UNITED KINGDOM Trends and Developments
Trends and Developments Contributed by: James Burnie, Chris Elwell-Sutton, Tom Goff and Thomas Hulme gunnercooke llp gunnercooke llp is the fastest-growing corporate law firm in the UK and has offices in the USA, Germany, CEE, Scotland and England. With more than 500 pro - fessionals, gunnercooke has a specific specialism in fintech, and has developed its offerings specifically with a view to assisting firms in this sector. This has included being the first major UK law firm to officially accept payment in crypto-assets, to facilitate clients in that sector, as well as having a strong cultural em -
phasis on providing predictable fixed-fee charging models, bringing certainty to firms needing to prop - erly budget costs. gunnercooke’s offering extends beyond pure legal, for example by having an inter - nal dedicated AI team able to develop AI solutions that clients can implement, as well as an operating partners team able to help fintech clients strategise their business models to seize new opportunities and maximise their value.
Authors
James Burnie is a financial services and regulation partner at gunnercooke llp, with a particular focus on fintech (including crypto, AI, funds, investments, and payment services), cost-effective GTM and scaling. His
Chris Elwell-Sutton is a data protection and AI lawyer at gunnercooke llp, with deep experience in financial services, tech and fintech. Chris specialises in strategy and implementation, advising
work includes (i) advising on the first successful UK-based ICO and the first equity issuance settled on-chain; (ii) assisting various regulators, drafting around 3% of global crypto regulation, as well as broader fintech regulation; (iii) providing advice in relation to the first 100% spot SOL ETF; (iv) setting up various tokenised RWAs; and (v) assisting some of the first UK/EU regulated stablecoins.
banks, non-profits and start-ups on data/AI governance from a regulatory, due diligence and investor perspective. He leads fractional DPO services for clients including a global crypto asset infrastructure provider. Chris led the EU and APAC privacy function for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and was outsourced data protection officer for the Financial Reporting Council. A thought leader in his field, he regularly speaks at conferences and is chair of the Scotland chapter of OneTrust Connected Communities, a global network of 10,000 data and AI governance professionals. advising businesses and a select few ultra-high net worth individuals as regards general commercial and legal issues, with the aim of resolving them effectively and achieving favourable outcomes. Thomas has advised various business clients within the fintech arena as regards breached service agreements, disputes concerning the technical aspects of contractual arrangements, and general commercial arrangements. Thomas has dealt with a number of highly technical claims relating to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Thomas Hulme is a dispute resolution and litigation partner at gunnercooke LLP. His work revolves around
Tom Goff is a venture capital and tech M&A partner at gunnercooke llp. Tom has a particular focus on advising on deals in regulated sectors, including fintech, AI, dual-use and deeptech. Tom advises all stakeholders across
the productive economy, with a particular niche advising corporate venture capital investors, including Experian, L&G and Saudi Telecom. Tom has undergraduate degrees in both Artificial Intelligence and Law. Tom recently worked as a senior investment manager at the British Business Bank, closing and managing direct investments for the British government’s National Security Strategic Infrastructure Fund.
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