Slaughter and May and Addleshaw Goddard are targeting the fintech market, following in Simmons & Simmons’ footsteps to develop funds that back free legal advice to fintech clients.
In May Simmons launched a £100,000 fund to cover free advice for up to four fintech start-ups. In November Slaughters upped the ante, putting £300,000 forward for its initiative. Meanwhile, Addleshaws has also announced it will provide up to £500,000 worth of legal mentorship and advisory programmes for up to 16 selected start-ups over the next 12 months.
Slaughters head of technology and outsourcing Rob Sumroy said: ‘What’s changed in the last couple of years is fintech has become recognised as a discipline within legal circles, and the appearance of people like us who would describe themselves as fintech lawyers.’
According to UK fintech association Innovate Finance, the global investment in the sector tripled in 2013-14 from $4bn to $12bn across more than 730 deals and projections for annual global investment is expected to reach $46bn in 2020.
Slaughters financial services partner Ben Kingsley said: ‘We’ve got an eye on the opportunities that may emerge from what is already a very active sector of the UK economy. If you compare this with the incumbent financial services industry, fintech at the moment is a minnow, but the prospects are vast.’
‘Fintech has become recognised as a discipline within legal circles.’
Rob Sumroy, Slaughter and May
He added: ‘We recently advised on the biggest tech deal of the year – SoftBank’s purchase of ARM. ARM has been a client of ours for 25 years since it was a very small start-up. Was that a risk at the time? Yes. Did it make a financial business case at the time? Maybe not. But ultimately, a perfect example of what we are about.’
Addleshaws head of fintech Fiona Ghosh added: ‘Fintechs often come to market quickly and need nimble advisers that they can work collaboratively with, who are responsive, as well as people they can talk to, who can offer guidance and support, rather than just providers of hard-edged legal advice.’
Simmons fintech head Angus McLean said: ‘The business justification is building relationships with start-ups we think will be successful. Hopefully we’ve picked those who we can continue to provide legal advice for as they become successful.’
georgiana.tudor@legalease.co.uk