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Financial Technology

Our finance-focused, tech-obsessed attorneys help clients overcome the legal and regulatory obstacles to innovation.


Comprised of privacy professionals, developers, technologists, former government attorneys, law professors and industry trailblazers, Ice Miller's FinTech team is uniquely positioned to assist clients navigate the evolving FinTech legal and regulatory landscape. We handle matters at the intersection of law and emerging technologies, such as:
 
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning
  • Data science and data analytics
  • Blockchain and virtual currencies
  • Smart devices (IoT)
  • Payments technology
  • Open banking and API Platforms
  • BiometricsFinTech Intersection of Background and Experience
Ice Miller’s FinTech team has represented hundreds of lenders, servicers, wealth managers, payment companies, trading and markets businesses, blockchain and cryptocurrency companies, national banks, regional banks, credit unions and other financial institutions. Complementing Ice Miller’s extensive experience, our attorneys are industry leaders who understand financial technologies and appreciate both the legal and technical challenges those technologies pose. Our legal team has over two decades of systems, network, security engineering and software development experience. In addition, the FinTech Group includes:
 
  • Attorneys recognized by the National Law Journal (Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, and FinTech Trailblazers), Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America©;
  • Former federal prosecutors, the former Director of Enforcement for the Ohio Division of Securities and a former CIA intelligence officer;
  • Faculty members for the ISC2 (CISSP certification training), IAPP (CIPT certification training) and NITA (National Institute for Trial Advocacy);
  • Privacy and FinTech professors for the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law and Loyola University School of Law;
  • Industry leaders who have spoken at Lend360, Block(Legal)Tech the IAPP Global Privacy Summit, ABA Annual Meetings and who have been published and cited in Coindesk, Law360, Forbes, FinTech Weekly and Bloomberg; and
  • Founders of the Chicago Bar Association’s Financial and Emerging Technology Committee, the first bar association of its kind. 
With attorneys across a spectrum of practices, including Litigation; Government Enforcement & Internal Investigations; Data Security and Privacy; Business Services; Entrepreneurial Company Services; Labor, Employment, and Immigration; Private Equity and Venture Capital; Intellectual Property; Securities and Capital Markets; Finance and Bankruptcy, our team can handle a wide variety of legal matters for FinTech clients at any point in their life cycle.

Click the icon below to learn more about our FinTech-focused work:

Dispute Resolutions & Internal Investigations

Compliance

General Corporate Advice & Counseling

Insurance

Data Security & Privacy

Dispute Resolution and Internal Investigations
Ice Miller attorneys can represent clients in a wide variety of disputes, covering a host of FinTech-specific subject matters, including: 
  • Litigation pertaining to data breaches
  • Disputes Regarding the Valuation of Crypto-Assets and ICOs
  • “True Lender” Actions
  • Consumer Class Action Defense (TILA, RESPA, FCRA, ECOA, UDAP, etc.)
  • Breach of Contract (Loan Sales / Servicing, Payment Processing Disputes, etc.)
  • Securities Class Actions and related matters (including matters pertaining to ICOs and unregistered trading) 
  • Patent, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, trade name, domain name, cybersquatting, copyright, antitrust, noncompete, unfair competition, right of publicity and deceptive trade practices cases
  • Internal Investigations and Government Investigations
  • Enforcement Action Defense and Government Agency Data Requests (CFPB, FTC, SEC, CFTC)

Dispute Resolutions & Internal Investigations

Dispute Resolution and Internal Investigations

Dispute Resolution and Internal Investigations
Ice Miller attorneys can represent clients in a wide variety of disputes, covering a host of FinTech-specific subject matters, including: 
  • Litigation pertaining to data breaches
  • Disputes Regarding the Valuation of Crypto-Assets and ICOs
  • “True Lender” Actions
  • Consumer Class Action Defense (TILA, RESPA, FCRA, ECOA, UDAP, etc.)
  • Breach of Contract (Loan Sales / Servicing, Payment Processing Disputes, etc.)
  • Securities Class Actions and related matters (including matters pertaining to ICOs and unregistered trading) 
  • Patent, trademark, trade dress, trade secret, trade name, domain name, cybersquatting, copyright, antitrust, noncompete, unfair competition, right of publicity and deceptive trade practices cases
  • Internal Investigations and Government Investigations
  • Enforcement Action Defense and Government Agency Data Requests (CFPB, FTC, SEC, CFTC)


Compliance

Compliance

Compliance
With a deep knowledge of state and federal privacy, fair lending and other rules and regulations that govern the conduct of FinTech companies, Ice Miller’s team assists clients with drafting appropriate policies, performing necessary audits and conducting internal investigations. For example, Ice Miller can help clients craft policies, perform audits or conduct investigations to ensure compliance with: (1) privacy laws (HIPAA, COPPA, BIPA, GDPR, etc.); (2) fair lending laws (ECOA, FCRA, TILA, RESPA, TCPA) and (3) securities laws, money transmitter laws and other regulations (BSA, money transmitter licensure, broker-dealer regulations, KYC/AML, etc.).

Ice Miller attorneys can also advise clients on practices regarding an assortment of FinTech-specific topics such as insider trading, storage of crypto-assets, identification and disposition of crypto-assets, PSD2 compliance and loan origination and servicing.


General Corporate Advice & Counseling

General Corporate Advice and Counseling

General Corporate Advice and Counseling
Our attorneys have deep experience in the legal issues that are critical to the growth and success of FinTech companies, such as entity formation; capitalization; capital raising; alternative financing; intellectual property rights and protection; growth and exit strategies; corporate governance; tax matters; labor, employment and immigration matters; and employee incentive compensation arrangements.

In addition, Ice Miller frequently counsels clients on the specific issues raised by financial and emerging technologies, such as the acquisition or disposition of large sums of cryptocurrencies, cyber-extortion (e.g. ransomware), tax implications for the procurement or sale of cryptocurrencies, payment processing agreements and contracts for the sale and servicing of loans made by online or marketplace lenders.


Insurance

Insurance

Insurance
We handle claims and obtain reimbursement for clients experiencing data breaches, wire transfer fraud, cyber-extortion and other security events. We also provide policyholders with counseling on pre-loss issues, ranging from assessments of coverage for particular risks to help with securing favorable coverage terms under specialty technology and cyber-liability insurance policies. We have also prepared dozens of cyber-insurance “gap” analyses. More broadly, the Firm has appeared as counsel of record in over 300 reported opinions in cases involving insurance coverage or insurance issues and has recovered hundreds of millions on behalf of policyholders.
 


Data Security & Privacy

Data Security & Privacy

Data Security & Privacy
We counsel clients in creation of cybersecurity plans, information security programs, privacy programs, incident response plans and more to comply with state, federal and international data security and privacy laws and regulations, as well as industry standards and best practices. We also assist clients with incident response to a variety of cyber-attacks, hacking incidents, data breaches and more. We defend clients in litigation resulting from these incidents.


Representative Experience

Lending
  • Defended clients in connection with hundreds of consumer class actions (TILA, RESPA, FCRA, ECOA, TCPA) and against unfair and deceptive trade practices (UDAP) allegations
  • Represented mortgage originators and depositors in lawsuits related to their sale and securitization of billions of dollars of mortgage loans
  • Represented mortgage company in connection with Justice Department investigation of its underwriting, sale, and securitization practices
  • Advised online lender about litigation risk stemming from its relationship with bank partners and potential “true lender” issues
  • Prepared AML/KYC policies for online lenders
  • Revised online lender’s master loan sale and loan servicing agreements in light of potential litigation risks
  • Represented lender in securities class actions stemming from allegedly false and misleading public disclosures
Payments Companies
  • Counseled Fortune 50 U.S.-based international merchant about the impact of PSD2
  • Advised large payments company about the litigation, tax, and technical risks associated with accepting cryptocurrency
  • Represented clients in connection with disputes related to payment processing agreements
Blockchain and Cryptocurrency
  • Drafted insider trading, risk management, and other policies for company evaluating investment in cryptocurrency
  • Advised clients about the legal risks of ICO sponsorship and investment in blockchain technologies
  • Counseled emerging blockchain and virtual currency companies about corporate structure, securities concerns, and criminal and litigation risks
  • Advised online platform and other media clients about the risks associated with advertising of cryptocurrency products
  • Revised client’s agreements for the provision of services pertaining to virtual currency services to mitigate legal risk
Investment Firms, Financial Institutions and other Clients with Interests in FinTech
  • Assisted a retail brand, large data provider, investment firm and other entities in navigating insurance policies and litigation opportunities to recover losses from data breaches, including forensic and legal expenses and losses attributable to the breaches
  • Defended High-Frequency Trader against employment and trade secret claims 

Firm Publications

News

Speaking Engagements

  • “Don’t Get Burned by Innovation,” Ice Miller CLE, May 6, 2019
  • “Crypto with Caution,” The DuPage Foundation, April 18, 2019
  • Moderator, “‘The AI’ – Demystifying Data Science and Artificial Intelligence,” Chicago Bar Association, April 24, 2019
  • Panelist, “International Appeal of Blockchain and the Future of Cryptocurrency Investments,” Chicago Bar Association, April 18, 2019
  • “Cryptocurrency: ICOs, SEC, and Other Issues,” Chicago Bar Association, April 18, 2019
  • “Biometrics, Blockchains, and Big Data, Oh My,” Washington University School of Law, April 10, 2019
  • “Minimizing Risk in Crypto Litigation,” Athena Bitcoin & Blockchain Chicago, April 2, 2019
  • Moderator, “Financial Technology and Innovation: The CFPB & The Future of Fintech” Loyola Law School’s Consumer Law Review Symposium, March 22, 2019
  • “The BIPA Rollercoaster,” FinTEx and Chicago Bar Association, March 15, 2019
  • “The Illinois FinTech Regulatory Sandbox,” Chicago Bar Association, March 7, 2019
  • “Another Block in the (Supply) Chain,” National Precast Concrete Association’s Annual Conference, March 1, 2019
  • “Blockchain Applications and Implications for the Legal and Accounting Industries,” Half Moon Education Seminar, December 20, 2018
  • “Truth without Proof?: The Process of Getting Distributed Ledger (Blockchain) Entries Into Evidence,” December 06, 2018
  • Panelist, “Blockchain Regulation and Criminal Law,” John Marshall Law School Symposium, November 09, 2018
  • Panelist, “Food & Beverage Litigation Conference: A Look at Hospitality, Liquor and Food Liability,” Perrin Conferences, October 16, 2018
  • “Legal Considerations for Businesses Considering Cryptocurrency or Blockchain Technologies,” The FinTech Symposium, October 16, 2018
  • Moderator, “The Changing Landscape of the Customer Experience: The Digital Transformation of Lending,” Lend360, October 09, 2018
  • “Focus on FinTech,” FinTex and Chicago Bar Association, September 26, 2018
  • “Technological Traps for the Unwary: The Intersection of Blockchain, Smart Contracts and Legal Ethics,” Chicago Bar Association, June 2018
  • Panelist – “The Masters Series for Legal Professionals,” The Master’s Conference, May 2018
  • Panelist – “Brave New World: Technologies Lawyers Need to Know,” Chicago Bar Association, May 2018
  • “Risky (Legal) Business: Avoiding Common Mistakes by Entrepreneurs,” 1871, May 2018
  • Panelist – “Legal Underwriting, Characterizing (Pricing) Legal Risk and Legal Portfolio Management,” 2017 Fin (Legal) Tech conference: A Conference About Law’s Future, October 2017
  • Panelist – “Blockchain: A Legal Perspective on Current Regulation,” FinTank Chicago Blockchain Summit, October 2017
  • “Wise or Unwise: Decrypting the Advantages, Uses and Limitations of Blockchain Technology and Smart Contracts,” Chicago Bar Association’s Financial Institutions Committee, September 2017
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