washington, D.C. office as a partner and will co-chair the firm’s Banking, Payments, and Fintech practice with partner Casey Jennings.
The Banking, Payments, and Fintech practice provides bank, broker-dealer, investment management, and financial service provider clients with a full suite of regulatory and transactional expertise. Rovira has expertise in a broad range of bank regulatory matters, critical developments in the payments ecosystem, and complex issues confronting fintechs engaged in banking-related activities.
“I’m so happy that Jenna is joining the firm,” said Jennings. “We see this as a meaningful expansion of our expertise within the Banking, Payments, and Fintech practice and can’t wait to provide a broader array of services to financial services clients. This is an important step in the practice’s growth.”
Rovira joins Seward & Kissel from Goldman Sachs, where she most recently served as vice president, senior counsel and head of deposits and liquidity within Goldman’s Bank Regulatory group, where she led legal and regulatory initiatives relating to deposits, liquidity, and related transactional matters. In that role, she advised business, treasury, risk, compliance, and regulatory reporting teams on complex banking, payments, and liquidity matters, and partnered closely with product and deal teams on transactions and fintech partnerships involving both bank and non‑bank entities. Her experience spans prudential regulation under the Bank Holding Company Act and other statutes, capital and liquidity requirements, brokered deposits and deposit insurance considerations, regulatory reporting, and payments and money‑movement issues, as well as cross‑functional matters involving banks and broker‑dealers.
“We are thrilled to welcome Jenna to Seward & Kissel,” said Daniel Bresler, the firm’s managing partner. “She brings extensive in‑house experience advising on complex banking, payments, and fintech matters, along with a strong transactional sensibility. Her ability to navigate regulatory issues across banks and non‑bank financial institutions will be a tremendous asset to our clients.”
Earlier in her career, Rovira served as regulatory counsel at Charles Schwab, where she advised on bank and broker‑dealer regulatory matters, including capital changes, bank chartering initiatives, enterprise risk frameworks, and sweep structures supporting broker‑dealer activity. She also managed key regulatory relationships with the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and OCC, further strengthening her experience advising across organizational lines.
“Jenna brings a rare combination of deep regulatory knowledge and hands‑on, in‑house experience advising some of the most complex banking organizations in the market,” said Gregg Bateman, head of Seward & Kissel’s Global Banking and Corporate Trust Practice. “She brings a fresh and important perspective for our bank, financial institution, and fintech clients as they navigate evolving regulatory expectations alongside strategic transactions.”
Rovira is a frequent speaker on banking and financial services topics and has participated in industry conferences hosted by organizations such as SIFMA and fintech forums nationwide.
“I am excited to join Seward & Kissel and work alongside a team that is deeply embedded in the financial services industry,” said Rovira. “The firm’s strong expertise in financial services, combined with its practical, business focused approach, make it an ideal place to advise clients in an ever-changing regulatory environment.”
Rovira earned her J.D. from the George Washington University Law School and her B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin. She is admitted to practice in New York and the District of Columbia.
Rovira’s arrival at Seward & Kissel builds on the firm’s strong start to 2026 marked by the additions of a group from McDermott Will & Schulte that included Craig Warkol, Adriana Schwartz, and Hannah Thibideau, Investment Management partner Jack Habert, and John Benson and Christopher Belisle to co-lead the firm’s Maritime Finance practice; as well as a transformative 2025 that included the arrival of eight lateral partners across key practice areas.
About Seward & Kissel LLP
Seward & Kissel LLP, founded in 1890, is a leading U.S. law firm with offices in New York City and Washington, D.C., with particular expertise in the financial services, investment management, banking, and shipping industries. The Firm is well known for its representation of investment advisers and related investment funds, broker-dealers, major commercial banks, institutional investors, and transportation companies. Its practices primarily focus on corporate, M&A, securities, finance, litigation (including white collar), restructuring/bankruptcy, real estate, regulatory, tax, employment, and ERISA for clients seeking legal expertise in these areas.
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