FinTech

Interest and activity in financial technology or FinTech has grown dramatically over the last few years, and our lawyers are well-positioned to offer clients the benefit of our extensive global tech experience, combined with regulatory and financial services knowledge.

“Norton Rose Fulbright has crafted a truly global FinTech practice spanning America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, utilising cutting-edge methods of knowledge sharing to collaborate efficiently across jurisdictions.” Chambers FinTech Guide, 2020

There are a number of key drivers for increased activity in the FinTech sector, including recognition of technology’s potential to have a transformative and disruptive effect on financial services through the development and deployment of blockchain, distributed ledger and smart contracts technology and the use of artificial intelligence and data analytics to allow risk to be priced more effectively.

However, with opportunity and change come risk and the need to understand the legal, regulatory and compliance landscape within which the technology operates. Regulators and law-makers recognize the potential of these innovations and are actively responding to changes in the sector. Companies looking to utilize these technical innovations need to be alive to the complex and rapidly changing legal and regulatory landscape.

We are at the forefront of legal thought leadership in this sector, and our FinTech law practice offers a combination of deep global tech experience with regulatory and financial services knowledge. Our recent experience includes advising some of the world’s leading financial institutions on legal and regulatory issues relating to potential use cases of FinTech, acting as legal counsel to financial services consortia assessing the opportunities and impact of the technology and advising technology companies, start-ups and investors across the sector.

Our areas of work include

• Artificial intelligence
• Blockchain
• Crowdfunding
• Cryptocurrencies
• Cybersecurity
• Decentralized Autonomous Organizations
• Data privacy
• eCommerce and internet services
• Financial services regulation
• Initial coin offerings (ICOs)
• InsurTech
• Internet of things
• Investments, including venture capital, equity capital market fundraising, private equity and debt finance
• Licensing, patenting and protection
• M&A
• Payment services
• Peer-to-Peer (P2P) debt and equity financing
• RegTech
• Robo advice
• Smart contracts
• Technology development

Awards and accolades

• Legal 500 UK, London: FinTech (Tier 1), The Legal 500, 2020
• Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, China: FinTech: Foreign Firms (Tier 1), The Legal 500, 2020
• Chambers FinTech Guide, Global-wide: Legal, Chambers and Partners, 2020