Winston & Strawn Launches Financial Innovation & Regulation Practice

Miami—May 21, 2025—Winston & Strawn LLP is pleased to announce the launch of its Financial Innovation & Regulation Practice (FIR), a strategic response to the rapidly evolving financial services landscape and the increasingly complex legal and regulatory issues that confront companies at the forefront of innovation.

With the increasing role of emergent technologies in financial services, the FIR collaborates closely with Winston’s top-tier talent from its nationally-ranked, cross-disciplinary Digital Assets Group and its FinTech, Banking & Payments Group.

“As the financial sector undergoes a historic transformation, clients need a legal partner who not only understands the shifting terrain but also helps shape it,” said Carl Fornaris, chair of the Financial Innovation & Regulation practice. “The launch of this practice underscores our commitment to staying ahead of the curve and providing end-to-end solutions to both incumbents and innovators in the United States and abroad.”

The FIR practice leverages its lawyers’ technical knowledge and legal proficiency to advise on:

• Issuance and trading of digital assets and stablecoins
• Licensing and registration of a variety of financial services and products
• Federal and state financial agency regulatory enforcement
• Digital asset fund formation
• Bank-FinTech partnerships
• Tokenization, DAO structuring, and cross-border crypto activity
• AML and prudential regulatory compliance
• Consumer regulatory compliance
• Sound risk management principles, including third-party relationships

“We understand that the future of financial services is being shaped right now,” said Juan Azel, chair of the FinTech, Banking and Payments Group. “Our team is trusted by both disruptors and traditional players because we speak the language of innovation—without losing sight of regulatory risk.”

“The FIR is built for what’s next and delivers the most sophisticated regulatory counsel to clients facing novel and high-stakes issues,” said Daniel Stabile and Kim Prior, co-chairs of the Digital Assets Group. “Our digital asset clients will benefit greatly from the FIR’s market leading and cutting-edge regulatory expertise.”