Europe - Ireland

Matheson LLP

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Matheson LLP fields a ‘market-leading team with superb regulatory insights’ in the fintech sector, which acts for a host of major international fintechs. The team has significant expertise in advising such clients in the virtual assets space and frequently advises on the authorisation of e-money institutions and virtual asset providers, and it is also skilled in assisting financial services clients with tech and outsourcing projects. Joe Beashel, who is an ‘expert in the field’ of payments and e-money, heads the financial institutions group, where Ian O’Mara, who was promoted to partner in January 2023, and Louise Dobbyn are also key contacts. Anne-Marie Bohan leads the tech and innovation group.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Joe Beashel is very commercial, very practical and very knowledgeable.'

  • 'Ian O'Mara shows excellent attention-to-detail. He is very clear in his thinking and analysis, and his advice is always on point.’

  • ‘Market-leading team with superb regulatory insights.’

  • ‘Joe Beashel is a market leader - he is constantly responsive and understands the need to balance business need with regulatory expectations.’

  • ‘The team has an unrivalled knowledge of the payments industry, European legislation and its transposition into Irish law. They understand what the Irish regulators are looking for and help clients create pragmatic solutions that align with those expectations.’

  • ‘Ian O'Mara, Joe Beashel and Megan Fennell provide commercially pragmatic advice, are very responsible and we know that we can rely on them to provide sound advice and an excellent work product. As a client conscious about costs, they also manage to deliver a first-rate product at brilliant value.'

  • 'Ian O'Mara is a first-class lawyer and his knowledge of Irish and European law is second-to-none. Joe Beashel is a crystal ball providing insight into exactly what the Irish regulators look for. Megan Fennell is an exceptional lawyer working well above her current seniority. Collectively, they are the best partners our business could ask for.’
  • 'Joe Beashel is an expert in his field. No other partner in the industry has such deep sectoral knowledge and insights.'

Key clients

  • Gemini
  • MoonPay
  • Western Union
  • An Post
  • Meta
  • myPOS
  • Paymentsense/Dojo

Work highlights

  • Advised MoonPay Technology Services Limited on its successful registration as a virtual asset service provider by the Central Bank of Ireland.

Lawyers

Leading Individuals

Joe Beashel

Joe Beashel

Matheson LLP

Joe Beashel is a partner in the Financial Institutions Group and is head of the regulatory risk management and compliance team at Matheson. He is a solicitor with over twenty years’ experience, most of which were gained in the financial services sector. Before joining Matheson in 2004, he was the managing director of the Irish fund administration unit of a leading international investment manager. Joe assists clients with the authorisation of new entities by the Central Bank of Ireland including banks, MiFID / investment firms, fund services providers, alternative investment fund managers, payment institutions, retail credit firms and others. He also assists in expanding the regulatory authorisations of existing entities. Drawing on his extensive industry experience, Joe provides practical advice and assistance to boards of directors, senior management, in-house counsel and compliance officers in relation to the impact of new regulation. He assists clients in the effective and timely implementation of any required changes and works to provide a robust assurance that implementation meets legal requirements. Joe and his team assist clients to carry out reviews of their process and procedures covering issues such as anti-money laundering, MiFID suitability, client assets requirements. He assists clients prepare for reviews by the Central Bank notably so-called “PRISM” reviews which have become increasingly common. When issues arise he assists clients in assessing the legal and regulatory impact and helps develop remediation plans. Where the Central Bank initiates its administrative sanctions process he works with clients to minimise the impact of any sanction imposed. He also helps clients who are dealing with complaints to the Financial Services Ombudsman to ensure the most favourable outcome possible. Joe is a member of the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland and the Institute of Bankers. He co-ordinates the drafting of course materials and lectures for the Institute of Bankers of Ireland as part of its Professional Development (Level 3) qualification. He has spoken and written on topics including the new Payment Services Directive, the updated Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and many others. He published a book, the Fitness and Probity Handbook which gathers together all the relevant materials regarding the Central Bank's Fitness and Probity regime. Joe's previous publications include the MiFID Directory.

Anne-Marie Bohan

Anne-Marie Bohan

Hall of fameMatheson LLP

Anne-Marie Bohan has over 20 years' experience in technology related legal matters, and is Head of Matheson's Technology and Innovation Group and a member of our Asset Management and Investment Funds Group. Anne-Marie brings together significant practical experience in advising on technology and privacy legal issues with industry knowledge and an understanding of applicable regulatory rules and regulatory requirements.  She advises on all aspects of technology and e-commerce law, as well as outsourcings and contracted services, with particular focus on the requirements of financial institutions and financial services providers in these areas. Anne-Marie has extensive experience in drafting and negotiating contracts for the development, sale, purchase and licensing of hardware, software and IT systems for both suppliers and users of IT within the financial services industry and across a broad range of other industries.  She has also acted in some of the largest value and most complex IT and telecommunications systems and services outsourcing contracts, including advising on a number of the largest and highest value financial services outsourcings in Ireland. Anne-Marie's practice includes advising a broad range of clients on data protection, privacy issues and cybersecurity issues, including employee data protection issues, data subject access requests and security breach incidents.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Joe Beashel, Anne-Marie Bohan

Other key lawyers

Ian O'Mara, Louise Dobbyn, Megan Fennell, Nicole Ward, Ciarán Moloney