A&O Shearman

Financial Services Regulatory

Senior Counsel

Charles advises a wide range of clients, including traditional financial institutions, non-bank financial services companies, and technology companies of all sizes, on a broad range of regulatory and commercial matters in the payments, fintech, and consumer finance sectors.

Charles’ expertise covers the litany of federal and state laws that regulate payments and fintech in the U.S., including state money transmitter, virtual currency, and lending laws, the Bank Secrecy Act/FinCEN regulations, EFTA/Regulation E, TILA/Regulation Z, and payment network and clearing house rules. Clients turn to Charles for advice and assistance with product and service development, ongoing day-to-day compliance obligations, developing policies, procedures, and terms and conditions, licensing and other authorization processes, and representation before various regulatory agencies, including in connection with enforcement actions, examinations, and seeking regulatory guidance and approvals.

Charles’ practice also includes advising clients with transactional matters, including the structuring, drafting, and negotiation of various commercial relationships and transactions related to the offering of payments and consumer finance products and services. He also represents clients in connection with the investment in, and acquisition and sale of, financial institutions and non-bank financial services companies.

Before joining A&O Shearman, Charles served as Senior Legal Counsel at Twitter, covering global legal and regulatory matters related to payments and digital assets.