A review of key findings from Chambers FinTech 2024

Chambers Specialist Guides team conducted more than 900 interviews for this year’s FinTech guide. We also received over 2,000 completed client surveys. This represents by far the most comprehensive study ever into the leading law firms for FinTech around the world. 

Chambers FinTech 2024 comprises 860 department rankings and features 490 unique ranked organisations. This represents double-digit growth over the previous guide in percentage terms.  

This year, we have ranked 703 individual lawyers, representing a 26% increase on last year and almost double the 383 lawyers included in Chambers FinTech 2021. 

This year, Chambers FinTech ranks 26 Up and Coming junior partners and 31 Associates to Watch/Star Associates. Chambers is committed to recognising the best of the next generation FinTech lawyers, and this is reflected in our listings of associates and junior partners more than doubling since the 2021 guide. 

We received 765 submissions this year, representing an increase of more than 18% over the previous year and of 40% since the 2021 guide. 

This year, we cover six new markets for the first time in Chambers FinTech: Romania, Austria, Liechtenstein, Panama, Thailand and Taiwan Jurisdiction. 

What unites these disparate markets is their rapid embrace of new technologies in the financial services sector.  

In Liechtenstein, firms highlighted the jurisdiction’s leading role in creating blockchain regulations and Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) licensing. “Liechtenstein was one of the first jurisdictions with a sophisticated Blockchain Act,” said one source: “It was considered in the (European Union’s) Markets in Crypto Assets proposal, so with MiCA now in force the Liechtenstein blockchain scene is well prepared. There will be some changes but in general the VASPs are well prepared for the European regulations.” 

Blockchain and cryptocurrency work was also prominent among law firms in Taipei. Lawyers there noted that, while many crypto trading activities are banned on the Chinese Mainland, Taiwanese laws allow these activities both for local and international businesses, subject to local anti-money laundering rules. “China banned crypto activities, but we [in Taiwan] have many local and international players,” said an interviewee. “We’ve also seen crypto companies working with stablecoins, international players wanting to try to structure payments services [in Taiwan], as well as commercial banks wanting to have cross-border payments services.” 

Austrian lawyers highlighted the developing role of digital payments technologies and new forms of consumer credit in the local market. One Austrian lawyer said: “With the cost-of-living crisis, we expect that the Buy Now, Pay Later model will increase in terms of market share. In the Austrian payments market, customers always had a focus on payments in cash; they were very traditionally minded. In terms of card payments, Austrians were quite hesitant, but because of the Coronavirus we saw an increase in payments by card. The next step we see is instant payments for Austrian banks.”