November 13, 2023
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has launched a new practice, the Global Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group. The interdisciplinary group advises traditional and emerging companies on a range of advisory, regulatory, policy, supervision and enforcement, transactional and litigation matters involving fintech, digital assets, and blockchain technology. The new group is led by Washington, D.C. partners M. Kendall Day, Jeffrey Steiner and Sara Weed.
“Fintech presents opportunities for companies in every sector of the economy, but there are accompanying risks, and those risks are evolving with the speed of innovation,” said M. Kendall Day, Co-Chair of the Global Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group. “Our lawyers have a current and substantive technical understanding of the continuously changing environment of digital assets and the blockchain technology behind them that sets us apart and allows us to provide effective and comprehensive client counseling.”
“We have always had the expertise within the firm to assist our clients operating in the financial technology space, but by unifying this expertise into a formal practice area, we’re able to provide clients with a dedicated and cohesive service offering,” said Jeffrey Steiner, Co-Chair of the Global Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group. “We have also recently expanded our capabilities in financial institutions and fintech regulatory matters with the addition of two new partners, Jason Cabral and Sara Weed, who co-leads the group.”
“The maturation of the fintech industry is itself signal of the ever-increasing demand for deep legal expertise that is positioned to help companies seize opportunities in the most relevant markets around the world,” said Sara Weed, Co-Chair of the Global Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group. “To serve these needs, we draw on an unparalleled bench of lawyers, many of who have worked at the highest levels of government, including the SEC, the CFTC, FinCEN and the DOJ, counseling clients through the most significant developments that threaten their businesses and, in some cases, the industry itself.”
About the Global Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group
Our Global Fintech and Digital Assets Practice Group advises traditional and emerging companies on a wide range of regulatory, policy, enforcement, transactional and litigation matters involving fintech, payments, open banking, digital assets (including cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), stablecoins and security tokens) and blockchain technology.
Gibson Dunn recognizes the strategic imperative facing both new market entrants and incumbent players in fintech. In response, we have developed a market-leading offering and a diverse set of capabilities that, when deployed together, enable our clients to accelerate growth seamlessly around the world. Our multijurisdictional and multidisciplinary practice allows us to be nimble and provide legal, regulatory, transactional, investigatory, and litigation experience globally, including in the key jurisdictions at the forefront of the digital assets ecosystem.
Our depth of experience is informed by prior service in government. This experience and deep knowledge of governmental agencies positions our clients to develop and execute on proactive regulatory strategies. Should matters turn contentious, we are poised to respond to the most complex investigation and enforcement actions brought by regulators in critical markets, whether in the United States, Europe, or Asia. We have effectively defended significant matters before New York State Department of Financial Services, the Federal Reserve, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Department of Justice, FinCEN, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as well as the Financial Conduct Authority, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, and the European Central Bank.
We also have the experience and relationships to actively engage in the policy dialogue, whether in the legislative or regulatory sphere, on behalf of our clients. In addition to facilitating engagement with policymakers, we can help maximize those opportunities by translating market insights into content more readily consumed by policy-oriented audiences. Furthermore, we provide holistic policy support, advising on new or proposed legislation, drafting written comments, preparing principals to testify, or coordinating with other stakeholders. The future of fintech is being decided in the halls of legislatures and in related institutions, which is why it is critical that our clients have support in that domain as well.
Fintech is inherently interdisciplinary and support for fintech clients demands unparalleled depth across various domains. To meet these needs, members of the team work closely with experts across our firm and, in some cases, are also members of companion practices, which include: Artificial Intelligence, Derivatives, Financial Institutions, Global Financial Regulatory, Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Innovation, Public Policy, and White Collar Defense and Investigations.