At the forefront of innovation, Wilson Sonsini’s Fintech and Financial Services Group provides creative and compliant solutions to resolve complex regulatory and transactional issues faced by innovative companies in the financial services sector. As the leading law firm for technology enterprises, our support extends to a wide range of companies: innovators in disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, or blockchain; alternative investment platforms; robo-advisers; peer-lending platforms; and innovative payment systems. The Fintech and Financial Services Group guides clients through the complex and shifting legal and regulatory landscape, providing practical counsel to help our clients pursue innovative business lines with a sound legal framework.
Guiding Companies Through Complex Legal and Regulatory Regimes
At the heart of our work is regulatory counseling. We advise companies with financial products and services on legal and regulatory requirements under statutes such as the Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Investment Company Act of 1940 (’40 Act), the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, the Commodity Exchange Act, and the Bank Holding Company Act; the rules of self-regulatory organizations such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the National Futures Association (NFA); and state laws such as money transmission and trust company statutes.
Beyond Regulatory Counseling: A Comprehensive Legal Partner
Wilson Sonsini supports the unique needs of each fintech client throughout its lifetime. Our corporate attorneys have deep expertise in guiding fintechs from founding and early-stage seed rounds through public offerings and beyond. Our technology transactions, intellectual property, tax, national security, privacy, and other specialist teams take a creative and practical approach to addressing the unique issues that fintech clients face. We are best-in-class in commercial negotiations and contracting for regulated financial services clients. Working together on a comprehensive basis, we help companies avoid foot faults that can lead to future problems and point them toward success.
Broad Expertise
Our attorneys have extensive experience across all fintech and financial services sub-sectors, including the following:
- Crowdfunding and alternative investment platforms, including those offering investments in diverse asset classes such as movie development, gaming, collectibles, real estate, drug and medical devices, and others; broker-dealers and funding portals facilitating Regulation Crowdfunding offerings; and peer-lending platforms offering payment-dependent notes or other investments in consumer, mortgage, or small business loans, publicly or privately.
- Payments and banking providers, including neo-banks, virtual credit card issuers, online personal finance platforms, open banking apps, and innovative money services businesses and money transmitters.
- Investment advisers, broker-dealers, alternative trading systems, and other intermediaries, including robo-advisers, social media investment platforms, renewable energy asset trading facilities, and private securities, among others.
- Blockchain and digital currency-related businesses, including Web 3.0 projects and blockchain-based gaming platforms, blockchain-based securities and settlement platforms, and decentralized finance platforms.
Meet Our Fintech and Financial Services Team
Join Our Fintech and Financial Services Team
Rare opportunity to join a growing and creative financial services practice in a firm that represents pioneering companies in the space. You will contribute to strategic securities law counselling for launching new investment products and platforms as well as provide more discrete counselling on laws and regulations applicable to issuers and intermediaries in securities laws transactions.
This is an exciting time to join our developing group, which demands intellectual curiosity, regulatory rigor, and a knowledge of the cutting-edge technologies being used in the financial services industry. Our team is highly collaborative, and associates have opportunities to work directly with innovative companies, play an entrepreneurial role in building the practice, interact meaningfully with partners in the group and attorneys across the firm, and benefit from thoughtful, ongoing mentoring. If you have 1-3 years’ experience, particularly as it relates to investment products and securities intermediaries, we want to hear from you. More senior candidates are welcome to apply if you have more on-point experience.
Our Fintech and Financial Services team represents the financial technology pioneers and disruptors associated with market-changing innovation in technology. We offer the opportunity to work exclusively in fintech and financial services, representing startups and founder-led companies across all stages, from pre-formation to capital markets. We are looking for an associate with the skills and curiosity to develop mastery---and with creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset to help us build a modern payments practice in a fast-growing and rapidly changing industry. Bring your 3 or more years of experience working in payments and banking law with a focus on regulatory compliance to this exciting opportunity.
If you would like to submit an application to Wilson Sonsini, but do not see an active posting for the office or practice you are interested in, please apply here.
