Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

Chairman/CEO: Michael W. Blair
Number of employees: 820 attorneys
Languages: Debevoise can field legal teams who are fluent in more than 30 languages, including: Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish

Firm Overview:
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is a premier law firm with market-leading practices, a global perspective and strong New York roots. Clients look to the firm to bring a distinctively high degree of quality, intensity and creativity to resolve legal challenges effectively and cost efficiently. Approximately 800 lawyers work in ten offices across three continents, within integrated global practices, serving clients around the world. Debevoise & Plimpton's lawyers prioritise developing a deep understanding of the business of its clients, and pursues every matter with the intensity and creativity needed to achieve clients’ goals.

Main Areas of Practice:
Debevoise provides a full suite of legal services to companies in the FinTech space and to financial institutions and private equity firms seeking to invest or partner with FinTech companies. The firm's experience spans the full range of corporate, regulatory and litigation matters, from structuring M&A and joint partnership agreements to helping companies navigate Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions, Volker Rule matters and other state and federal regulations.

Examples of the firm's capabilities include:
■ Assisting financial institutions in considering potential FinTech targets, evaluating the regulatory permissibility of the acquisitions, and structuring acquisitions to provide maximum benefit to the financial institutions
■ Working with private equity firms and FinTech companies seeking to acquire financial institutions, including industrial loan companies (which do not result in the acquirer becoming subject to federal bank regulation), and engage in financial activities on their own or with a bank partner
■ Helping financial institutions, private equity firms, and FinTech companies in creating joint ventures
■ Leading pre- and post-acquisition diligence, including advice and training to help protect against a cyber breach, a top M&A risk identified by regulators
■ Addressing initial and ongoing regulatory concerns including those involving AML/ Sanctions, Volcker Rule, Broker-Dealer, ERISA and CFIUS
■ Assessing and reducing enforcement and litigation risks related to acquisitions and new activities, and in the event of an enforcement action, defend financial institutions and FinTech companies in federal and state enforcement and litigation scenarios

To assist clients in this rapidly evolving area, Debevoise offers a cross-disciplinary team that includes industry experts from its Banking, Insurance and Technology groups, practice leaders from its M&A, Investment Management, Tax, broker-dealer, derivatives, and Data Strategy and Security teams, and regulatory experts from its White Collar and Regulatory Defense group.