Alston & Bird has grown its Payments & Fintech Group and Financial Services & Products Group with the addition of Jonathan Garforth in the firm’s London office.
“We are excited to welcome Jonathan to Alston & Bird,” said Duncan Douglass, co-lead of the firm’s Payments & Fintech Group, “Jonathan’s global experience, combined with his focus on clients pursuing innovative fintech business models, will bring enormous value to those we serve and add even greater depth to our Payments & Fintech Group.”
Jonathan joins from Dentons. He established his career advising leading banks and traditional financial services providers in Australia, the UK, Europe, and North America. Over the last decade, he has focused on fintech clients with innovative and disruptive business models. His fintech clients include digital payments and credit providers, peer-to-peer lending platforms, crypto asset businesses, as well as banks and others whose products rely on blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. He continues to advise investors, including private equity firms, on regulatory aspects of fintech deals.
Clients seek Jonathan’s fintech regulatory counsel on new product launches, regulatory change projects, M&A, and corporate and structured finance transactions. He has become a trusted advisor to fintech clients who, from their early stages as start-ups, trust Jonathan as their “quarterback” when navigating broader challenges ranging from employment, IP, and tax matters, as well as the management of potential regulatory breaches.
Alston & Bird’s Payments & Fintech Group helps clients structure deals, interface with regulators, and develop comprehensive payments strategies across jurisdictions and sectors. The group has attorneys based in the United States and Europe working on engagements in North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and beyond. Their diverse experience across the payments industry includes merchant acquiring, card issuing, mobile payments, e-commerce, card schemes and payment networks, stored value, gift cards, payroll cards and other prepaid products, health care payments, B2B payments, and other traditional and emerging payment systems.