Meet the team

Fintech

Bär & Karrer Ltd.

Zurich, Switzerland
+5 other locations
  • Geneva, Switzerland
  • Zug, Switzerland
  • Lugano, Switzerland
  • Basel, Switzerland
  • St Moritz, Switzerland
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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.