FinTech Lawyers
We are working with many companies who are working towards the future of Financial Services.
Financial Technology (better known as FinTech) describes new technology that improves and automates the delivery and use of financial services. This amalgamation has revolutionised how Financial Services are accessed, used and delivered.
Whilst FinTech companies have a keen understanding of both the financial and technological realms, the legal complexities linked to this merger can be daunting.
As experienced lawyers, Herrington Carmichael will provide invaluable legal guidance to support and assist you with compliance with regulatory requirements, data and Intellectual Property (IP) protections together with drafting and negotiating contracts for FinTech operations. In the event of disputes, our Dispute Resolution Team aim to resolve conflicts efficiently through our dispute resolution strategies.
Contractual Relationships
Our Commercial Contract lawyers will assist you in negotiating and drafting agreements which will safeguard your interests whilst establishing or maintaining partnerships with banks, financial institutions, technology providers and third-party service providers. We have extensive experience in this fast-growing area of the Financial Services Sector and specialise in empowering FinTech companies to navigate the complexities of contractual agreements with confidence and clarity. In practice, we see a variety of agreements and are well suited to assist your company in building beneficial partnerships and navigating any negotiation challenges. You can therefore focus on innovation and growth, knowing that your Contractual Relationships are in capable hands.
Regulatory Compliance
There are numerous applicable regulations from multiple authorities such as Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) and others. Furthermore, FinTech companies will also have to adhere to Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) and data protection regulations like GDPR.
Our experienced lawyers will make you aware of compliance and regulatory laws and potential implications, ensuring that your company adheres to regulatory requirements in this evolving space. This will empower your company to develop best practices and mitigate risks of non-compliance. We ensure that your company will have detailed knowledge of regulatory requirements before and during negotiations with banks, financial institutions, technology providers and third-party services providers. This protects your legal position and offers practical legal solutions.
Data Protection & Privacy
FinTech companies handle vast amounts of sensitive financial and personal data and are required to strictly adhere to the data protection laws. Furthermore, if there are cross-border data flows, additional mechanisms will need to be put in place to ensure compliance.
Our Data Protection lawyers provide expert advice to FinTech companies on all aspects of data protection and privacy matters including data protection breaches and complaints, possible security breaches and data protection procedures. We offer tailored expertise that helps FinTech companies navigate the complex landscape of data protection regulations and mitigate the risks associated with data processing and storage. Our legal guidance helps prepare FinTech companies to design its policies and services with data management best practices in mind.
Cybersecurity & Fraud Prevention
Due to their nature, FinTech companies are vulnerable to cyber threats and fraud. Our Commercial Team have advised FinTech companies on measures that can be implemented to reduce exposure to these risks. Our dedicated team therefore are experienced in helping FinTech companies on cybersecurity preparedness and to navigate the complexities of cybersecurity and fraud prevention with resilience and confidence. This is important as good practice and procedures in compliance with data protection laws is required to ensure that your FinTech company has adopted appropriate cybersecurity practices.
If the worst is to happen and you suffer a cyber attack, you need responsive expert legal advice to help guide the legal and regulatory environment associated with such attacks. We will be on hand to quickly respond to any questions and help you navigate the requirements in a compliant manner.
FinTech M&A
We work closely with FinTech companies to help them negotiate the journey all the way from start-up through to eventual exit. We serve both established and emerging participants in this space, providing transactional, regulatory and strategic advice to private equity and venture capital firms, asset managers and funds, broker-dealers, banking institutions, start-up companies, lending platforms, payment companies, trading systems, technology companies, financial services providers, virtual currency companies, and card issuers and networks.
Our award-winning, multidisciplinary legal services include:
- Bespoke commercial contracts – we advise on every type of contract including technology development and technology transfer, hosting contracts, and other Cloud services arrangements.
- Data protection reviews/audits and advisory – GDPR and other global regulation is complex and paramount. We have the skills to help you navigate this minefield and put in place robust policies to minimise any potential risks.
- Regulation – we assist our clients navigate the regulatory and compliance landscape in both the UK and globally with the assistance of our international network.
- Protection of IP – We advise on intellectual property issues that are uniquely implicated in financial technology transactions and companies.
- Employee Incentives – we assist with initiating employee share schemes and can help ensure the right scheme is in place for your employees.
- Investments – we have a long history of helping companies with their financings be it a simple pre-seed round to a more complex late-stage round.
- M&A – we have an extensive team of Corporate Lawyers with a long history of navigating challenging mergers and acquisitions on behalf of clients be that as an exit or an acquisition to strengthen the company.
We have in-depth experience advising financial institutions and asset managers on areas such as FinTech investments and M&A, digital bonds and securities, product development (including blockchain and DLT platforms utilising smart contracts, payments initiatives, web3 projects), commercial contracts and partnerships.
We are committed to helping you to achieve your goals by providing commercially-focused legal advice of the highest quality.
Intellectual Property
Securing trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets require specialist legal advice where there are innovative technologies, software or unique business models. We therefore utilise technical expertise with legal acumen to help FinTech companies protect, manage and maximise the value of their intellectual property effectively. Our Intellectual Property team have assisted start-ups through to multi-national businesses in protecting their Intellectual Property and helping safeguard their competitive edge.
Dispute Resolution
Our Dispute Resolution lawyers cover a full range of disputes from the complex and high value to the more modest. We represent clients in the courts, arbitration tribunals and use alternative procedures, including mediation, to resolve disputes. If your FinTech company is experiencing some form of commercial dispute, our dispute resolution lawyers can provide the advice you need.
Our Dispute Resolution team can support you with:
- Contract Disputes
- Data Protection Breach
- Land & Property Disputes
- Intellectual Property Disputes
- Professional Negligence
- Debt Recovery
Key Contact
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</script>Meet our experts
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Frequently Asked Questions
Find answers to your most pressing questions about our services and processes.
What experience does Herrington Carmichael have in the FinTech space?
- FinTech company replacing a core technology provider. We advised and negotiated a license to a technology platform by providing inter alia, robust protection regarding our client’s data and ensuring key provisions were included regarding service levels.
- Drafted SaaS and reseller agreements for technology provider to FinTech and financial services companies.
- Drafting SaaS agreements, end user license agreements and reseller agreements for FinTech provider providing services to banks and other financial institutions.
What ongoing legal support and updates do you provide?
We offer a financial services law retainer providing a quarterly compliance update emails on relevant topics, provision of 2 training sessions on relevant topics and up to 5 hours ad hoc financial services law advice per month.
What contracts do FinTech companies need?
Whilst the legal agreements needed vary significantly from company to company, generally most companies would need terms of supply. This may be SaaS agreements, end user licence agreements or potentially reseller agreements. You may also need app terms and conditions. Depending on how your product is put together, you are likely to need contracts with suppliers where you have external developers or utilise third party software. There are also a number of other general documents you will need such as privacy policies. This is just some of the documents required and our expert lawyers will be able to talk you through what specifically your business needs.