Delphi’s FinTech group ranked among top advisors in Sweden for 2022 by Chambers & Partners!

FINTECH – REFLECTIONS ON 2021 AND SOME RECONNAISSANCE FOR 2022 WITH REGULATIONS TARGETING CRYPTOCURRENCIES AND AI IN FOCUS

John, Delphi’s FinTech Group has yet again been ranked by Chambers & Partners among the top advisors in Sweden for 2022 – congrats!
Thanks a lot! Since we chose to present our team and cases only two years ago and rankings partly is a matter of showing persistence, we are happy that we are actually climbing in the rankings already this year.

From your experience, what issues have been high on the companies’ agendas in 2021?
Managing various regulatory issues in a commercial and practical way has been in focus. There is a strong desire to be compliant, while still keeping the business model intact. An example of this is finding practical and balanced contractual solutions for FinTech companies providing services to financial companies that must follow the EBA guidelines regarding outsourcing.

Further, for FinTech companies whose business is linked to cryptocurrencies, our experience is that security and transparency have been key elements. This is the case in particular regarding companies that provide digital trading platforms with a consumer focus.

We have now entered 2022, what is your reconnaissance for the coming year?
Several new regulations are being proposed in Brussels targeting the FinTech-industry, e.g. on markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA) and on artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act). Although these regulations are not yet in force, we believe that it is a good idea to already now consider whether the regulations will affect the business from a legal and/or commercial perspective and take suitable measures.

Further, I believe that we will see an increase in companies who offer products and services where AI is included to varying degrees. This in turn will mean that it will be essential to deal with issues in agreements regarding the way in which a service provider may use customer data to train AI models. Also, the service provider’s responsibility for e.g. AI-generated conclusions and other output should be addressed.

On a more general level, and as everyone knows, many IPOs took place in 2021 and the FinTech industry was no exception. Just to give you one example of several, Delphi assisted Tessin Nordic AB (publ), a crowdfunding company in the real estate business, in connection with the listing on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. I expect more IPOs, even though it may not be as strong a year as 2021. In addition, during 2021 we saw a couple of major acquisitions of Swedish FinTechs by foreign players, including Lunar’s acquisition of Lendify and Visa’s acquisition of Tink. I believe that the market will consolidate further during 2022.

Delphi’s FinTech Group has received very good reviews from clients in connection with the ranking for 2022, what do you think it is due to?
We were very happy that our clients in their Reviews explicitly highlighted our understanding of the industry and the client’s business as well as our ability to link this to practical legal solutions. As we all know, there is no I in a team, but if anyone is to be mentioned especially in this context, it is our colleague Linus Larsén. He has for a long period followed the development in both AI and blockchain and therefore has acquired a technical understanding that clients naturally appreciate.

Any last comments or tips?
Sure! Anyone who reads this text is actually currently reading a blog post on Delphi’s award-winning Tech Blog. It is regularly updated with news regarding everything from Non-Fungible Tokens, to GDPR and AI. Scroll down and check it out. Last but not least, stay safe out there!