Fintech
Daniel Flühmann
Daniel Flühmann's practice focuses on banking, insurance and financial market laws as well as on the area of collective investment schemes. He assists Swiss and foreign banks, investment managers, securities firms as well as insurance companies and other financial services providers in regulatory and contract law matters and in the context of licence application proceedings before the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA.
A special focus of Daniel Flühmann's work lies on fintech, advising both financial innovators and established market participants. Furthermore, he advises clients on general corporate and commercial matters as well as on M&A transactions.
Daniel Flühmann has authored various publications in his areas of expertise and regularly speaks on topics in the area of financial services at expert conferences.
Eric Stupp
Eric Stupp heads Bär & Karrer's financial services department and co-heads the internal investigation and cross-border proceedings team. His practice focuses on advising banks, insurance companies, asset managers and other financial intermediaries on regulatory matters, enforcement proceedings and on M&A transactions.
In recent years, he has regularly advised financial institutions and regulatory bodies in connection with internal investigations on cross-border issues. In particular, he has assisted clients in numerous proceedings initiated by the US Department of Justice, the New York Department of Financial Services and other US or European authorities.
Eric Stupp is a regular speaker at expert conferences addressing these matters. He was a member of Bär & Karrer's management committee for eight years. He is the vice-chairman of the board of directors of Goldman Sachs Bank AG, Zurich and a member of the boards of other financial and nonprofit institutions.
IFLR 1000 2016 and Who's Who Legal 2015 list Eric Stupp as one of the leading banking lawyers in Switzerland. Eric Stupp is listed as a leading lawyer in The Legal 500 in the category Hall of Fame. In 2018, the Weizmann Institute of Science awarded Eric Stupp the Doctor of Philosophy honoris causa for his professional achievements and his support of scientific research carried out in the Institute.
Peter Hsu
Peter Hsu is Bär & Karrer's key contact for the practice area of banking and insurance. His practice focuses on banking, insurance, financing and capital markets. He regularly advises Swiss and foreign banks, securities dealers, insurers and other financial intermediaries as well as fintech businesses with regard to a wide range of regulatory, contract law and corporate law matters. Moreover, he often advises clients on M&A transactions.
Peter Hsu has published several books and articles on topics in banking, insurance and capital markets and is regularly invited to speak on these topics.
Peter Hsu is ranked as a leading individual in the practice areas of Banking & Finance as well as Insurance & Reinsurance and listed as "most highly regarded" practitioner in Insurance & Reinsurance (Who's Who Legal 2018). The Legal 500 2014 refers to him as a "key individual within the banking and insurance sector" and recommends him for insurance advice. In Who's Who Legal, he is quoted as "the 'go-to guy' for clients in need of insurance and reinsurance regulatory advice" (2013, 2018) and "key player in the Swiss insurance and reinsurance regulatory field" (2014) and wins praise for his "unparalleled abilities". In addition, he is described as "extremely knowledgeable" in insurance and regulatory matters, lauded for his "business oriented approach" (2016) and it is further noted that "he is not only an expert on regulatory topics, but also has a very profound understanding of other legal areas". Moreover, he is praised for "his pragmatic approach to resolve legal issues" (2018). In IFLR 1000, a client characterizes him as "very knowledgeable, detail-oriented and very open to novel solutions and approaches" (2016).
Cédric Chapuis
Cédric Chapuis heads Bär & Karrer's financial services team in our Geneva office. His practice focuses on advising banks and other financial institutions in regulatory, compliance and general business matters. In addition, he regularly advises Swiss and foreign clients in a variety of industries on domestic and international transactions, as well as general corporate and governance matters. He has served on the board of directors of Swiss companies in various industries and is currently a member of the board of several banks.
In recent years, Cédric Chapuis has advised a number of financial institutions in connection with internal investigations on cross-border issues and has represented them before the U.S. Department of Justice.
Who's Who Legal lists Cédric Chapuis in Banking (Finance and Regulatory) and in Corporate: Merger & Acquisition. Legal 500 points out his expertise in regulatory matters.
Gadi Winter
Gadi Winter's practice focuses on banking and finance, capital markets, M&A and corporate governance. He advises banks, financial institutions, fintechs and other companies in regulatory, corporate and commercial law matters and represents them before courts and other authorities. Furthermore, he assists companies in internal investigations, especially with regard to regulatory enforcement-proceedings and cross-border white collar crime matters.
The Legal 500 2020 describes Gadi Winter as a "Rising Star" in the FinTech space.
Cyrill Diefenbacher
Cyrill Diefenbacher has broad experience in national and international corporate tax matters.
He advises clients on tax-related questions in the area of M&A transactions / restructurings / financing, but also has broad experience in advising clients in the area of tax compliance. He frequently works on M&A transactions (buy-side or sell-side advice over all stages of the transaction, advice on management incentive schemes), restructurings and reorganizations and provides advice on various national or international corporate tax matters. His area of expertise includes Swiss VAT.
Cyrill Diefenbacher regularly speaks in the area of M&A tax / corporate tax law and publishes specialist articles in the field of taxes. He is a lecturer at the EXPERTsuisse Swiss Certified Tax Expert education program and regularly speaks at different tax seminars.
Stephanie Walter
Stephanie Walter's practice focuses on banking, insurance and financial market laws as well as on the area of collective investment schemes. She assists Swiss and foreign banks, asset managers, managers of collective investment schemes, insurance companies and other financial institutions in regulatory matters and proceedings (including before U.S. authorities) as well as in FinTech and contract matters.
Furthermore, she advises clients on M&A transactions and large-scale internal investigations.
Drawing from her secondments at Goldman Sachs and at FINMA's Fintech-Desk as well as her former professional activities for various companies, Stephanie has practical experience in the financial services and blockchain industry and understands the client's needs also from a market and customer-oriented perspective. As a former law clerk at the Swiss Federal Administrative Court she has expertise in proceedings before administrative authorities and in dealing with regulators.
Tiffany Ender
Tiffany Ender’s practice focuses on banking, financial institutions, insurance, collective investment schemes, financial services and other financial market laws as well as on M&A, corporate and commercial matters and related areas. In particular, she assists Swiss and foreign banks, fintech companies (such as providers of e-money services and other payment services), financial institutions (such as managers of collective assets, fund management companies and portfolio managers), insurance companies, insurance intermediaries (brokers and agents) and other financial services providers in regulatory, contract and corporate law matters as well as in relation to M&A transactions.
Tiffany Ender acted as legal advisor in various notable deals and cases, advising the clients on a wide range of legal topics. While Tiffany's practice has a strong focus on financial market regulatory topics, one of the key benefits she brings to her clients is her ability to think ahead and beyond the confines of financial regulation, and to provide an integrated work product. Clients particularly value Tiffany’s dedication to their projects, her approachable nature and availability, as well as her keen and accurate eye for legal and regulatory matters, while maintaining a practical, solution-oriented approach. They say about her that she is very responsive to their needs and helps making things efficient.
In the Legal 500 (EMEA) 2023 and 2024 rankings, Tiffany Ender has been ranked as "Rising Star" for the area insurance. Further, the Legal 500 (EMEA 2024) describes her as "Rising Star" in the Fintech section
Tiffany Ender holds a lic.iur. (2010) and a PHD (Dr.iur., 2016) from the University of Zurich. From 2010-2012, she was a research and teaching assistant to a renowned professor for private and commercial law at the University of Zurich. Tiffany publishes and speaks in her field of expertise. Recently, she contributed to the Basler Commentary (Basler Kommentar, BSK) on the partially revised Swiss Insurance Contract Act (commenting on three articles). The Basler Commentary is a Swiss leading commentary on several laws, including the ICA.
Team Services
Members of Bär & Karrer's fintech practice support businesses at the intersection between financial services and information technology in all legal and regulatory matters including cross-border aspects. The team provides support with respect to the development, implementation and protection of new business models as well as the issuance and marketing of innovative financial products. It further advises clients on transactions with a focus on fintech, including private equity investments, mergers, joint ventures and financing transactions
Clients span a broad range from early-stage start-ups to well-established financial institutions, large technology companies and investors with a focus on digitalisation, as well as specialised infrastructure and service providers such as payment facilitators, exchange and lending platforms.
The fintech practice is embedded in the broader banking, insurance and finance department, allowing it to deal with complex financial structures requiring specialized knowledge and providing for substantial work force with both regulatory and transactional experience. The team closely collaborates with other practice groups such as corporate, M&A, capital markets, IP/IT and tax. Advice covers a variety of matters, in particular in connection with:
- establishment and offering of electronic payment and electronic money solutions; business models and financial instruments based on distributed ledger technology (DLT);
- crypto currencies and digital assets as well as related services including custody, storage, trading and exchange platforms;
- online platforms in the area of financial services, in particular for bond issuances, consumer loans and peer-to-peer lending as well as robo advisory;
- crowdfunding and crowdlending, sharing economy platforms;
- regulatory reviews, no action requests with authorities, in particular the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority FINMA;
- licence applications;
- compliance related to digital platforms and processes;
- data protection and information security;
- technology licensing and procurement.
In addition to fintech and insurtech businesses, the team also advises traditional financial services providers in connection with the development of fintech services and products as well as solutions for digital assets. There is also an active M&A practice in the fintech and blockchain space.
Clients value Bär & Karrer's technical proficiency, openness to new developments and the creative approach to legal issues in the fintech space. The team combines a breadth of experience in traditional financial services with a keen interest and sense for the changing landscape and emerging business models and is committed to stay on top of these developments.
Members of the fintech practice have authored various publications on fintech matters in legal journals, briefings and newsletters and are also involved in policy making, including by actively participating in public consultation processes (e.g. regarding the recent Swiss legislative proposal, including an implementing ordinance, to improve the legal framework conditions for DLT). Practitioners further regularly speak on fintech matters at client events, seminars and in panel discussions.