FinTech in Canada

FinTech in Canada

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Regional Capabilities

As digital innovations transform financial services, it is essential to have a legal team that not only understands these changes, but is working at the forefront. Dentons’ FinTech practice group is experienced in helping financial services providers and other participants to overcome the challenges and capitalize on all the opportunities the digital frontier presents – both in Canada and around the world.

Dentons’ lawyers provide the strategic counsel necessary to navigate the dynamic FinTech sector. With deep expertise and multi-jurisdictional capabilities, our team can help you realize your organization’s vision on a global scale. In addition to facilitating strategic partnerships, we help businesses navigate complex regulatory landscapes, arrange corporate financing, identify investment and M&A opportunities, and build strong corporate governance that promotes future growth.

We are a recognized market leader in financial services regulatory, payments, data protection and cybersecurity, VC fund formation and VC investments, corporate financings and related deals, cryptocurrencies and other crypto assets, blockchain, smart contracts, and financial crime. We advise clients in industries such as banking and finance, fintech, insurtech, healthtech, and other sectors impacted by innovative disruptive technologies.

Dentons’ FinTech practice group has extensive experience in regulatory and compliance specific to the industry. Our lawyers offer particular expertise in financial institution regulatory compliance, decentralized finance, payments processing and payments systems regulation. As legislation reacts and responds to digital technology and its impacts on the financial and banking sectors, FinTech companies and other participants involved in the sector must be prepared to adapt quickly to new regulatory measures. Our services include:

Financial institution regulatory compliance (including payment network rules)
Money services businesses and regulation
Consumer finance
Advising online and challenger banks
Provincial consumer protection, lending and collections legislation
Banking-as-a-Service arrangements, acting for both the service provider and financial institution
Payment processing rules, regulations and contractual arrangements
Online Mortgage Brokerage and Mortgage Lending advice with respect to products offered, licensing required and relevant disclosures
Cryptocurrency-related payment issues
FINTRAC reporting requirements
Advertising restrictions
Corporate structuring, transactions, financings and securities law compliance
Blockchain and smart contract-enabled business models
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and token generating events
Broker-dealer and exchange regulation, including Know Your Customer (KYC) considerations
Securities, commodities and criminal enforcement
Taxation analysis and structuring
Privacy and data security, including in the context of digital ID and authentication systems
Capital market activities for blockchain companies and investors
Intellectual property review and counseling surrounding blockchain technology advancements

Blockchain is universally recognized as a disruptive technology. Dentons guides businesses around the globe in developing new commercial frameworks based on blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT). Our clients include established global businesses seeking to innovate, as well as some of the world’s most advanced emerging companies.

Dentons FinTech Services

Experience

PayPal: Advising this global online financial services company on regulatory and compliance issues in respect of its operations around the world.
Shopify Inc.: Advising this Canadian provider of an e-commerce platform for online sales and Shopify Payments, which allowed merchants to accept credit cards without requiring a third-party payment gateway, in respect of data protection compliance.
Dream Payments Corporation: Advising Dream Payments Corporation, a Canadian mobile merchant payment service provider, on all of its key corporate, commercial, financing and intellectual property work including its contracts with TD Bank and in relation to the offering of approximately CA$10 million worth of Class A Preferred Shares. Dream Payments provides businesses all across Canada with an affordable and cloud-based mobile point of sale solution. Dream’s commercial arrangements with some of the largest financial institutions in the world are a unique example of innovative fintechs enabling innovation by large financial institutions while at the same time de-risking the process of driving change.
Confidential client: Advising the developer of a blockchain-based crypto-savings platform that provides digital tokens to gamify long-term savings by cryptocurrency investors.
Confidential client: Advising a fintech company with all aspects of a new banking-as-a-service platform.
Confidential client: Advising a mobile payment and digital wallet service provider on preparing its submission to the Canadian Department of Finance’s consultation on a New Retail Payments Oversight Framework.
Loop Financial: Advising Loop Financial, dba Lending Loop, a peer-to-peer, online lending marketplace on regulatory compliance and implementation, on bringing its lending model, which is similar to Lending Club, and Prosper, in the US, to Canada. Lending Loop has been officially registered as an exempt market dealer in all Canadian provinces and territories. This is important as this company is Canada’s first regulated peer-to-peer lending platform to lend money to small businesses. Dentons advocated for Lending Loop with the Ontario Securities Commission and was successful in securing a place for the company in the Canadian fintech ecosystem.
Confidential client: Providing regulatory advice to, a digital bank offering payments and loyalty products.
Confidential client: Advising a payment systems company as outside counsel in its negotiations to provide a clearing and settlement solution for a new real-time payments system.
Confidential client: Advising a global Fintech company on entertaining the acquisition of a high-risk cryptocurrency Fintech company, with offices and operations in over ten countries
Netcoins Inc.: Advising Netcoins which provides virtual ATM technologies to retailers to enable customers to purchase bitcoins in over-the-counter transactions. Netcoins is in the process of going public through a reverse-takeover transaction onto the Canadian Securities Exchange, and at the same time, raising in excess of CA$14 million. Dentons is advising Netcoins in respect of the going public process.
Portag3 Ventures: Advising this fintech investor, a strategic fintech venture capital fund founded by Power Financial Corporation, Great-West Life and IGM Financial, three of Canada’s largest diversified, insurance and wealth management companies, to act on the formation of both Portag3 Ventures and Diagram Ventures, an associated VC fund that has external investors as well as its own technology foundry operations. Dentons was also selected to act for Portag3 Ventures and Diagram Ventures in their portfolio investments, including Alan, Borrowell, Clearbanc, Collage, Dialogue, D1g1t, Drop Loyalty, Flybits, Kin, League, LimeLight Health, Multiply, Street Contxt, Stride Health, Wave and Zensurance. Portag3 Ventures is also the majority owner of WealthSimple, one of Canada’s leading fintech innovators.
SecureKey Technologies Inc.: Advising SecureKey Technologies Inc., a leading nextgen identity and authentication provider that simplifies consumer access to online services and applications, with respect to various corporate and commercial work and all of its financing work including its CA$27 million Class C strategic equity investment from six leading Canadian financial institutions. Dentons provided strategic advice in the context of a transaction involving both corporate finance and commercial technology issues. The financing contributed growth capital to fund the commercial rollout of a privacy-enhancing digital identity network as SecureKey teamed up with leading financial institutions, including BMO Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, CIBC, Desjardins, Royal Bank of Canada and TD.
Humm Group Limited: Advising Humm on the company’s Canadian legal work, from incorporation and extra-provincial registration, to obtaining the appropriate lending licenses, to drafting retailer agreements, customer disclosures and lending agreements, to aiding in product design to ensure the product complies with provincial consumer protection laws.
Information Venture Partners III, L.P.: Advising the Fund, one of the experienced Canadian venture capital investors, on numerous fund formations and venture capital investments in early stage companies specializing in B2B fintech and Enterprise SaaS including Arteria, Cinchy, Procurify, Knowtions Research, and YayPay.
CoinShares International Limited: Advising CoinShares International Limited, on its purchase of shares in the capital of 3iQ Corp., a digital asset manager.
Felix Payment Systems Ltd.: Advising Felix Payment Systems Ltd., on its seed financing round with a group of strategic investors.

Recognition

Dentons ranked among leading law firms in Chambers FinTech 2022

December 15, 2021

Chambers FinTech 2022 has ranked Dentons as a leading law firm in eight jurisdictions across the world, and recognized six Dentons lawyers among the world’s top FinTech lawyers.

Insights

Payments and open banking regulatory trends to watch in 2024: Charting the future of financial transactions

January 29, 2024

The Retail Payment Activities Act (RPAA) is being implemented this year, starting with the requirement for all payment service providers (PSPs) to register with the Bank of Canada under the new regime during the 15-day application window between November 1 to 15, 2024.

The Alberta Energy Regulator requests information regarding cryptocurrency mining operations in Alberta

May 31, 2022

Canada: In Bulletin 2022-12, the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) announced its awareness of cryptocurrency mining operations running alongside AER-regulated activities in Alberta.

Regulating digital payment services: Considerations for Canadian policymakers

August 31, 2021

Advancements in contactless payment technology like “tap to pay” debit cards and Apple Pay have increased consumer demand for cashless payment methods.

View all insights for FinTech in Canada