Complying With Money Transmission Laws: FBO Accounts and Other Exemptions, Federal and State Regulatory Framework

Mr. McLaughlin leads the firm's Payments, Banking Regulation, and Consumer Financial Services practice group, and co-chairs both the Fintech industry group and the Digital Assets, Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrencies industry group. His practice focuses on regulatory compliance and enforcement for fintechs, digital asset and cryptocurrency companies, and other consumer financial products and services, including emerging payment and prepaid products. Mr. McLaughlin counsels clients on compliance with a wide range of laws, including state and federal consumer protection laws, money transmitter laws, international remittances, anti-money laundering laws, abandoned property laws, gift card rules, sweepstakes laws, and payment network rules. He helps clients negotiate and draft agreements involving payment technologies and licensing issues, custodial arrangements, and draft terms and conditions and disclosures for new products. He also serves as regulatory counsel in connection with investments, including conducting due diligences of payment companies and digital asset and cryptocurrency platforms. Mr. McLaughlin is a regular speaker at fintech and cryptocurrency conferences both in the U.S. and abroad and is a regular contributor to the Fintech and Blockchain Law Watch blog.

Ms. Odom, a partner, has over 25 years' experience in financial services technology representing banks, credit unions, payments companies and fintechs. She focuses on helping structure diverse payment programs to meet or limit regulatory requirements and then drafting partner, vendor, and customer contracts and disclosures to meet business and regulatory compliance goals. As a decades-long intellectual property and technology lawyer, her understanding of the underlying payments technologies allows her to be more effective in advising clients and negotiating commercial transactions in these areas. In the last few years Ms. Odom has focused on faster payments, fintech M&A due diligence and cryptocurrency and cannabis payments. 

Mr. Shipkevich is the founder and principal of Shipkevich PLLC, a New York City-based law firm focusing on transactional and litigation services in global financial services, debt relief and settlement, FinTech, and emerging digital currency sectors. He is also a Special Professor of Law at his alma mater, the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University. Mr. Shipkevich currently teaches popular courses on the business and policies of cryptocurrencies as well as corporate finance law. Additionally, he gives talks on topics such as financial technology, digital currency, and regulation issues in the debt settlement industry. Mr. Shipkevich has participated at gatherings across the United States, Europe and Asia, including Federal Bar Association’s Blockchain: From Innovation to Regulation; Blockchain Law Summit’s Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Regulations in the U.S. and Abroad; as well as NFT.NYC Token Regulations Panel; Reg A Conference; Hofstra University’s Payments Processing Roundtable; The Blockchain Event; IMTC World; Revcon Debt Relief, Financial Services Convention and many others. An entrepreneur as well, Mr. Shipkevich is the founder of Hotspot Law, a revolutionary new platform and mobile phone app that connects consumers with free consultations with local attorneys. He is also the founder of Payment Week, a payments industry news magazine covering mobile payments, which was sold to a national financial services company in 2015.