Payments & Fintech

PAYMENT & FINTECH 

Financial technology, or “FinTech”, has changed the way the world considers finances. McMillan’s payments and money services lawyers have the experience, technical expertise and industry knowledge to help clients gain competitive advantage among emerging opportunities while navigating the risks FinTech brings. We have deep regulatory and transactional experience in all parts of Canada’s financial services industry, in regulatory oversight and in public policy.

In a rapidly evolving industry, our lawyers have gained significant FinTech experience advising institutional lenders, tech companies and regulators on a wide array of FinTech matters including cryptocurrencies (such as bitcoin), the payments ecosystem and peer to peer payment systems, mobile payments and deposits, virtual wallets, online lending, trading and investments and financial planning “Robo-advisors”. We also negotiate on behalf of clients the complex intersection of cybersecurity, data privacy, banking and securities regulatory compliance, consumer protection and other regulatory and transactional requirements.

BLOCKCHAIN, CRYPTOCURRENCY AND DIGITAL ASSETS

McMillan has a comprehensive understanding of blockchain, cryptocurrency, digital assets and other decentralized technologies. We use an integrative, pragmatic, and proactive approach when providing counsel in connection with an ever-changing regulatory landscape.

Our cross-disciplinary team brings together specialists across many fields, including litigation, securities regulation, capital markets, investment funds and asset management, mergers and acquisitions, derivatives, technology, privacy and cybersecurity, intellectual property, consumer protection, anti-money laundering, financial services, tax, and bankruptcy and insolvency.

McMillan provides Canada’s most sophisticated entrepreneurs, financial institutions, venture investors, asset managers, platforms, exchanges, third-party software service providers, and financial technology companies with the expertise to help evaluate, implement, invest in, and protect blockchain-based technologies and digital assets.  McMillan has advised on a wide variety of matters in this industry, including:

• Civil and regulatory proceedings in the digital assets and blockchain space;
• Cryptocurrency fraud, forensic investigations, asset tracing, enforcement, and seizure of digital assets, including with respect to cross-border matters;
• Advising clients and working with courts, monitors and custodians with respect to the valuation, transfer, custody, maintenance, and disposition of digital assets in all manner of proceedings;
• Initial coin or token offerings (ICOs and ITOs);
• Securities registrations and applications for exemptive relief (including with respect to crypto asset trading platforms (CTPs));
• Regulatory enforcement proceedings with respect to CTPs and digital assets generally;
• Cybersecurity and privacy;
• Securities regulatory compliance;
• Consumer protection and other regulatory and transactional requirements;
• Money services business (MSB) regulatory guidance, registration, and licensing;
• Formation of funds that invest in digital assets and blockchain-related businesses;
• Disputes about, and regulation of, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), digital collectibles, and virtual goods;
• Brand protection;
• Registration of trademarks covering NFTs;
• Drafting patent applications pertaining to blockchain and metaverse-related inventions;
• Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO) projects;
• Web3 blockchain applications, decentralized finance (DeFi), and staking;
• Tax matters;
• Smart contracts; and
• Recovery of distressed assets.

PAYMENTS & MONEY SERVICES

McMillan’s payments, money and financial services lawyers specialize in helping corporate clients navigate this dynamic payments industry. Our practice draws on the firm’s expertise across a wide variety of practice areas to provide our clients with a unique perspective on the Canadian and international payments ecosystem.

McMillan’s payments practice regularly advises merchants, payments processors, card companies (payment network providers), digital payments companies, regulators, industry groups, technology providers, cross-border payments facilitators and payment clearing and settlement providers. Our payments, money and financial services lawyers offer expertise on anti-money laundering and economic sanctions, regulatory compliance, financial services, consumer protection, privacy and data protection, and information technology. We combine industry knowledge with a deep understanding of payment and financial market infrastructures to provide a full range of services to clients in the payments, funds transfer, foreign exchange, virtual currency and Paytech sectors.

Our lawyers have negotiated with regulators and various parties in the Canadian payments system, including the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions and Payments Canada, to clear the regulatory hurdles associated with bringing an innovative payment functionality to the Canadian marketplace.