As a premier provider of legal services to the financial institutions industry, our team has the depth and experience to guide your institution through the oftentimes complex regulatory web at both the state and federal levels.  Our team can provide critical advice and representation concerning the following areas:

Regulatory Advice

• Product and System Design – Assist companies in optimizing the design of their products and services.  Because we are experts in regulatory issues, we can guide institutions through the maze of federal and state laws and regulations that affect the overall operation of product/service offerings.
• State Licensing and Exemptions – Advise clients in obtaining licenses in all 50 states, sometimes in multiple license categories. We also design compliance programs to minimize the need for licensing in various states.
• Federal and State Compliance – Compliance advice with the laws of all 50 states, including areas concerning: (i) marketing, underwriting, originating, servicing and collecting consumer and business credit products; (ii) applications and compliance with respect to money services businesses and money transmitters; and (iii) payment systems and networks under Regulation E.
  
  In addition, we can actively help your institution manage its regulatory relationships with federal and state regulatory agencies, including, but not limited to, compliance with FinCEN, OFAC, SEC, CFTC and other regulatory requirements.
• Strategic Relationships – Because of the depth of our experience in banking matters, we are in a favorable position to introduce and help form strategic relationships with regulated financial institutions and other vendors and service providers.
• Regulatory Updates and Alerts – As an emerging industry, FinTech has increasingly been the subject of proposed regulation. Our experienced team will alert your institution to proposed regulations and their likely impact in a timely manner and will help your institution develop next steps. 

Capital and Financing Needs

Most FinTech companies have significant equity and capital needs and are rapidly expanding.  Vedder Price works with many of the world’s leading equity debt providers and investors in all parts of the capital structure, delivering comprehensive legal services that support a wide variety of transactions. With our extensive experience and strategic relationships, we can assist FinTech companies in establishing an equity and capital structure that aligns with the needs of the company.

Litigation

Our attorneys have broad experience in cases involving:

• Defense against regulatory enforcement actions
• Commercial lending litigation
• Defense of consumer-based claims brought under U.S. state common law or UDAP statutes, and claims brought pursuant to TILA, ECOA, RESPA, FDCPA, FCRA, the Civil Rights Act, RICO and other U.S. federal statutes
• Discriminatory lending based on HMDA and other lending data and brought under federal statutes such as FHA, ECOA and the Civil Rights Act
• Intellectual Property infringement dispute enforcement before federal agencies, such as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the U.S. International Trade Commission, when necessary

Intellectual Property

Our FinTech Intellectual Property team routinely advises clients on how to protect their new technology in the financial services industry. Some areas of our experience include:

• Software development and distribution
• Design patents
• Trademark applications
• Electronic commerce
• Technology licensing and maintenance
• Outsourcing/insourcing arrangements
• Strategic alliances
• Cloud computing, including ASP, SaaS, IaaS and PaaS platforms
• Implementation and acceptance testing
• Multimedia content acquisition
• Transition services agreements
• System integration
• Technology transfer agreements
• Consulting agreements