Photo of Gabriella E. Alonso

Gabriella Alonso advises clients on financial services matters, as well as corporate disputes. She prepares submissions for state and federal courts and helps clients as they progress through each stage of litigation.

In law school, Gabriella served as a student case worker for the Advanced Administrative Litigation Clinic, where she assisted coal miners and surviving family members pursue claims for Federal Black Lung benefits.

In a historic move that signals a new era in the fight against illicit opioid trafficking and money laundering, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued its first-ever orders under the newly enacted Section 2313a of the Fentanyl Sanctions Act, as amended by the FEND Off Fentanyl Act. These

The Trump administration remains focused on countering Mexican cartels and other Latin American transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). Since designating eight TCOs as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have issued alerts and prosecutorial guidance respectively reinforcing the administration’s whole-of-government approach to countering this threat. As with

On March 11, 2025, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a Geographic Targeting Order (GTO) aimed at disrupting drug trafficking and money laundering along the southwestern border. The GTO significantly lowers the Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) threshold from $10,000 to $200 for money service businesses (MSBs) operating in 30 zip codes across

On October 22, 2024, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) finalized its long-anticipated rule implementing Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act. The 594-page final rule arrives nearly one year after the CFPB’s proposed rule, which received over 11,000 comments from industry participants concerning its implementation. The rule requires institutions that issue credit cards and hold

FDIC-insured depository institutions seeking CRA credit opportunities may be eligible to apply for funding to further impact the distressed communities they serve. On March 31, 2023, the Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) opened its fiscal year 2023 funding applications for its Bank Enterprise Award (BEA) Program. This year’s program includes

CFPB Auto Finance Consent Order: A Sign of Things to Come for Add-On Products?On May 21, 2021, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and 3rd Generation, Inc. d/b/a California Auto Finance entered into a Consent Order in which the CFPB alleged unfair acts or practices in connection with an auto finance add-on product.

What was the add-on product?

According to the Consent Order, 3rd Generation purchases and services

New York Clarifies Mortgage Loan Acceleration and De-Acceleration: Starting and Stopping the Limitations ClockOn February 18, 2021, the New York Court of Appeals’ consolidated resolution of four cases that answered two critical questions concerning the application of the statute of limitations in New York mortgage foreclosure actions: What constitutes a valid acceleration such that the six-year “clock” is started and what actions constitute a valid “de-acceleration” of a

Acting Director David Uejio Issues Warning: CFPB Will Take Aggressive Action with Regard to COVID-19 On January 28, 2021, Acting Director David Uejio of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) confirmed the CFPB’s new, aggressive approach to enforcement of COVID-19-related matters. Uejio’s statement, posted as a blog, addresses several areas of concern discovered during last year’s Prioritized Assessments, including:

  • Mortgage servicers providing inaccurate information about CARES Act forbearances, failing

OCC Proposes Clarification to True Lender DoctrineEarlier this week, the OCC released a proposed rule designed to address the “true lender” doctrine, a legal test utilized by courts and regulators to determine whether a bank or its non-bank partner is the actual lender in a credit transaction. This doctrine has led to uncertainty in the fintech and bank-partnership spaces, in large

Update on Texas Foreclosures Given Statewide Rise in COVID-19 CasesAs we previously reported in April, Texas’s initial approach to foreclosures in light of the coronavirus was “ad hoc” and the decision whether to halt foreclosures was left to the various counties in which the sales were conducted. Since that time, the state has begun reopening but has seen a rise in the number