Banking lawyer is go-to guy for Georgia financial institutions

As much as anyone, Walt Moeling could be called Mr. Banking in Georgia. As the Atlanta lawyer who represents the Georgia Bankers Association, Moeling is often the man talking to the press about industry issues or working behind the scenes to fix problems.

These days, with the state’s banks facing their worst crisis in decades, that means Moeling is often in the hot seat.

LOUIE FAVORITE / lfavorite@ajc.com

Even when he’s discussing bank failures, asset write-downs and other unpleasantries, 66-year-old Walt Moeling - who represents the Georgia Bankers Association - exudes an unflappable good ol’ boy charm.

THE WALT MOELING FILE
• Title: Partner and co-chair of Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein's financial institutions group
• Age: 66
• Family: Married 43 years to Nell; two adult children and four grandchildren, CJ, Justin, Rob and Tyler.
• Education: History and law degrees at Duke University
• Last book read: "Snakeskin Shamisen," a mystery by Naomi Hirahara
• Favorite movie: "Fargo" (He likes the scene where William H. Macy's character lied to his lender about his dealership's missing cars.)
• Where he would go if it was his last vacation: Soliman Bay, Akumal, Mexico

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Like having to explain why Georgia recently has had the nation’s second-highest tally of bank failures. (Short version: Lots of small banks bet heavily on Atlanta’s building boom through loans to developers. The bets soured when the boom ended.)

Even when he’s talking about bank failures, asset write-downs and other unpleasantries, however, the 66-year-old lawyer exudes an unflappable good ol’ boy charm that he probably started honing while growing up in Alexander City, Ala., the son of a lumber mill owner and a homemaker from Philadelphia.

“We had such a glorious run [starting in the mid-1990s] where everything worked,” said Moeling, who joined Bryan Cave Powell Goldstein four decades ago and now helps run its financial institutions group.

“After that, we entered the age of almost unlimited credit and everybody could do everything. … It was fun while it lasted.”

Q: Back in 1968 when you graduated from Duke University’s law school, did you want to be a banking attorney?

A: I didn’t know what a banking lawyer was [when he joined the firm after law school]. … The [banking-related] projects that I got really interested me. I liked them, and I looked around the firm and I didn’t see any other “banking lawyers.” … I thought, as the old saying goes, six months ago I couldn’t spell banking lawyer, and now I’m going to be one.

Q: Six months in, you knew what specialty you liked?

A: Well, no. But I knew I was looking for opportunity. One of the interesting things that’s happened is young lawyers come out and … all too often they come as an employee. … I’ve never felt entirely comfortable as just being an employee. I always wanted to build something. When I first came with the firm, I started down a number of courses. One was being a banking lawyer. … I did some venture capital work. I did regular corporate work. I did lots of different things.

Q: Yeah?

A: We represented the [Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in the 1970s] as counsel in the first bank failure in Georgia in … 20 or 30 years, Hamilton Bank. It gave me a chance to learn banking from the inside out because I understood how the FDIC thinks. It has forever tainted the way [Moeling laughs] I advise clients. If you don’t understand how the regulator looks at you, you’re not going to send the right message.

Q: So what was the “aha” moment when you learned how they think?

A: I think it was more the realization of [their] perspective. The perspective was something of a cynic. “We don’t accept very much at face value.” … It was … understanding that for most of the FDIC people, particularly the career people, this really was a profession. … They really believe in the banking system. They really believe in the deposit insurance system.

Q: Did the banking regulators botch the job [in the current crisis] by not regulating enough?

A: That’s a question we’re asking ourselves. … We didn’t think we had the kind of speculation [as areas like Florida]. Basically, as long as everybody was buying houses, the loans looked great. The banks looked great. The regulators came in and looked and said, “Wow, you’re managing this.”

Q: I’ve heard in some cases the regulators were warning banks about [excessive lending to developers].

A: But if you actually read the examinations [which aren’t public] what you find is, “You’ve got to be very cautious about this.” They promulgated a guideline, very soft, in 2006. … The truth is, the banks were kind of following those policies. It wasn’t like they were ignoring it.

Q: Yeah?

A: So long as all the loans kept being repaid neither the regulators nor the bankers nor the boards [of directors] nor anybody involved realized that like … Wile E. Coyote, they’d run well off the top of the mesa and there was nothing beneath but open space.