Fintech Practice

Regulation and Compliance

Our fintech attorneys advise clients on all manner of regulatory issues, including those impacting consumer privacy, cross-border commerce and the reporting of financial information. We also advise fintech companies in meeting payment card industry guidelines.

Data Security and Management

We help clients develop business strategies that take full advantage of their data while also safeguarding it. Our work includes advising clients on federal, state, and international privacy compliance matters as well as data commercialization and monetizing opportunities. We also stand with clients during data breaches and other cybersecurity events such as cyber intrusions and cyber ransom attacks. This includes defending clients in bet-the-company litigation, advising during investigations, and crisis communications.

Transactions (M&A/Commercial Agreements)

Our fintech transactions attorneys have extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions of deals of up to more than $1 billion. We guide clients in licensing agreements, technology transfers, investor financing, software licensing, joint ventures, vendor contracts and other important business transactions.

Dispute Resolution

We represent fintech clients in a wide range of disputes and litigation including regulatory matters (in the UK, the U.S. and around the world, issues related to data breach, intellectual property disputes, and breach of contract and vendor disputes. The WBD team also has significant experience in international arbitration. Our fintech team attorneys have specific experience representing clients in matters involving the SEC, FTC, FCC, EU-U.S. Privacy Shield and numerous consumer protection entities including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

• Counseling a UK company on comprehensive cloud outsourcing to an Australian-listed fintech/wealthtech software company. We have advised this evolving long-term relationship since 2015 and have played a key role in the shaping of this engagement.  Our current role involves advising on the AWS cloud migration of the system.
• A UK client has developed an advanced automation solution to help global financial institutions in their fight against financial crime. We assisted this company in negotiating a suite of contracts with one of the first global financial institutions that engaged with the company. When a supply chain software company decided to build a vendor payment portal, the company needed legal counsel and drafting of documents supporting the portal, including negotiation with financial services vendors. The client targeted several industrial countries to offer the portal, and WBD attorneys worked with allied attorneys in Europe, Canada and Asia to confirm contract commitments and regulatory compliance of portal contracts and business models. The portal is now in worldwide operation.
• Advised a software company in building a payment portal, including negotiation with financial services vendors. WBD attorneys worked with allied lawyers in Europe, Canada and Asia to confirm contract commitments and regulatory compliance of portal contracts and business models. The portal is now in worldwide operation.
• Counseled multiple payment processors through data breach incidents, including one of the largest losses of credit card data in U.S. history.
• Represented Heartland Payment Systems, Inc., the fifth largest payments processor in the U.S., in more than 35 acquisitions of technology and payment companies, enabling Heartland to become a leading provider in the K-12, Higher Education and POS markets.
• Guided NCR Corporation in the acquisition of Radiant Systems, a provider of point of sale solutions in the retail and hospitality industries for approximately $1.2 billion.
• Represented Zillow and others in a $180 million patent dispute that invalidated Lending Tree’s online lending patents.
• Completed a competitive request for proposal project for a major quick service restaurant resulting in a 37 percent reduction in processing fees generating $1.5 million in savings over three years. 
• Conducted an optimization review for a large payment facilitator PayFac and identified cost optimizations of more than $600,000 per year resulting in a 20 percent reduction in processing costs. 
• Developed a payment monetization strategy for a private equity firm completing a strategic acquisition, improving payment margins from less than 30 basis points on card volume to a payment facilitator program providing 85+ basis points of payment margin.