Financial Services and FinTech

FINANCIAL SERVICES AND FINTECH

Financial Services and FinTech Regulatory and Compliance Advisory

DWG Next advises clients across the financial, insurance, and digital innovation sectors, offering guidance on the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern their activities within the European Union and internationally. We support institutions in navigating complex authorisation processes, structuring operations across borders, and responding to supervisory expectations in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment. Our team combines legal insight with sector-specific knowledge to assist in the development and deployment of financial and insurance products, digital platforms, and emerging technologies. We address compliance, transactional structuring, and risk mitigation in relation to both traditional and innovative service models.

We aid our clients by:

Advising on compliance with EU financial regulation, including MiFID II, MiFIR, PSD2, the Capital Requirements Regulation and Directive (CRR/CRD), the Solvency II Directive, the Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), and the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
Structuring licensing strategies and supporting authorisation procedures before national competent authorities and the European Central Bank for banks, investment firms, insurance and reinsurance undertakings, payment institutions, electronic money institutions, and crypto-asset service providers.
Assisting with regulatory passporting, cross-border operations, and supervisory engagement under the Single Rulebook, the Solvency II framework, and the Single Supervisory Mechanism.
Drafting and negotiating agreements related to financial and insurance services delivery, including outsourcing arrangements, technology partnerships, cloud services contracts, distribution agreements, and white-label solutions.
Advising on the design and deployment of digital payment systems, open banking interfaces, embedded finance products, and insurtech platforms, in accordance with PSD2, IDD, and data protection requirements.
Providing legal and strategic support on the structuring and offering of crypto-assets, tokens, and digital instruments, including initial coin offerings (ICOs), security token offerings (STOs), and stablecoins under EU regulatory regimes.
Facilitating participation in EU funding programmes and innovation hubs dedicated to digital finance, artificial intelligence, insurtech, cybersecurity, and financial inclusion.
Mitigating regulatory and operational risks related to the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated decision-making in financial and insurance services.
Advising on anti-money laundering (AML), counter-terrorist financing (CTF), and sanctions compliance, including internal controls, reporting obligations, and engagement with financial intelligence units.
Supporting merger and acquisition transactions, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships within the financial, insurance, and FinTech sectors, including due diligence, structuring, and regulatory approvals.
Engaging with European and national regulatory authorities, supervisory bodies, and standard-setting organisations on emerging regulatory frameworks, technical standards, and supervisory practices.
Monitoring developments under the EU Digital Finance Strategy, the Retail Investment Strategy, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) work programme, and other policy initiatives to ensure regulatory alignment and market readiness.