
fintechNEXT Webinar Series
Dechert’s fintechNEXT webinar series explores the evolving issues the industry faces, partnering with clients and other experts to present conversations addressing fintech opportunities and challenges.
Our lawyers understand the regulatory challenges fintech companies face as they stir disruptions in the financial services and banking industries, changing the way people spend, invest, and lend money.
We bridge the gap between emerging technologies and fintech regulations that are slow to adapt, helping companies leverage new technology and find market opportunities in an increasingly competitive environment.
Hailed as "very strong on technology . . . a nuts and bolts firm in the FinTech space" (Chambers FinTech), our fintech lawyers work across offices in the United States, Europe and Asia, drawing on decades of experience to advise key players in the biggest global fintech markets. Clients relying on our solutions range from large financial institutions with operations spanning many countries to entrepreneurial companies launching their businesses in a single jurisdiction. Dechert was named a leading firm in the Nationwide FinTech Legal category in the Chambers FinTech Guide.
Our areas of specialization include:
Our fintech lawyers are at the forefront of sophisticated transactions involving cryptocurrency and digital assets, helping increase the efficiency, accuracy and value of those transactions. We know blockchain – you can find our analyses in the Blockchain and Digital Assets Resources Center – and are well-equipped to address the regulatory issues faced by fintech firms disrupting the financial services and banking industries. Our efforts include helping clients leverage the benefits of distributed ledger technology (DLT) to innovate and re-envision how financial instruments and investment products can be constructed.
Borrowers and lenders have new ways of connecting in the marketplace, creating opportunities for private investors, small and medium-sized enterprises and institutional investors. Our fintech lawyers know the legal framework and familiar structures employed (144A, Reg D, S1), as well as the key differences as digital and tokenized securities bring new asset types to the markets. With extensive experience in marketplace lending and capital market structures, we guide established and emerging fintech clients as they execute sophisticated structured finance and securitization transactions — helping them comply with regulatory responses and challenges to fintech in the process.
Our lawyers advise investment advisers, asset managers and fund sponsors on a wide range of fintech matters, including the use of digital, artificial intelligence and other information technologies in providing investment and financial services. We have deep expertise in the strategic, legal, regulatory, and transactional issues that arise from the use of information technologies, data analytics and machine learning in the investment process, interactions with institutional and retail investors, operations and compliance. Team members add exceptional value to client matters, often drawing on previous experience in senior regulatory posts and in-house positions and tapping into the knowledge base of one of the legal industry’s largest and highest-ranked financial services practices.
Dechert’s fintech lawyers advise clients on legal and regulatory issues, including compliance with securities laws and regulations, and intellectual property protection. We also assist with privacy and data protection related to offering direct market access and directed brokerage, developing proprietary trading algorithms, and operating alternative trading systems and securities exchanges. In addition, we regularly represent clients seeking to invest in electronic trading firms and their technology.
In addition to the areas above, we advise on business-critical matters related to:
Our clients include companies, platforms, technologists, investment managers and funds, banks, broker-dealers, exchanges, and private equity and venture capital investors. We work extensively with alternative trading systems, high frequency and algorithmic trading firms, digital investment advisers, data companies and other financial services innovators.
Here are examples of how we helped clients:
Bankruptcy of a cryptocurrency trading entity and of an exchange would raise a variety of unsettled legal questions that Dechert is uniquely qualified to handle having both extensive Crypto currency expertise and a sophisticated bankruptcy department.
The key issues relate to the eligibility of exchanges to file for bankruptcy, whether cryptocurrency would be considered estate property, proper valuation methodologies, and nature of the crypto assets within existing legal regimes.
Dechert’s Financial Restructuring Group, and its Blockchain and Cryptocurrency practice have closely followed the development of these issues both inside and outside the United States.
Key issues: