The ‘client-driven and pragmatic’ fintech team at Linklaters is noted for its regulatory understanding of the sector, which enables it to advise banks, financial institutions and IT startups on a wide range of issues. In addition to advising on the regulatory and negotiation aspects of blockchain and cloud development projects, the team handles a large volume of investments and transactions in the fintech space as well as assisting with outsourcing and acting in contentious matters. The practice’s leadership encompasses data protection and IT specialist Guillaume Couneson, financial regulation expert Etienne Dessy, and Andreas Van Impe, who is a key contact for advising on the development of digital services, including blockchain technology.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Guillaume Couneson and his team are outstanding on the market. The added value lies in the good understanding of the client's business, their legal skills and expertise ,but also their true understanding of the fintech/IT business. Such area of law is specific in the sense that we need to understand the fintech/AI/IT product itself, not just the legal rules and contracting negotiation skills. Guillaume combines both perfectly.’
‘The team is pleasant to work with, reactive and creative as it comes to solving complex issues in an efficient manner. The team has in depth knowledge of the Belgian market practices and regulatory expectations, and also engages teams of other (EU) jurisdictions to assess how certain, mainly PSD2, requirements are applied in national jurisdictions.’
‘We've been very impressed by both the regulatory/legal knowledge of Andreas Van Impe and Etienne Dessy in often complex and innovative matters, and the competency to apply legal reasonings to the set-up applied by our institution. They also leveraged the international network of Linklaters in the EU to obtain more insight on how EU-wide regulations are interpreted/applied by different regulators. Both individuals have an in depth knowledge of Belgian market practices and the regulator's expectations, which enables them to work towards feasible, yet innovative, solutions.’
Key clients
- Vodeno
- Candriam SCA
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Guillaume Couneson, Etienne Dessy, Andreas Van Impe