Trilegal

Trilegal’s FinTech practice is recognised as market-leading, with the firm advising top global and Indian players like National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), Amazon, Apple, Google, PayPal, PayU, Binance, CoinDCX, Coinswitch, and Adyen, among others.

The firm has built a wealth of experience and expertise in advising fintech clients on a variety of workstreams, including long-term market entry projects, focused short-term regulatory and advisory mandates, regulatory license applications, and contentious pre-litigation, enforcement and litigation mandates.

The firm advises on a range of issues, including payment systems, digital lending, data protection and cybersecurity (including cyber incident response), foreign exchange regulations and cross-border remittances, prepaid payment instruments, neo-banking, credit and debit card regulations, data localisation, anti-money laundering (AML), crypto-assets / virtual digital assets and blockchain, and credit scoring among others.

Trilegal's clients range from banks, non-banking financial companies, payment system operators, virtual digital asset trading platforms, payment system providers, technology companies offering cutting-edge products facilitating financial services, large multi-national corporations offering financial products, foreign institutions engaging in inward and outward remittances, and a variety of investors funding such entities and other disruptive technologies and innovative business models.

Trilegal has advised and negotiated contractual arrangements for various clients with fintech players like payment gateways and payment aggregators. The firm has advised large financial sector and fintech clients on their responses to high-profile cyber incidents, engaging with regulators, customers, and counterparties, and assisting in associated litigation. The firm also represents leading crypto-asset platforms on a variety of high-stakes litigation and arbitration.

Trilegal keenly tracks developments in the field, allowing the firm to advise on a wide range of regulatory issues involving the Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDA), the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), and the Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU) and other regulators. The firm has also advised fintech players obtain key regulatory approvals in connection with new and innovative business models.

Trilegal is also at the forefront of fintech and technology policy in general, engaging in law-making and government consultations for public and private stakeholders and advising leading industry bodies such as the Bharat Web3 Association.

Some of our key FinTech work includes the following:

• Advised the Government of India-backed e-commerce network ONDC on structuring payment collection and flow mechanisms between network participants, ensuring compliance with applicable payment regulations. The integration of seamless payment processes across the ONDC network is critical for its success, as it aims to foster an open and interoperable platform for businesses, consumers, developers, and government entities, enabling competition and collaboration. This strategic framework is expected to drive the growth of various segments and contribute to the network's broader objectives.
• Advised NIPL, a subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India, on its project to link UPI with PayNow for fast cross-border payments between India and Singapore. Our team assisted in reviewing, drafting, and negotiating commercial agreements with Banking Computer Services Pvt. Ltd. (a subsidiary of NETS Singapore) and DBS Bank, Singapore, as well as agreements with the Indian banks involved. Additionally, we provided guidance on the structure of the cross-border payment model, including the dispute resolution process for this multi-party project.
• Assisted National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in reviewing its data governance framework.
• Advised and represented the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) in appeals before the NCLAT, securing a landmark ruling that clarified the regulatory framework for stockbroking entities within India’s FinTech ecosystem.
• Advised BharatPe (Resilient Innovations Private Limited), a leading FinTech platform, on protecting its brand integrity and reputation, addressing misappropriation and damage to goodwill in a highly competitive sector.
• Successfully represented Way2Wealth Brokers Private Limited, a prominent fintech player, and its CEO in an appeal before the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) regarding a SEBI order on the use of colocation facilities, an integral aspect of FinTech infrastructure.
• Advised several leading Indian and international crypto-asset trading platforms and service providers, such as Binance, Bitget, CoinDCX, Coinswitch, Pi42, and Liminal on a wide range of matters, including transactional, advisory, pre-litigation, enforcement, and litigation advice. The firm also collaborates closely with the industry association, Bharat Web3 Assocation.
• Advised and represented Unocoin Technologies Private Limited, a leading digital asset service provider, in complex, high-profile, high-value regulatory and contentious matters, including criminal investigations, anticipatory bail proceedings, and other civil and criminal law matters.
• Assisted multiple crypto-asset platforms with their registration with the Financial Intelligence Unit-India.
• Provided an Indian law expert witness report in an international arbitration involving a leading international crypto-asset trading and investment platform.
• Advised on end-to-end cyber incident response for a large regulated financial sector company and a crypto-asset company, involving regulatory advisory, drafting and reviewing communications, pre-litigation and litigation assistance, and remedial actions.

Meet our Fintech team:

At the helm of our FinTech practice are experts like Rahul Matthan, Nikhil Narendran, Jyotsna Jayaram, and Jaideep Reddy, who continue to shape FinTech law and policy.

Rahul Matthan: Our founding Partner and a prominent thought leader in the FinTech space, Rahul Matthan is a driving force behind the firm's industry-leading FinTech practice. He has played a pivotal role in shaping India’s privacy law and Unique ID law. He is an advisor to the Ministry of Finance on Digital Public Infrastructure and has advised the Indian government on the Digital Personal Data Protection Act draft and the Indian Telecommunication Act, 2023. Rahul is a member of the Committee of Experts on Non-Personal Data Governance and the Kris Gopalakrishnan Committee on Non-Personal Data. He has also been recognized as a 'Leading Individual' in Legal500’s TMT Hall of Fame and a ‘Global Elite Thought Leader’ for Data and IT by WWL, along with other prestigious awards.

Nikhil Narendran: Partner at Trilegal and a guiding figure in the FinTech sector, Nikhil specialises in regulatory matters, payment systems, and emerging technologies. He regularly advises major companies on FinTech regulatory compliance and business models. He counsels payments and digital lending companies on regulatory matters, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Nikhil has led the Trilegal team representing the National Payments Corporation of India in structuring the PayNow-UPI linkage deal with the Monetary Authority of Singapore. In 2024, The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific recognized him as a ‘Leading Individual’ and FT awarded him the Innovative Lawyer Asia Pacific 2024 for his work on the Open Network for Digital Commerce.

Jyotsna Jayaram: A recognized leader in the FinTech space, Jyotsna specialises in advising clients on RBI’s regulations covering payment services, cross-border payments, tokenisation, KYC, and digital lending. She has assisted leading FinTech companies such as Apple, Stripe, and LinkedIn, on regulatory compliance. Her contributions extend to key policy submissions on e-KYC and regulatory gaps in Aadhaar and RBI’s KYC Master Directions. She has been awarded ‘Key Lawyer’ for TMT, Data Protection, and Fintech by Legal 500 in 2024, and identified as a ‘Rising Star’ by Asialaw Profiles for 2022-2023.

Jaideep Reddy: Jaideep is qualified to practise in India and in California, United States of America. A Partner in Trilegal’s technology law practice, he specialises in disruptive technologies and FinTech. He has played a key role in landmark cases, including the historic 2020 Supreme Court ruling on virtual currencies. Jaideep has advised prominent digital asset platforms on complex regulatory issues, including foreign exchange controls, banking restrictions, AML registration and compliance, engaging with regulators and law enforcement agencies, and litigation before various High Courts and the Supreme Court of India. He has written and spoken extensively on crypto-asset and blockchain issues since 2016 and has advised most leading international and Indian platforms in the sector, including the industry associations. He has been recognised as a ‘Rising Star’ in Technology, Media and Telecommunications by Legal 500, and in Technology and Telecommunications by AsiaLaw in 2024. He has also been recognised as a notable practitioner by Chambers and Partners Fintech Guide.

Our recent FinTech recognitions highlight our continued leadership in the sector:

• Tier 1 in Government and Regulatory, Benchmark Litigation, 2024
• Tier 2 in FinTech & Financial Services Regulatory, Legal500, 2024
• Highly Recommended in Regulatory, AsiaLaw, 2024
• Tier 3 in FinTech & Financial Services Regulatory, Legal500, 2023
• Band 2 in FinTech, Chambers Asia-Pacific, 2023
• Highly Recommended in Regulatory, AsiaLaw, 2023
• Tier 1 in Government and Regulatory, Benchmark Litigation, 2023
• Active in Financial Services Regulatory, IFLR1000, 2023

Key contacts:

Rahul Matthan

Partner - Corporate, Technology, Media and Telecom

Email: [email protected]

Nikhil Narendran

Partner - Artificial Intelligence, Corporate, Technology, Media and Telecom

Email: [email protected]

Jyotsna Jayaram

Partner - Technology, Media and Telecom

Email:[email protected]

Jaideep Reddy

Partner – Technology, Media and Telecom

Email: [email protected]