Partner
Financial Services Regulation and FinTech
For further advice please contact us for a consultation.
Partner
Financial Services Regulation and FinTech
"The Digital Assets industry is evolving at an unprecedented rate causing a need for firm legal advice. James Burnie and the team at Gunnercooke are amongst the few able to grasp how the legislation of tomorrow will look like today. Such insight combined with James´ understanding of Crypto Assets as a whole enables him to give incisive guidance on the right way forward in a cost-effective manner. I fully appreciate and trust the legal advice of James and his team having spanned several areas in relation to Digital asset and regulation."
Torben Friis
Managing Director, GCEX“Working with James Burnie on Monolith's regulatory compliance review was brilliant. He is a smart, competent lawyer that has a deep understanding of cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Over the past 3 years we have worked with a few of the leading law firms in the UK and he really stood out.”
William Ou
Chief Commercial Officer, Monolith“James was a pleasure to work with and always incredibly knowledgeable, direct and honest with his advice. He was brilliantly suited to advise on our novel project - we were tokenising shares through a security token offering. I have since used James’s advice for other projects and I would recommend him highly.”
Aysha Ali
Aysha Ali, Dream Up Ventures“James is one of the advisers we work with who has a full understanding of the technology, but also the regulatory constraints, tax considerations and most importantly, from our perspective, market infrastructure. In the emerging world of digital securities it is incredibly helpful to work with people who understand how these elements interconnect.”
Jim Needham
Head of Strategy at MERJ Exchange"James Burnie is one of the few lawyers I’ve come across and worked with that’s really switched on when it comes to cryptoassets, DeFi and blockchain. He has a deep and broad knowledge of these nascent markets and the technology infrastructure it was built on which makes him invaluable given its complexity. His work for Trustology has shown that he is able to think pragmatically and outside the box to help with complex issues, and he provides a superb level of service as our trusted advisor.”
Alex Batlin
Founder and CEO, Trustology"James and I collaborated on an article for the Journal of International Banking & Financial Law, on the role of depositaries in safekeeping digital assets. James was great to work alongside and his technical knowledge in this area is second to none."
Francesco Roda
Chief Risk Officer, Koine"It has been a breath of fresh air to work with lawyers that can cut through the fog that many people seem blinded by regarding around anything "blockchain" or "crypto" related."
Jay Goss
7 Sigma FinTechExpertise
James advises a wide range of firms on financial services regulation and FinTech. He advises financial institutions on all aspects of EU and UK financial regulation. This includes advisory, project and transactional work in connection with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, the Capital Requirements Directive and Regulation, the FCA Handbook and PRA Rulebook (including conduct of business obligations and financial promotions), the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and regulatory perimeter questions.
James’ cryptoassets and blockchain work is award winning, receiving runner-up at the Crypto A.M. Awards 2020, “Standout” at the FT Innovation in Legal Expertise Awards 2018; “Highly Commended” at the FT Innovative Lawyers Awards 2017 and “Highly Commended / Runner Up” at Legalweek: The British legal Awards 2017.
He has an MA in law from Cambridge University, and a specialist corporate and commercial LLM from the London School of Economics, where his specialisms included Information Technology and the Law. James has lectured with LexisNexis, and publishes on FinTech matters, including with the Journal of International Banking and Financial Law.
James Advises
Experience Highlights
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James regularly lectures on FinTech, is co-author of both the RegTech book and the PayTech books whose authorship is crowd-sourced through a voting process and has published on blockchain with the Journal of International Banking and Financial Law. James is co-author of the UK chapter in the First Edition of the Financial Technology Law Review, and co-published the first function-based cryptoasset taxonomy in peer reviewed academic journal Ledger.
James is regularly quoted as an expert in the press, including by Ignites Europe (Financial Times), Regulatory Intelligence and Compliance Complete (Thompson Reuters), Law 360 and the New Money Review. He has given evidence to the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain and Cryptoassets, and is a named contributor to the UKJT legal statement on cryptoassets and smart contracts. He regularly publishes in the Journal of International Banking and Financial Law and has a podcast.
For further advice please contact us for a consultation.