The fintech GC survival guide

When fintechs find success, they expand really quickly. But when your in-house legal team starts with just one or two people, how do you prepare for world domination overnight?

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What’s inside?

This eBook contains insights from legal leaders at Curve, Tandem, TrueLayer, Liberis and more - exploring how legal teams at rapidly scaling fintechs can support and enable the business. Insights include how to establish trust in the wider business, work effectively with leadership, collaborate with external counsel, scale privacy and compliance, automate everyday contracts, and ultimately thrive in the role.

Foreword

Foreword

Do you remember life before fintech? Juro CEO and co-founder, Richard Mabey, explores the challenges legal teams faced when fintech started to boom.

Richard Mabey is the CEO and co-founder of Juro, the intelligent contract automation platform. Under his leadership, Juro has scaled rapidly, backed by $38 million in venture funding from prominent investors including Eight Roads, USV, Point Nine Capital and Seedcamp, and the founders of companies like Indeed, Gumtree and Wise.

Richard trained and qualified at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, working as an M&A associate in London and New York. He gained an MBA from INSEAD, and then spent time at LegalZoom, learning to build legal tech products.

Frustrated by the manual legal processes that slow down businesses, Richard co-founded Juro in 2016, with a mission to help the world agree contracts faster. Beyond Juro, he hosts the "Brief Encounters" podcast, makes angel investments, and supports other ambitious ventures from the boardroom. Richard is a Fellow of the RSA, an adviser to The Entrepreneurs Network and sits as a Non-executive Director of Bright Blue.

Chapter 1

How to thrive as a fintech GC

To advise and meet the demands of an ambitious fintech, you need to be a different kind of General Counsel. You need to hang on to some principles and let go of others entirely. How do you prepare for this mindset shift?

Alistair Houghton is the Founder of Magneto Counsel, where he acts as a Fractional General Counsel for venture and growth backed companies. Before founding Magneto Counsel, Alistair held a role as General Counsel and Company Secretary at Curve, where he built and led the Legal, Co Sec, and Public Affairs team. Alistair has also held senior legal roles in other financial institutions, including as Head of Legal at TSB Bank, and as Senior Lawyer at Lloyds Banking Group.

Chapter 2

How to establish trust

Startups, by their nature, have to overcome a trust barrier with their customers - even more so in fintech. How can lawyers establish trust externally, while also changing negative perceptions of legal internally?

Lynda Horgan is Director at SoftBank Investment Advisers, where she previously held the role of VP of Legal. She was admitted as an SRA-regulated solicitor in 2016 and has had an impressive and varied legal career since, including working at law firms like White & Case LLP and Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer. Lynda has also been recognized for her work by Next100Years and the British Legal Awards.

Chapter 3

How to prioritize your workload

With upcoming expansions on the horizon and relentless day-to-day work, how can lawyers successfully balance this workload while adding value to the business?

Willem Wellinghoff is the UK Chairman and Chief Compliance Officer at Ecompay, where he is responsible for all things compliance, legal, and risk. He is an experienced commercial and legal advisor with more than 20 years of experience in the financial services, crime, and technology sector.

Chapter 4

How to scale privacy

A common misconception is that legal owns privacy. In reality, everyone in the company is responsible. How can you make sure the business scales with privacy in mind?

Julie Ngov is the Head of Legal at Clearscore, a FinTech company that provides credit scores, reports and affordability scores to individuals.

Before joining Clearscore, Julie held other in-house legal roles at businesses like Block, Clearpay, Truelayer, and Zoopla. Julie also has experience advising the Home Office on a wide range of commercial legal issues, including public procurement for major government projects and essential services.

Julie originally trained as a Solicitor at Hogan Lovells International LLP before becoming an Associate there.

Chapter 5

How to work with leadership teams

As the legal leader, you’ll be working constantly with colleagues right at the top of the organization. But what do fintech founders and CEOs expect from lawyers? And what skills and qualities do you need to work effectively with them?

Ed Freeman is the Director of Legal at Monzo Bank, and an experienced GC with over 13 years of legal experience across different departments and jurisdictions. Before joining Monzo, Ed held the role of Senior Legal Counsel at HSBC, where he supported the central UK legal team on large projects. He was also the General Counsel and Company Secretary at Tandem Bank, where he supported the CEO through Series B and C fundraising.

Chapter 6

Case study: How to automate agreements with banks and retailers

When working with large clients like banks, lengthy contract lifecycles might seem unavoidable. Can a user-centric automated workflow make that process faster, enabling rather than blocking growth?

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Chapter 7

How to work with external counsel

When you’re working across dozens of jurisdictions at a rapid-growth business, you need to collaborate closely with external counsel. These are the tips and techniques around how you can make it work.

Alexis Alexander is the General Counsel at Inspired Education Group, and independent school group educating over 85,000 students across 110 schools in 24 countries. Before this, Alexis was the Head of Legal at Liberis, and the Senior Legal Counsel at IHS Markit. Alexis originally trained at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, a leading global law firm.

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