FinTech

Technology is rapidly transforming the financial services industry, creating both new opportunities and complex regulatory challenges. Taft’s multidisciplinary FinTech team delivers comprehensive counsel to clients at the intersection of financial services and technology and beyond. Our attorneys advise clients on adapting to regulatory changes, managing risk, launching new ventures, developing innovative products, expanding into new markets, and achieving business objectives in a highly competitive market.

Taft’s FinTech Practice brings together attorneys from across the firm to represent early-stage and publicly traded companies, including banks, broker-dealers, alternative trading systems (ATSs), exchanges, advisors to private funds, trust companies, money service businesses, and digital asset trading platforms. The practice is widely recognized for advising leading operators of cryptocurrency and digital asset trading platforms before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the U.S. Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), the Federal Reserve Board, the Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), state banking and securities regulators, and the Financial Industry and Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and the National Futures Association (NFA).

Taft’s FinTech team offers clients strategic representation across the full spectrum of financial technology, including:

• Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies (Digital Assets).
• Payments and Lending.
• Data Protection and Cybersecurity.
• Crypto-Asset Disputes and Regulatory Enforcement Actions.
• Corporate Transactions, Securities, and Financing.

Taft’s team guides clients through the integration of disruptive technologies such as blockchain, digital assets, and artificial intelligence, ensuring compliance with federal, state, and international laws and regulations. We are recognized for our thought leadership and our attorneys are frequent speakers at seminars and author numerous articles in national publications.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies (Digital Assets)

Taft team attorneys are pioneers in the regulation of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and other digital assets.  We provide comprehensive legal counsel on the development, launch, and operation of blockchain-based platforms, tokenized assets, and cryptocurrency products. The team guides clients through every stage of product structuring, regulatory classification, licensing, compliance, and cross-border transactions, leveraging deep experience with both federal and state regulatory bodies – including the SEC, the CFTC, the NFA, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the OCC, and state banking regulators. We advise FinTech companies on the development of products that may be subject to regulation as a security, commodity, or derivative, and counsel clients registered with the SEC or CFTC as securities or commodities exchanges, alternative trading systems, swap execution facilities, clearinghouses, or transfer agents.

Payments and Lending

Payments and lending are central pillars of the FinTech industry, involving a complex regulatory landscape for both traditional and emerging products. Taft attorneys specializing in Electronic Payments and PayTech work with our FinTech clients to navigate laws and regulations affecting non-bank money transmitters — including domestic and cross-border funds transmitters, stored value issuers, payment processors, and other intermediaries — as well as a wide range of lending structures. This work includes ensuring compliance with anti-money laundering regulations, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, state and federal prepaid access and gift card laws, and consumer lending requirements under the Truth in Lending Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Taft’s team understands how critical licensing and compliance efforts before state agencies are, especially for non-bank lenders and money transmitters that are seeking to operate nationwide or undergoing changes of control.

See our experience in this area here.

Data Protection and Cybersecurity

Taft’s Privacy and Data Security attorneys bring extensive experience to the FinTech sector, helping clients navigate the complex and rapidly evolving landscape of data protection and privacy. The practice advises on compliance with a broad array of state, federal, and international privacy laws and regulations — including GLBA, FACTA, FCRA, and GDPR — relevant to financial institutions, payment processors, digital asset platforms, and emerging FinTech businesses. Taft attorneys assist with data governance risk assessments, development and implementation of privacy and cybersecurity programs, regulatory compliance, and incident response, ensuring that sensitive financial and personal data is managed securely and aligned with industry best practices. The team also counsels on data security breaches, consumer protection, information management, and cross-border data transfers, providing proactive strategies to mitigate risk and respond to regulatory investigations or enforcement actions. With Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) credentials and multidisciplinary expertise, Taft’s attorneys are well-positioned to support FinTech clients in safeguarding data, maintaining regulatory compliance, and building consumer trust in an increasingly digital financial landscape.

See our experience in this area here.

Crypto-Asset Disputes and Regulatory Enforcement Actions

Taft’s FinTech team has significant experience handling crypto-asset disputes, including investigations and enforcement actions by the SEC, the CFTC, the OCC, and the Office of Foreign Assets Control. This work spans civil litigation, white-collar matters, and regulatory proceedings, with our litigators and white-collar practice lawyers providing focused counsel to FinTech clients facing complex challenges in the digital asset space. The team defends clients in regulatory investigations, civil actions, and enforcement proceedings, leveraging deep industry knowledge and multidisciplinary expertise to navigate the evolving legal landscape for cryptocurrency and digital assets.

Corporate Transactions, Securities, and Financing

Taft’s corporate, M&A, and securities practices have extensive experience advising FinTech clients on a wide range of transactions, securities, and financing matters. The team assists clients in raising capital through public and private securities offerings, guiding them through the complexities of regulatory compliance and disclosure requirements specific to the FinTech industry. Their work includes structuring and negotiating venture capital investments, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships, as well as advising on registration with state and federal regulators as broker-dealers, alternative trading systems, exchanges, investment advisers, money services businesses, trust companies, and banks. With deep industry knowledge and a multidisciplinary approach, Taft’s attorneys help FinTech companies — from start-ups to established institutions — navigate the dynamic legal landscape, manage risk, and achieve their business objectives in a rapidly evolving financial services market.

See our experience in this area here.