Robinhood Markets Inc., 2025
Acting for Robinhood Markets Inc. in its C$250-million acquisition of WonderFi Technologies Inc., a Canadian fintech company that operates one of the largest registered crypto asset trading platforms in Canada.
Industry participants in the fast-moving fintech sector need an adviser with the dexterity and acuity to guide them through the space where the traditional and the innovative converge. Anchored in experience and fluent in technology, we design cutting-edge strategies to help you leverage fintech innovations and drive your business growth.
Fintech startups, global service providers, leading financial institutions and investors trust our team to help them navigate the myriad regulatory and commercial hurdles that present in this space. Active in the sector since before the coining of the term “fintech,” our precedent-setting team has been instrumental in shaping legislative policy and designing first-of-their-kind business structures. We combine a cross-section of expertise in financial services, technology, capital markets, tax, M&A, and competition to steer clients from across the fintech spectrum through every stage of the business life cycle.
Our expertise spans a range of industry segments, including peer-to-peer lending, e-payment and billing systems, blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, cloud-based software solutions, digital banking, big data and wealth management. Whatever your challenge – from regulatory compliance and strategic investments to service agreements and cross-border acquisitions – we understand what matters most to your business and deliver tailored solutions to achieve results.
Acting for Robinhood Markets Inc. in its C$250-million acquisition of WonderFi Technologies Inc., a Canadian fintech company that operates one of the largest registered crypto asset trading platforms in Canada.
Acted for Novacap, a leading Canadian private equity firm, in connection with the rollover of its investment in the approximately US$6.3-billion privatization of Nuvei Corporation to a new continuation vehicle and other Novacap funds.
Robinhood Markets Inc., 2025
Acting for Robinhood Markets Inc. in its C$250-million acquisition of WonderFi Technologies Inc., a Canadian fintech company that operates one of the largest registered crypto asset trading platforms in Canada.
Novacap Management Inc., 2024
Acted for Novacap, a leading Canadian private equity firm, in connection with the rollover of its investment in the approximately US$6.3-billion privatization of Nuvei Corporation to a new continuation vehicle and other Novacap funds.
ALT 5 Sigma Inc., 2024
Acted as tax counsel to ALT 5 Sigma Inc., a leading next generation blockchain financial technology provider, in its acquisition by JanOne Inc.
IOU Financial Inc., 2023
Acted for IOU Financial Inc., a fintech company listed on the TSX-V, in its sale to 9494-3677 Québec Inc., a corporation created by a group composed of funds managed by Neuberger Berman, Palos Capital and Fintech Ventures, for an all-cash consideration.
Numerix LLC, 2023
Acted as Canadian counsel to Genstar Capital-backed Numerix LLC, a leader in capital markets risk management technology, in its acquisition of all the issued and outstanding shares of FinancialCAD Corporation.
Kroll, LLC, 2023
Acted for Kroll, the independent financial advisor to Hut 8, in connection with its merger with U.S. Data Mining Group, Inc. doing business as US Bitcoin Corp, to establish “New Hut”, a large scale, publicly traded Bitcoin miner.
QuadFi, 2022
Acted for QuadFi, a Canadian mission-driven global fintech firm, in securing a US$100-million financing commitment from Crayhill Capital Management, a New York-based minority-owned private credit manager.
Meta Investments, 2022
Acted for co-lead investor Meta Investments in the US$90-million Series B investment in Sygnum, a digital asset technology group with a Swiss banking license and a Singapore asset management licence.
Block Inc., 2022
Acted for Block Inc., a U.S. fintech company, in its C$3-million investment in Indigenous Growth Fund, a government-backed loan fund for Indigenous entrepreneurs.
Moka Financial Technologies Inc., 2021
Acted as special Canadian and U.S. securities law and tax counsel to Moka Financial Technologies Inc. in its sale to Mogo Inc., a digital payments and financial technology company listed on the TSX and Nasdaq, in a share-for-share transaction valuing Moka at approximately $50 million.
Canadian Business Growth Fund, 2021
Acted for Canadian Business Growth Fund in the C$340-million sale of PayBright Inc., one of Canada's leading buy-now-pay-later provider, to Affirm Holdings Ltd.
IOU Financial Inc., 2020
Acted for IOU Financial Inc. in its strategic transaction with Neuberger Berman, which comprised a non-brokered private placement of common shares of the company for gross proceeds of approximately C$2.1 million and a loan purchase agreement with a fund managed by Neuberger Berman for up to US$150 million per year over the next two years.
Novacap Management and Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, 2020
Acted for various funds managed by Novacap Management Inc. (as selling shareholders) and for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in connection with the US$833-million initial public offering and concurrent private placement of Nuvei Corporation, representing the largest technology IPO, by both equity capital raised and market capitalization at the time of listing, in TSX history.
Square, Inc., 2020
Acted as Canadian counsel to Square, Inc. in its acquisition of Dessa, a Toronto-based company building machine learning applications that address significant real-world challenges for all types of businesses.
Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), 2019
Acted for Total System Services Inc. (TSYS), a leading global payments provider, on competition matters related to its US$26-billion merger of equals with Global Payments Inc., to create a global technology-enabled payments company.
Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Business Development Bank of Canada, 2019
Acted for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Business Development Bank of Canada regarding the restructuring of Portag3 Ventures, an early-stage investor initially formed to establish a leading, interconnected fintech ecosystem, operating in Toronto, Montréal, New York and Singapore.
The Bank of Nova Scotia, 2018
Acted for a syndicate of lenders, led by The Bank of Nova Scotia, in the financing of Thinking Capital Financial Corporation, Canada's leading fintech lender to small businesses, which was acquired by Purpose Financial LP.
tZERO.com, subsidiary of Overstock.com, 2018
Acting as Canadian counsel for tZERO.com, the financial technology subsidiary of Overstock.com, in its USD$250-million offering of security tokens using blockchain technology by way of a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE).
Equibit Group Ltd., 2018
Acted for Equibit Group Ltd., a blockchain development company focused on building a decentralized securities network that facilitates the issuance and transfer of securities on the blockchain.
National Bank of Canada, 2018
Acted for National Bank of Canada in a $80-million secured capital call loan made available to a fintech venture fund focused on investments in the global financial technology sector.
Filling the Gap: Scope of Canadian Anti-Money Laundering Laws Expanded
June 07, 2022 – The Canadian federal government has fulfilled its promise to expand Canada’s anti-money laundering (AML) regime to cover crowdfunding platforms and certain payment service providers (PSPs) that previously operated outside the scope of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist...
Following the Money: Emergencies Act Invoked to Expand Anti-Money Laundering Rules
Feb. 17, 2022 – The Canadian federal government announced this week that it was invoking the never-before-used Emergencies Act 1 in response to ongoing blockades and occupations arising out of the self-titled “Freedom Convoy” protests. As part of the emergency declaration, the government announced additional...
Oct. 15, 2018 – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) recently approved a settlement agreement with eToro (Europe) Limited (eToro), a Cyprus-based brokerage firm that operates an online cryptocurrency and stock trading platform, imposing over C$2.8 million in penalties on eToro for violating registration and...
Davies Governance Insights 2018
Oct. 03, 2018 – Davies’ annual Governance Insights reports analyze the top governance trends and issues important to Canadian boards, senior management, in-house counsel and governance observers. In the 2018 edition, we shine the spotlight on the following issues that shaped the corporate governance landscape...
Elliot Greenstone Speaks to Les Affaires About New and Emerging Business Sectors in Québec
Sept. 27, 2018 – In an article published recently in Les Affaires (in French), Davies partner Elliot Greenstone shares his insights on how a firm like Davies can best serve clients in innovative business sectors emerging in Québec. According to Elliot, keeping current requires not only being ready to assist...
Demystifying Crypto in Canada: Will 2018 Be the Year of Blockchain?
Mar. 07, 2018 – The year 2017 was one of tremendous growth for blockchain, as the technology underlying Bitcoin gained attention from mainstream media outlets, financial institutions, investment funds and securities regulators across the globe. Blockchain’s rise to prominence was led by an interest in...
OSC Invites TokenFunder to Play in the CSA Sandbox
Oct. 26, 2017 – Earlier this month, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) released its decision to grant exemptive relief from applicable Canadian registration requirements to Token Funder Inc. (TokenFunder) for the launch of its initial offering of FNDR tokens. By blessing the upcoming offering by TokenFunder...
Geoffrey Rawle, Zain Rizvi Referenced in Financial Post Article About Bitcoin
Sept. 22, 2017 – Davies lawyers Geoffrey Rawle and Zain Rizvi ’s recent client communication on the Canadian Securities Administrators’ (CSA) approach to cryptocurrency offerings is referenced in a recent Financial Post article. The Post’s article discusses the strength of the CSA’s directive and quotes Geoff...
Cooling the Blockchain Boom: CSA Staff Narrow the Path for Cryptocurrency Offerings
Sept. 07, 2017 – Cryptocurrency users take note – Canadian securities laws may apply, and regulators are paying attention. On August 24, 2017, the Canadian Securities Administrators released strong guidance on how securities regulators will view and regulate cryptocurrency offerings, also known as initial coin or...