Fintech
Expertise in e-commerce, fintech, regulatory examinations, and investigations, and FTC compliance in particular.Legal 500
Practice Overview
Over the past few years, fintech — the confluence of financial services, technology, and the law — has created a boom that has reverberated from Silicon Valley to Wall Street to Main Street, reshaping customer expectations and demand for convenient and less expensive access to financial products and services, providing new opportunities for investors while driving innovation into virtual banking, cloud-based lending, and all forms of digital payments.
Buckley has a deep knowledge of the laws, regulations, innovative business models, and technology and market standards necessary to help:
- Companies develop and launch new products and services, including advising on the use of technology to resolve issues regarding regulation
- Investors identify, quantify, and manage risks when investing in the fintech marketplace
- Various eco-system participants structure electronic financial services transactions and create, preserve, and transfer billions of dollars of assets, including through the sales of loans, participations, and receivables
- Companies and service providers develop and implement successful strategic partnering and outsourcing arrangements, including bank partner, servicing, and other critical third-party relationships
- Companies creating regulatory-compliant structures for novel technology advances
With a full service practice group dedicated to electronic and mobile technology platforms, Buckley is strategically positioned to meet client demands. Our work in this area covers a diverse array of practices and disciplines.
Electronic Signatures & Records
We are nationally recognized authorities on the laws, regulations, and industry standards that impact the delivery, presentation, management, and execution of electronic signatures and records. We advise clients on requirements affecting the entire life cycle of electronic records and their underlying transactions, and in all electronic mediums. Our team members played key roles in the development of the laws enabling e-commerce transactions, including the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) Act and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA). We also were instrumental in the creation of the broadly adopted Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures manual (SPeRS) and are the authors of The Law of Electronic Signatures and Records (Thomson Reuters), which is in its 8th edition.
Mobile Finance & Payments
Buckley regularly assist clients, non-banks, and chartered institutions with issues relating to mobile disclosure delivery and e-contracting, advertising and marketing compliance, risk management, strategic partnerships and other transactions, data ownership, licensing, and compliance with consumer protection statutes and regulations. We also provide guidance on all aspects of the laws governing payment processes, including electronic fund transfer, remittances, Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, remote check creation, remote deposit capture, and compliance with payment network requirements and industry standards for payments.
Marketplace Lending
We represent leading and emerging consumer and commercial marketplace lenders and other alternative credit providers, as well as investors in their companies and loan products, on a range of regulatory, transactional, structuring, and product development matters. We also advocate for our clients in the context of supervisory and enforcement actions as well as civil litigation. Our comprehensive knowledge of underlying products, statutes, regulations, and market standards, combined with our experience in electronic payments systems, mobile commerce, data security, vendor management, and related transactions makes us uniquely positioned to advise clients in this innovative industry.
Prepaid Cards
Our team advises issuers and providers of prepaid access (e.g., gifts, payroll, flexible spending, health spending, rebates, rewards, travel, or for prepaid cards general use) on the application of state and federal money transmitter laws, compliance with Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) laws and regulations, and structuring and negotiating critical third-party relationships. We work with businesses at the beginning stages of program development and continue to guide them through the full product life cycle, advising along the way on marketing and consumer protection strategies, state licensing, federal registration, required disclosures, privacy issues, strategic partnerships, and many other areas.
Money Transmitters & Money Services Businesses
We review unique and sophisticated payments platforms and advise on the best strategy for achieving money transmitter licensing compliance and obtaining licenses or exemptions to licensing. We assist payment innovators, investors, and businesses involved in virtual currency enterprises with the development of Bank Secrecy Act/anti-money laundering (BSA/AML) policies, procedures, training programs, licensing, registration, implementation of assessment reviews in connection with Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and state law requirements, and various transactions, including critical third-party relationships and acquisitions.
Virtual Currencies
We advise companies on the issues germane to the regulatory regimes applicable to virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, and blockchain. We assist clients in applying for and obtaining the necessary state money transmitter licensing and/or structure various partnerships with other eco-system players. As this is a rapidly evolving industry, we closely monitor developments impacting virtual currency companies and their compliance initiatives, such as proposed or adopted state and federal regulatory and legislative developments.
Blockchain
As blockchain technology continues to evolve as a transformative force in the global economy, Buckley is uniquely positioned to provide leadership and guidance regarding the myriad legal and regulatory issues that have arisen along with the technology. Increasingly, blockchain/fintech companies are providing services that traditionally have been highly regulated, resulting in many regulatory agencies indicating interest in developing relevant licensing frameworks. Our services in this area include independent testing and gap analysis to determine compliance, assistance with vendor selection, policy and procedure design and implementation, chartering and licensing assistance, risk assessment, exam preparation, due diligence for onboarding and investment, and outsourced general counsel assistance.
Anti-Money Laundering
We advise banks and non-banks, including fintech companies, on compliance with AML laws and regulations of the BSA and state money transmitter laws. We often assist clients with development of BSA/AML policies, procedures, and training programs, as well as performing implementation assessment reviews in connection with Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and state law requirements, and bank reviews. We also provide training from the business line to the board, as well as compliance testing and audit.
Privacy, Cyber Risk & Data Security
Buckley advises entities that collect, process, store, and transfer sensitive personal information on matters involving the full spectrum of privacy and data risk issues affecting their business operations, including board governance matters. We perform gap analysis and risk assessments, develop information and cyber security programs, and draft policies and procedures. We also draft affiliate marketing plans and public statements involving privacy and information security. We advise clients on legal requirements and regulatory expectations on third-party selection oversight issues involving data ownership, use, and sharing.
Transactional
We regularly advise and assist fintech companies and financial institutions in connection with various corporate and transactional activities, including mergers and acquisitions, strategic investments, corporate governance and corporate structuring issues and agreements, critical third-party relationships (including bank partner, servicing agreements, and network participation agreements), consumer-related agreements, and asset purchase and sale agreements, involving related issues such as "true lender" risk.
Expertise in e-commerce, fintech, regulatory examinations, and investigations, and FTC compliance in particular.Legal 500
Articles
"Compliance considerations after OCC ups fintech scrutiny" by Jon David D. Langlois, Max Bonici, and Marisa Perfetti (Law360)
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency recently noted bank-fintech partnerships as a key element of its fiscal year 2023 bank supervision operating plan, putting both OCC-supervised depository institutions and fintech companies looking to partner with them on notice that their relationships...
Articles"Expect greater regulatory scrutiny of crypto-asset activities" by Kathryn L. Ryan, Gordon L. Miller, and Max Bonici (Law360)
In mid-August, the Federal Reserve issued guidance on crypto-asset and related activities, joining the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in alerting their supervised entities that they must provide written notice before engaging in this space...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: New Fed guidelines clarify, but do not transform, master account and payment services access
The Federal Reserve Board recently issued final guidelines for the Reserve Banks to use in reviewing requests from a range of financial services providers for access to Federal Reserve master accounts and payment services. Master account and Federal Reserve services allow institutions to transfer...
Special AlertsSpecial Alert: DOJ settles claims of algorithmic bias
On June 21, the United States Department of Justice announced that it had secured a “groundbreaking” settlement resolving claims brought against a large social media platform for allegedly engaging in discriminatory advertising in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The settlement is one of the...
Special Alerts"CFPB credit stance has broad specialty finance implications" by Jeffrey P. Naimon (Law360)
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an advisory opinion at the end of November that could compel specialty-finance companies — including those offering income-share agreements, litigation funding, merchant cash advances and earned wage access products — to take a fresh look at whether...
Articles"Budding decentralized finance industry comes with risks" by Ali M. Abugheida (Law360)
The sudden rise of Compound Labs Inc.'s COMP governance token in recent months pushed decentralized finance into the headlines, raising the profile of blockchain-based finance systems to a more mainstream audience. This article provides a short primer on decentralized finance and discusses some of...
Articles"Educational tools may bring regulatory risk for fintech cos." (Law360)
Financial services providers are increasingly combining delivery of products and services with advice designed to help consumers make better-informed financial decisions. Fintech companies, which typically rely upon data and analytics as fundamental components of their business proposition, should...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: OCC adopts final rule addressing Madden
On Acting Comptroller of the Currency Brian Brooks’ first day in that role, the OCC issued a final rule designed to effectively reverse the Second Circuit’s 2015 Madden v. Midland Funding decision. [1] As published in yesterday’s Federal Register , the rule, titled “Permissible Interest on Loans...
Special Alerts"Ruling on anti-hacking law may guide fair lending tests" by Jeffrey P. Naimon (Law360)
Regulators, consumer groups, academics and private litigants are grappling with the fair lending implications of the credit models powering the explosive growth in online lending by banks and financial technology firms. The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in late March concluded...
Articles"Navigating digitized mortgage processes during Covid-19" by Edward W. Somers (Law360)
The risks presented by the coronavirus pandemic have forced innovation in executing consumer contracts — and fast. Not least affected is the mortgage industry, which typically relies on in-person interactions for document execution to satisfy legal requirements and investor guidelines. Office...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: The Fed’s Main Street Lending Program: Fitting relief for fintechs and nonbank lenders?
The Federal Reserve Board’s recently announced the Main Street Lending Program, intended to provide financing for a range of small and mid-sized businesses, may provide much needed federal relief for fintech firms and nonbank lenders that has otherwise been lacking. These firms generally have not...
Special Alerts"Financial regulators’ dilemma: Administrative and regulatory hurdles to innovation" by Jeremiah S. Buckley and Sasha Leonhardt (George Washington University Law School: Business & Finance Law Review)
Developments in financial technology hold great promise to enhance the quality, delivery, and reach of consumer financial services. However, many of the laws dictating the operations of financial regulators are more than 50 years old, and in drafting these laws Congress understandably did not...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ease RON requirements
On March 31, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued bulletins updating and clarifying their respective requirements for remote online notarizations as they seek to reduce in-person notarizations during the Covid-19 pandemic. Remote online notarization allows a notary to use electronic tools — typically...
Special Alerts"Mitigating crypto UDAAP risk after Ripple ICO ruling" by Ali M. Abugheida (Law360)
Cryptocurrency advocates have long argued that cryptocurrencies are not securities, and therefore not subject to state and federal securities laws. But a district court in California just shed light on whether advocates’ desired outcome also carries a substantial downside: application of state and...
ArticlesSpecial Alert: OCC and FDIC propose rules to override Madden
On November 18, 2019 the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (“OCC”) issued a proposed rule to clarify that when a national bank or savings association sells, assigns, or otherwise transfers a loan, the interest permissible prior to the transfer continues to be permissible following the...
Special Alerts"Alternative data and fair lending face off: The relationship is complicated" by Caroline M. Stapleton (Mortgage Compliance Magazine)
Thinking of getting into a relationship with alternative data? You're not alone. Use of "alternate data," a term broadly used to describe consumer information gathered from non-conventional sources, is becoming increasingly attractive to mortgage lenders, their service providers, and even consumers...
ArticlesC-Suite Financial Services Review: Navigating state money-transmission laws
Financial technology companies’ entry into the payment, money transmission, consumer and commercial finance, and virtual-currency markets has spotlighted byzantine state money-transmission laws. State regulators are generally responsible for licensing and supervising the activities of money...
C-Suite ReviewSpecial Alert: OCC announces it will accept fintech charter applications, following the release of Treasury report on nonbank financial institutions
On July 31, the OCC announced that nondepository financial technology firms engaged in one or more core banking functions may apply for a special purpose national bank (SPNB) charter. The announcement follows a report released the same day by the Treasury Department, which discusses a number of...
Special Alerts"Improving your odds on the gambling frontier" by Andrew R. Louis, Kathryn L. Ryan, and Tim Lange (SportsBusiness Journal)
The Supreme Court has laid the groundwork for sports betting in any state that wants it, but those predicting an imminent land grab by betting houses may not fully appreciate the deliberate and occasionally painstaking process that most states will likely implement. Careful planning now to...
Articles
News & Blogs
Crypto lender to provide refunds to Californians
On March 27, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) announced that a New Jersey-based crypto lending platform has agreed to provide more than $100,000 in refunds to California residents. The refunds, subject to bankruptcy court approval, stem from the lender’s...
InfoBytesVirginia credit unions may engage in virtual currency custody services
On March 23, the Virginia governor signed HB 1727 , which amends the Virginia code to allow credit unions operating in the commonwealth to engage in virtual currency custody services, provided the credit union “has adequate protocols in place to effectively manage risks and comply with applicable...
InfoBytesBiden administration questions crypto assets
President Biden recently issued his sweeping economic report , in which the administration’s Council of Economic Advisers addressed numerous economic policy concerns, including the current crypto ecosystem and the perceived appeal of crypto assets. The report discussed claims made about the...
InfoBytesU.S., German law enforcement disable darknet crypto mixer
On March 15, U.S. law enforcement, along with German criminal authorities, disabled a darknet cryptocurrency “mixing” service used to allegedly launder more than $3 billion in cryptocurrency underlying ransomware, darknet market activities, fraud, cryptocurrency heists, hacking schemes, and other...
InfoBytesFed governor says transparency is key for promoting innovation in the banking system
On March 14, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle W. Bowman presented thoughts on innovation trends within the U.S. financial system during a conference held by the Independent Community Bankers of America. Bowman commented that innovation has always been a priority for banks of all sizes and business...
InfoBytesSEC files emergency action on $100 million crypto fraud
On March 6, the SEC announced it had filed an emergency action against a Miami-based investment adviser and one of its principals (collectively, “defendants”) in connection with a $100 million crypto asset fraud scheme. According to the SEC’s complaint , filed in the U.S. District Court for the...
InfoBytesDistrict Court says EFTA applies to cryptocurrency
On February 22, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York partially granted a cryptocurrency exchange’s motion to dismiss allegations that its inadequate security practices allowed unauthorized users to drain customers’ cryptocurrency savings. Plaintiffs claimed the exchange and...
InfoBytesHsu presses for global supervision of crypto
On March 6, acting Comptroller of the Currency Michael J. Hsu commented that the collapse of a major cryptocurrency exchange has underscored a need for consolidated supervision of global cryptocurrency firms. Speaking before the Institute for International Banker’s Annual Washington Conference, Hsu...
InfoBytesRepublican lawmakers ask about risks of customers’ digital assets on balance sheets
On March 2, Senator Cynthia M. Lummis (R-WY) and Representative Patrick McHenry (R-NC) sent a letter to the Federal Reserve Board, FDIC, OCC, and NCUA requesting input on SEC guidance issued last year that directs cryptocurrency firms to account for customers’ digital assets on their balance sheets...
InfoBytesTreasury seeks to advance CBDCs
On March 1, Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Nellie Liang announced that the Treasury Department will lead a new senior-level working group to advance work on a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC). As previously discussed in a Treasury report released last September on the future...
InfoBytes
Press Releases & Announcements
Legal 500 2022 recognizes 18 Buckley attorneys in five practice areas
“They treat their clients better than any other law firm I’ve experienced,” is what one respondent said about Buckley LLP to Legal 500, which ranked the firm as a top law firm in five categories and recognized 18 of its attorneys for its 2022 edition.
The publication recognized...
AnnouncementsBuckley recognized by Chambers USA for consumer financial services, white collar, and fintech practices
Chambers USA named Buckley LLP a nationwide Band 1 firm in all consumer finance categories in its 2022 rankings, recognizing six of its partners in those practices. The firm received top recognition in Consumer Finance Compliance, Consumer Finance Litigation, and Consumer Finance...
AnnouncementsLegal 500 2021 recognizes 17 Buckley attorneys in six practice areas
“While some firms will provide lengthy and expensive legal analysis, Buckley’s team relies on their depth and breadth of expertise to provide useful guidance from various team members quickly and efficiently,” a respondent told Legal 500, which ranked Buckley LLP as a top law firm and...
AnnouncementsBuckley recognized by Chambers USA for consumer financial services, white collar practices
Chambers USA named Buckley LLP a nationwide Band 1 firm in all consumer finance categories in its 2021 rankings, recognizing nine of its partners in those practices — more than any other firm in the country. The firm received top recognition in Consumer Finance Compliance, Consumer...
AnnouncementsLegal 500 2020 recognizes 21 Buckley attorneys in six practice areas
“Buckley attorneys are incredibly responsive while providing top quality legal services,” is how respondents described the firm in the 2020 edition of Legal 500, which ranked Buckley as a top law firm and recognized it in six categories:
- Corporate Investigations and White ...
Buckley recognized by Chambers USA as a “top-notch” firm in financial services and white collar work
Buckley has once again received top recognition in financial services regulation, white collar crime/government investigations, and fintech from Chambers USA, which ranks the country’s leading firms and lawyers in a range of practice areas based on research and client interviews....
AnnouncementsBuckley Sandler ranked for fintech by Chambers USA
Buckley Sandler has been highly ranked in the area of Fintech by Chambers USA, a well-regarded ranking agency of law firms and lawyers.
Chambers placed the firm in its Band 2 ranking and commended it for “an impressive depth of ready...
AnnouncementsGordon Miller joins Buckley Sandler
WASHINGTON, DC (August 13, 2018) – Buckley Sandler LLP announced today that banking regulatory lawyer Gordon L. Miller has joined the firm as a Senior Counsel in its Washington, D.C., office. Miller brings more than three decades of public- and private-sector experience in bank regulation,...
Press ReleasesBuckley Sandler launches APPROVED licensing service
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 7, 2018) – Buckley Sandler LLP today formally announced the launch of APPROVED , a new approach to licensing for financial services companies. Buckley Sandler is building upon years of financial services experience and licensing know-how to offer APPROVED, a technology-...
Press ReleasesBuckley Sandler Opens San Francisco Office
WASHINGTON, DC (January 9, 2018) – Buckley Sandler LLP today announced the opening of an office in San Francisco, expanding the firm’s California presence to meet the demands of its growing base of fintech, regtech, and technology clients. The firm also has offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles...
Press Releases
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Quick Reference Guide: U.S. Regulation and Enforcement of Digital Assets
Recent Blog Posts
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March 30, 2023
Crypto lender to provide refunds to Californians
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March 30, 2023
Virginia credit unions may engage in virtual currency custody services
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March 24, 2023
Biden administration questions crypto assets
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March 23, 2023
U.S., German law enforcement disable darknet crypto mixer
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March 17, 2023
Fed governor says transparency is key for promoting innovation in the banking system