Meet Kathy

Kathy Smith advises financial institutions on compliance, consumer credit, banking and state and federal regulatory laws at Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd. She helps businesses moving into South Carolina understand and conform to state laws and regulations.

Kathy advises clients on federal consumer protection laws, including the Dodd-Frank Act, Truth in Lending Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Electronic Funds Transfer Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations. She advises on identity theft, deposit products, electronic banking, credit and debit cards, mortgage lending, cash management, treasury services and the South Carolina Consumer Protection Code.

She has been a regular speaker at the South Carolina Compliance Officers Association meetings on banking topics and also a guest lecturer for the consumer law class at the University of South Carolina School of Law. She has presented at various programs for the South Carolina Bar, South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, Independent Banks of South Carolina and South Carolina Bankers Association on the South Carolina Consumer Protection Code and other consumer and banking topics as well as at the South Carolina Chapter of the Healthcare Financial Management Association Annual Institute.

One of her publications is the South Carolina Consumer Protection Code Text with Comments published by the South Carolina Bar.

Before joining the team at Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, Kathy was counsel to the Administrator of the South Carolina Department of Consumer Affairs, where she provided legal support, including drafting regulations, declaratory rulings and interpretations of the South Carolina Consumer Protection Code and testified at federal and state legislative hearings.

For more than 20 years, Kathy served as in-house senior counsel and senior vice president to Wachovia Corporation and its predecessor, South Carolina National Corporation. She served as legal counsel in areas such as product development, marketing, operations, policies and procedures, fair lending, community reinvestment, privacy, insider lending, retail and commercial banking. She advised on the origination and servicing of loans, including mortgage loans and home equity lines of credit.

Prior to attending law school, she worked for the Federal Trade Commission.

• University of South Carolina, J.D., 1975
• University of Exeter, William and Mary School of Law, 1974
• Texas Christian University, B.A., 1968

• South Carolina, 1975
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, 1977
• U.S. District Court, South Carolina, 1978
• U.S. Supreme Court, 2006

• South Carolina Women Lawyers Association, Chair of Military Subcommittee, former Board of Directors
• Columbia World Affairs Council, Board Member
• Columbia Housing Authority, former Commissioner
• South Carolina Bar, Corporate, Banking and Securities Law Section, former Chair of Consumer Law Section, Animal Law Committee, Intellectual Property/Unfair Trade Practices Committee, former Vice-Chair of Technology Committee, Closing Responsibility Task Force
• American Bar Association, Business Law Section Consumer Financial Services Committee
• American Bankers Association, former Chair of Bank Counsel Unit
• South Carolina Law Institute, UCC Article 8 Committee
• Richland County Bar
• Columbia Bank Counsel Group, Facilitator
• Shandon Neighborhood Council, former President