Sam Maxson advises clients across the fintech and payments ecosystem on their highest stakes strategic, regulatory and structuring matters.

Drawing on over a decade of experience, Sam leverages a deep understanding of the global regulatory landscape and market insight to provide pragmatic advice to emerging and established companies, financial institutions, investors, and governmental authorities on:

  • Digital assets/crypto, tokenization, Web3, and decentralized finance (DeFi)
  • Payment services and systems
  • Securities/derivatives laws
  • Financial markets infrastructure
  • Credit/lending
  • Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing
  • Regulator advocacy and engagement

Having advised on industry-leading blockchain and digital assets matters since 2016, he was an early adopter of a fintech-first approach. Sam has guided many of the world’s most prominent businesses in the fintech and payments sectors on complex legal and regulatory challenges, as well as central banks and regulators on designing and implementing fintech and payments regulatory frameworks.

Sam also frequently provides specialist financial regulatory advice on fundraising, M&A, and capital markets matters involving fintech and financial services sector issuers and targets.

Sam unlocks the resources of the firm’s robust global platform to coordinate advice from Latham colleagues and local counsel around the world for clients, facilitating seamless access to leading international advice for clients in Asia and around the world.

A recognized leader at the firm, Sam is a member of the firm’s global Training and Career Enhancement Committee (TACE) and serves as the Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer for the Hong Kong office.

Before joining Latham, he practiced in the London office of another global law firm. During this time, he worked in Tokyo and completed secondments at a global investment bank and a global insurer

Sams experience includes advising on:

Strategic Regulatory and Structuring

  • An Asia-based zkEVM Layer 2 scaling project on structuring and regulatory considerations relating to its protocol and token launch
  • A major PRC technology company on EU and UK payments regulatory compliance
  • A leading global crypto business on the impact of the EU Markets in Cryptoassets Regulation (MiCA) across all aspects of its business and its related implementation project
  • A leading crypto business on multijurisdictional legal and regulatory considerations relating to establishing a crypto “perpetuals” exchange
  • Multiple CeFi and DeFi crypto businesses on regulatory considerations relating to staking structures and services
  • A leading global bank on the legal and regulatory aspects of tokenizing interests in precious metals
  • A major global bank on structuring considerations relating to tokenized deposits
  • UK and EU authorized electronic money institutions on complex safeguarding queries
  • A leading global payments company on designing and implementing a cryptocurrency e-commerce checkout product
  • A leading global card network on legal and regulatory considerations relating to facilitating payments in cryptocurrencies
  • A global cryptoasset business on the legal and regulatory structuring for issuing a euro-backed stablecoin
  • Multiple Web3/crypto businesses on structuring and regulatory considerations relating to protocol and token launches, including airdrops and initial coin offerings (ICOs); project governance; and decentralization
  • Multiple leading CeFi crypto businesses on applying the crypto “Travel Rule” to their business models
  • A leading global crypto business on a skilled-person review under section 166 of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and ongoing supervisory engagement with the FCA
  • A global crypto business on the possible consequences of civil and criminal enforcements actions from a strategic and global regulatory perspective
  • A global bank on the structuring and documentation for its crypto-custody offering
  • A global investment bank on the feasibility of a consortium-backed joint venture for the clearing and settlement of tokenized securities in the UK and the laws of a number of EU jurisdictions and the implications of establishing a central securities depository and its interoperability with TARGET2-Securities
  • A fintech company on the legal feasibility of creating a platform for issuing and trading electronic trade finance documents under English law
  • Distributed ledger technology (DLT) specialist Clearmatics and a consortium of leading investment banks on the Utility Settlement Coin project to develop a DLT-based payment system*

Licensing and Registration

  • A leading crypto OTC trading business and market maker on a Hong Kong licensing feasibility study
  • Portofino Technologies on successfully registering as a cryptoasset business with the FCA
  • Hidden Road on successfully registering as a cryptoasset business with the FCA
  • Elwood Technologies on its successful authorization as a service company by the FCA

Regulatory Frameworks and Consultations

  • Abu Dhabi Global Markets (ADGM), an Abu Dhabi-based regulator, on a new Foundations Regulatory Regime to facilitate the issuance of blockchain tokens
  • Central Bank of Egypt on developing and drafting a bespoke legal and regulatory regime for payment systems, payments services, and FinTech to be adopted in that jurisdiction  
  • A number of leading Web3 investment funds and startups on consultation responses and government/regulator engagement in relation to designing the UK regulatory regime for cryptoassets, focusing on decentralization

Transactions

  • Sixth Street Growth on its investment in a €285 million funding round for SumUp, a leading global financial services company
  • Goldman Sachs as a lead investor in the £77.7 million Series B funding round of Fnality, a fintech focused on building blockchain-based wholesale payment systems to support the adoption of tokenized assets and marketplaces
  • Permira Growth Opportunities on its participation in GoCardless’ US$312 million Series G
  • Shift4Payments on its:
    • US$575 million acquisition of Credorax (dba Finaro), an Israel-based software financial technology and merchant acquiring group
    • Acquisition of Online Payments Group (dba SecurionPay), a leading EU online payments service provider based in Switzerland
    • US$396.75 million IPO on NYSE
  • Financial advisors to cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase Global on its direct listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market
  • Financial advisers on Wise’s £8 billion direct listing on the London Stock Exchange
  • a16z on regulatory matters relating to its Series A investment of US$20 million of preferred stock of Improbable MV Limited, a new Improbable blockchain venture

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham   

Bar Qualification

  • England and Wales (Solicitor)
  • Hong Kong (Registered Foreign Lawyer)

Education

  • LPC, University of Law, London Moorgate, 2014
  • BA, University of Durham, 2012
    Combined Honours in Arts (History and Politics)

Languages Spoken

  • English