Estudio Legal Bernal has a versatile Fintech practice that acts for fintech companies and their providers, partners and clients.

ELB works with Fintech companies at every stage of evolution form start-ups at the White Paper stage to established enterprises that are either growing domestically, expanding into new verticals or establishing in new jurisdictions.

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  ELB has experience working with a broad variety of solutions and platforms including:

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- Payments and payments processing

- Digital / Electronic Banking

- Investments & Financial Management

- Lending & Crowdfunding

 

  Estudio Legal Bernal acts for Fintech enterprises in three core areas:

 

Corporate & Commercial

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 Estudio Legal Bernal works with Fintech enterprises in structuring their corporate and ownership structures and the respective corporate and constitutional documents. It has experience working with simple domestic corporate structure, complex multilateral structures and offshore structures.

 

 It can also structure Fintech enterprises’ white-labels, franchises, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and can act for both the acquirer or the target.

Relatedly, ELB works with Fintech enterprises to develop their products and draft contracts for various commercial arrangements including those with clients, suppliers and providers, banking partners and affiliates.

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Regulatory Authorisation

 

  Estudio Legal Bernal acts for Fintech enterprises at every stage of the process of regulatory authorisation by national regulators or competent authorities. This involves all interactions with the regulators, fulfilment of initial and continuous regulatory requirements, preparation of the regulatory authorisation packs and supporting material, applications, appeals and variations to regulatory authorisations.

Equally ELB guides and assists fintech initiatives that enter into a “regulatory sandbox” and facilitates the ongoing dialogue and oversight by the regulator.

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Regulatory Compliance

 

  Estudio Legal Bernal has extensive expertise working with Fintech enterprises on their regulatory compliance and controls in a world of constantly changing and evolving requirements and practices. It often works with the Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering departments of the Fintech to develop compliance manuals, policies, procedures, practices and protocols.

 

  This includes compliance practices such as Verification of Identity, Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Customer’s Customer (KYCC), Data Protection, Anti-Money Laundering / Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT), transaction monitoring, velocity checks and controls, Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) and sanctions screening.

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 ELB can also undertake ‘monitoring’ or ‘investigative’ exercises that assess the extent of implementation of compliance policies and extent of adherence to the respective requirements.