As we approach the conclusion of yet another busy year, our national Financial Services & Fintech team reflects on 2024’s accomplishments, developments, and industry trends, and predicts what the coming year ahead may have in store.
“Last year I said that practicing in this sector is never dull. Nothing has changed in 2024! The avalanche of regulatory reform has continued and the expectations of regulators have become higher. At the same time the use of electronic delivery channels, by our clients and their customers, has continued to evolve rapidly. All of which has led to many challenges for those involved in the provision of financial services. Happily our team thrives on helping our clients to address these challenges. We’ve done that very successfully in 2024, and we look forward to continuing to do so in 2025.”
Shannon Adams – Practice Team leader
Industry insights
In 2024, Australia’s financial services and fintech sectors continued to be faced with numerous regulatory changes. The aims of many of these changes have been to boost consumer protections, ensure data security, and foster innovation as the industry evolves with new technologies.
Financial institutions continue to enhance disclosure practices to address consumer concerns about transparency and fair treatment. BNPL providers are also subject to stricter lending guidelines to prevent unmanageable debt.
New regulations were introduced in 2024 to enhance cybersecurity and data privacy. In the coming years, financial service providers will face harsher penalties over handling of customer data and a new reporting framework for cyber-breaches and ransomware attacks. These measures aim to increase consumer trust and align Australia with global financial data protection standards.
The rise of AI in financial services has led regulators to establish ethical guidelines, emphasising transparency in AI-driven decisions like lending and credit scoring. Companies must disclose AI use to ensure customers understand these algorithms.
In 2024, Australia has continued work on new guidance and legislation relating to cryptocurrencies and digital assets, with further consultations expected in 2025 on a new regime for digital asset platforms including cryptocurrency exchanges and custodians.
And of course more is in the pipeline for 2025, including changes to the Privacy Act and the AML/CTF Act, and potentially changes to Consumer Data Right (CDR) laws (including extension to some non-bank lenders). The CDR allows consumers to securely share data with more third-party providers, and was intended to enhance competition and facilitate financial service providers offering better-tailored financial services. However, the take up by consumers has been minimal and the industry has expressed concern about the high cost of compliance, so it’ll be interesting to see where the proposed reforms land.
Regulatory changes reflect Australia’s efforts to ensure a secure, transparent, and consumer-focused financial services environment, and aim to balance innovation with strong protections, contributing to a more reliable and dynamic Australian financial sector. Let’s all do our best to facilitate those aims being achieved.
Team movements
The team has recently welcomed prominent finance partner, Hai-Dang Nguyen (Partner), and Rachel Luo (Senior Associate) to our Sydney office. Earlier in the year, we also welcomed Hannah Guest (Lawyer) and Jordan Markezic (Lawyer).
We are proud to celebrate the promotions of Steven Pettigrove (Partner), Jake Huang (Associate), Luke Higgins (Associate), and Jack Dean (Associate).
Significant matters
Throughout the year, we continued to act for our clients in a number of transactions and developments, including:
KordaMentha
Piper Alderman advised KordaMentha in connection with the administration of FTX Australia Pty Ltd (FTX Australia) and FTX Express Pty Ltd (FTX Express), the Australian arm of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange which collapsed in November 2022, making global headlines. The administration involved a directions application to the Victorian Court and working alongside the advisors to the US bankruptcy administrator in the Chapter 11 proceedings. The successful administration saw creditors of FTX Australia and FTX Express repaid in full.
Digital Surge
Piper Alderman acted for Digital Surge in relation to its successful restructure of the digital currency exchange following issues arising from the collapse of FTX. Piper Alderman is continuing to assist Digital Surge in the recovery of assets to ensure beneficiaries of the company are repaid in full.
Open Security Alliance
Piper Alderman advised the Open Security Alliance on a legal framework for whitehat security professionals, working alongside US legal advisors. We prepared a unilateral agreement comprising a legal release, targeted at decentralised blockchain projects, which can adopt the agreement at inception or via a governance vote of token holders. The framework seeks to relieve ethical hackers from civil or criminal liability in connection with the recovery of digital assets arising from blockchain exploits.
Recognition
Across our national Financial Services & FinTech practice team, we have received a number of individual and team accolades this year. We thank our clients and colleagues for their ongoing support.
The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific
In the 2024 edition of The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Piper Alderman was recognised across 14 areas of law including Fintech and Financial Services Regulatory. Partners in our team were highlighted as recommended lawyers for this category, including:
- Shannon Adams
- Andrea Beatty
- Steven Pettigrove (listed as a ‘Rising Star’)
The Best Lawyers in Australia
In the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in Australia, 52 of our lawyers have been named a ‘Best Lawyer’ and 13 of our senior lawyers have been named in the ‘Ones to Watch’ list, including the following partners in our Financial Services & Fintech team:
- Shannon Adams– Banking and Finance Law, Corporate / Governance Practice
- Andrea Beatty– Financial Institutions, Privacy and Data Security Law, Regulatory Practice, Commercial Law
- Mark Gordon– Banking and Finance Law, Commercial Law, Corporate Law
Chambers & Partners
Piper Alderman was ranked in the Asia-Pacific 2024 in Financial Services Regulation for the first time, recognising our growing bench strength in this industry. Andrea Beatty also maintained her individual Band 3 in Financial Services Regulation. The team was described as being well reputed for its expertise and experience advising on licensing and compliance in the fintech, regtech and digital currency spaces.
Additionally, Piper Alderman was ranked in the Global FinTech Legal Guide 2024. The team was described as highly regarded for its expertise in blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Client Feedback
We were also delighted to receive some very kind feedback from clients and contacts during the research process for the legal directories, including:
“‘Exceptional industry knowledge in blockchain/cryptocurrency; very practical and business-oriented solutions.” (Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, 2024)
“The team has key relationships within the fintech and crypto industry that has streamlined the entire process.” (Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, 2024)
“They are a truly excellent fintech team. Steven Pettigrove is a true expert in his field..” (Legal 500 Asia-Pacific, 2024)
“The team have demonstrated strong knowledge of the relevant regulatory requirements in Australia and have been able to provide practical advice.” (Chambers Asia-Pacific, 2024)
“The firm has a deep and broad team that it can draw on to deal with all facets of financial services regulation litigation and advice.” (Chambers Asia-Pacific, 2024)
“The team at Piper Alderman are very easy to deal with and have very strong relationships in the FinTech industry, which goes a long way to simplifying the process of complex issues.” (Chambers Global, 2024)
“The team worked above and beyond; even when travelling internationally, they made time within their schedules. The team is also very commercially aware.” (Chambers Global, 2024)
Training and education
Our lawyers have presented at numerous conferences, seminars and workshops over the course of the year, and have conducted a number of webinars.
Our weekly ‘Blockchain Bites’ continued through 2024 with Steven Pettigrove and his team providing weekly insights into the Blockchain and Cryptoassets space – resulting in our clients taking advantage of regular, reliable and expert industry insights. In 2024, Steven moderated an all-star panel at the Digital Economy Council’s Global Digital Asset Regulatory Summit, as well as hosting successful client events in Sydney and Melbourne on Asset Tokenisation and Private Markets with Tokeny and The SILC Group.
Andrea Beatty continued to conduct her compliance training workshops, updating Australian Credit Licence (ACL) and Australian Financial Service Licence (AFSL) participants on their compliance obligations, current regulatory issues and other ‘need to know’ pieces of information for Responsible Managers and Representatives. This highly valuable series will continue both in-person and virtually throughout 2025.
Shannon Adams and Joshua Annese presented at the 34rd Informa Credit Law Conference in November.