Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP

Financial Services

Mena’s practice spans all aspects of regulatory compliance in the retail financial services and payments industry at both the federal and provincial level, with a particular focus on consumer protection issues relating to financial services and products and the application of these laws in the online environment.

Mena regularly advises financial entities and a wide variety of other regulated and unregulated financial service providers and participants in the payments card industry, including prepaid card issuers and distributors as well as fintechs, on various aspects of their business. Mena has extensive experience in developing and improving compliance programs, including internal policies and procedures, and in drafting and reviewing standard form contacts, related disclosures and other documentation. Mena works with both domestic and international clients. She has developed an expertise in legislative compliance areas that affect her clients and specializes in a wide range of regulatory issues, including federal financial institutions legislation and guidelines, payment systems legislation, AML and Canadian sanctions laws, rules affecting payment card networks, cost of borrowing legislation, provincial regulation of consumer contracts, requirements under credit reporting and debt collection legislation, payday lending legislation, mortgage broker legislation, loan broker legislation and e-commerce matters, as well as legislation affecting both commercial and consumer lenders.

Over the course of her career in the financial services regulatory group at Blakes, Mena has been seconded to four different financial institutions, including two of the largest banks in Canada. During this time, Mena gained invaluable in-house experience as she worked closely with in-house counsel and directly advised the businesses on regulatory compliance matters, including in connection with the development and launch of credit products.