FinTech and Payments
Ireland is now home to a vibrant and diverse fintech payments sector, ranging from traditional banks to fintech providers and crypto-asset service providers, many of which provide services not only to the Irish market but also across the European Union.
Clients describe our team as having “unrivalled knowledge of the payments industry, European legislation and its transposition into Irish law. They understand what the Irish regulators are looking for and help clients create pragmatic solutions that align with those expectations.”
We are also ranked as a Tier 1 Irish law firm by Chambers Europe for Fintech in 2024 and 2025.
Ireland’s regulated fintech sector has evolved to include SME and e-commerce focussed acquirers, money remittance firms, card issuers, e-money issuers, stablecoin custodians, crowdfunding platforms, crypto-asset exchanges, and open banking providers. Ireland has over 55 licensed non-bank payment service providers regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and over half of these firms have used Matheson to obtain their authorisations, or for post-licensing regulatory advice and support. We are the law firm of choice for fintechs in Ireland with unparalleled market insight due to the breadth and depth of our client base.
Ireland’s unique FDI proposition of market access, competitive tax infrastructure, an internationally respected financial regulator, and a broad talent base makes Ireland a strong choice for any financial services or FinTech company looking to expand their international operations into Europe. However, another key attraction is having local legal counsel who understand their business models, the regulator’s expectations and can advise on how best to manage the legal, regulatory and operational risks they face every day not just in Ireland but across Europe.
Our Financial Institutions Group has been working with leading fintech and payment firms since the introduction of the dedicated Payment Services Directive into EU law in 2009. We have continued to lead the way, helping firms to navigate PSD2, the E-Money Directive 2, the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation and other relevant legislation such as the Consumer Credit Directive and the upcoming AML Regulation.
Matheson is widely recognised for our ability to distil intricate legal issues and provide clear, concise legal advice to firms in the regulatory sector. We understand that clients in the financial sector require legal counsel that has the requisite resources, expertise and skills to develop innovative solutions, adding value and providing strategic advice along the way. With so many variables at play, it is essential that firms have legal counsel that can interpret, anticipate and mitigate legal risk.
Our Financial Institutions Group is part of Matheson’s Corporate Department. Clients benefit from a tailored service delivered by lawyers who focus purely on this area. The Department unites lawyers with extensive industry experience, corporate transactional experience and deep-seated regulatory knowledge who are solely focused on financial institutions. We have worked extensively over many years with a broad range of the largest financial institutions, including leading domestic firms and “brand name” multinationals including banks, insurers, investment services as well as Fintech and payment firms
Our aim is to meet your expectations for client service, deliver an efficient and pragmatic analysis and leveraging our market leading expertise to ensure any underlying legal, regulatory and tax risks are identified and mitigated against. We believe our experience, when combined with our deep knowledge and commercial understanding of the financial regulatory sector places us in the best position to act as your Irish legal service partner for many years to come.
Experience Highlights
- We are expert in authorisation and establishment of all kinds of regulated financial institutions in Ireland. Our expertise spans credit institutions, MiFID investment firms, e-money and payment institutions, fund administrators, bureau de change businesses and trust and company service providers.
- We have undertaken several significant cross-border mergers for regulated financial service providers as part of their international growth strategy. We are one of the few law-firms in the Irish market to have successfully completed several cross-border mergers under the new EU Mobility Directive.
- We advised on the first ever solvent wind-down of a CBI authorised e-money institution and lead the commercial negotiations to migrate its existing client base and distribution network over to several third parties.
- Since 2019 we have advised all of the major centralised crypto-exchanges that have established a presence in Ireland to be their EU HQ for fiat on- and off-ramp services. We are now working with several as they seek to be regulated under the new Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (“MiCAR”).
- We regularly act as expert counsel on AML / CFT and Financial Sanctions matters for a wide range of sectors – banking, insurance, fund administration, e-money, payments, aviation finance, and increasingly crypto-assets.
- We are expert in drafting customer facing terms and conditions to meet relevant under frameworks such as MiFID, PSD2, and local consumer protection rules (currently undergoing reform) applicable in the Irish market.
- We have assisted large multinational groups on the applicability of new individual accountability rules which took force in 2023 and apply to senior executives working for Irish regulated entities and their parent group companies.
- We also provided detailed financial regulatory advice on the regulatory perimeter, particularly for the cross-border provision of financial services into Ireland. This often includes an analysis on the provision of regulated activities and working with clients to find potential exemptions that may enable them to grow their business without becoming regulated.
- Matheson were the first Irish law firm to deliver financial services consultancy enhancements to our legal offering. This has resulted in us successfully acting in two global transformation and organisational design projects with our Corporate M & A and tax colleagues.
- We have led efforts to influence the Irish government’s approach to the transition period for MiCA via a submission to Ireland’s Department of Finance. Matheson were. the only Irish law firm to have responded to the MICA public consultation and points made in our written submission were adopted by most industry participants in this consultation. This is a tangible example of our regular interactions with Government and the Central Bank of Ireland on regulatory policy design.
- We are fluent in the new NIIS 2 and Digital Operational Resilience Act laws which took effect in January 2025 and significantly uplift the information security and digital resilience obligations on all regulated financial service providers.
- We are also expert in advising on the taxation issues that arise under direct and indirect taxes in Irish and EU tax law for regulated financial service providers.
- We are a market leader in Ireland in terms of commentary and insight on trends and developments of interest to clients whose business involves regulated financial services.
