07
Digital Assets & Tokenization
Digital capital: real estate and asset tokenization, RWA, tokenized securities and digital asset structures.
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Practice 08 · Digital Capital
Fintech & Financial Regulation
In financial services, the business model and the regulatory model are the same model.
We advise fintech, payment and digital-asset businesses on where their activities sit within financial regulation, which permissions they need, and how to build the compliance framework that supervisors and banking partners will expect.
What we do
Scope of the practice
Fintech regulation
Mapping products and flows of funds against financial-services, payments, e-money and consumer rules.
Payment businesses
Structuring payment and e-money models, agent and partnership arrangements, and safeguarding.
CASP / VASP matters
Analysis of crypto-asset service activities and the authorisation routes available, including under MiCA.
AML / KYC
Risk assessments, policies and onboarding procedures proportionate to the business and its risk profile.
Licensing strategy
Choosing whether, where and in what sequence to seek authorisation — or to partner with a licensed institution.
Compliance frameworks
Governance, outsourcing, complaints and reporting frameworks for regulated digital finance businesses.
Who we advise
Founders building financial products, established payment and digital-asset businesses entering new markets, and investors assessing regulatory risk in a target.
Typical matters
The kind of work this practice handles.
Illustrative of the matters we advise on — not a list of past engagements.
- 01Regulatory assessment of a new payment or fintech product
- 02Licensing strategy for a crypto-asset service provider under MiCA
- 03Choosing between own licence and partnership with a licensed institution
- 04Drafting AML/KYC policies and onboarding procedures
- 05Regulatory due diligence on a fintech acquisition target
- 06Structuring cross-border delivery of financial services
- 07Preparing a business for discussions with a supervisor or banking partner
- 08Compliance framework review ahead of a funding round
Approach
How we approach projects
1
Understand the flows
We start from how money, data and assets actually move through the product.
2
Map the perimeter
Each activity is assessed against the applicable regimes, with local counsel where the analysis turns on local law.
3
Choose a route
Licensing, partnership or product redesign — compared on timeline, cost and operational burden.
4
Build the framework
Policies, procedures and governance that work in daily operations, not only on paper.
Focused services
Defined scopes of work within this practice.
Cross-border capability
Cross-border capability
Financial regulation is territorial: serving clients in a country can trigger that country's rules regardless of where the business is based. We coordinate multi-jurisdiction regulatory analysis with local counsel and help clients sequence market entry. Outcomes of licensing applications depend on the competent authorities and cannot be guaranteed.
Related practices
Significant matters rarely stay within one practice.
06
Cross-Border Transactions
Lead and coordinating counsel for international investment structures and multi-jurisdiction transactions.
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05
M&A & Joint Ventures
Acquisitions, disposals, share and asset deals, joint ventures, shareholders' agreements, closing and integration.
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How to start
Send an enquiry →- 1Send a short enquiryDescribe the project, the parties and the timing in a few lines. No confidential details at this stage.
- 2Initial conversationAfter a conflict check, we discuss the scope, the jurisdictions involved and whether local counsel is needed.
- 3Written engagementScope, deliverables and fee basis are agreed in writing before work begins.
Discuss a matter in this practice
Share a short description of the project. We will reply to discuss scope, timing and next steps.