Maples Group‘s fast-growing fintech offering brings together the firm’s corporate, private equity, venture capital, financial regulatory, tech and data protection expertise to advise clients ranging from leading global fintechs to emerging companies. Practice head Colm Rafferty and practitioner Jordan O’Brien are well-versed in M&A and funding rounds, while Stephen Carty and Lorna Smith are the key contacts for regulatory advice, and Claire Morrissey assists with outsourcing and data protection matters.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'Lorna Smith is an experienced, practical and responsive adviser. I’ve gone to Lorna for years and am always happy to recommend her for payments work.'
  • 'Good, knowledgeable team, who work hard to be lynchpins in the industry. Jordan O'Brien and Colm Rafferty stand out.'

Key clients

  • Mortgage Horizons Limited (Doddl)
  • Roomex
  • Wayflyer Limited
  • Outmin Limited
  • MyWallStreet Limited
  • Message My Customer Limited

Work highlights

  • Advising Mortgage Horizons Limited (Doddl) on its funding round, which included investment from NSN Investments Limited and Merleview Limited.
  • Acted as lead advisor for Roomex on its acquisition by FLEETCOR Technologies.
  • Acted as lead advisor for Outmin Limited on its funding round, which included investment from lead investor Fuel Ventures.

Lawyers

Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Maples Group
Lorna Smith is a Partner in the Irish Financial Services Regulatory team at Maples and Calder, the Maples Group's law firm. Lorna has over 10 years' experience in financial services regulation, and in addition to more traditional industries like banking, insurance and investment services, Lorna’s practice also focuses on growth sectors such as fintech, alternative lending and sustainable finance. Lorna guides new financial institutions establishing in Ireland, across all industry sectors including MiFID investment firms and fund service providers, banks, insurers, e-money and payment firms, and credit servicing and retail credit firms. She also regularly advises on the transfer of regulated businesses, including regulatory due diligence. She advises firms on their ongoing regulatory obligations, including remuneration and corporate governance, outsourcing, fitness and probity, anti-money laundering, capital management, and industry-specific conduct of business and investor protection requirements. Lorna helps clients manage regulatory engagement, both in a supervisory and enforcement context, and implement new requirements and robust compliance frameworks. She has conducted comprehensive gap analyses and assurance reviews to manage regulatory risk, including working on Risk Mitigation Programmes, inspection remediation and industry-wide reviews such as the Tracker Mortgage Examination.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Colm Rafferty

Other key lawyers

Stephen Carty, Lorna Smith, Claire Morrissey, Jordan O'Brien