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Steve Merriman is a fintech compliance lawyer, regulatory advocate, and product strategist. He helps business and technical innovators identify growth opportunities, safeguard their value and reputation, and negotiate the complexities of financial services laws and regulations. Clients interviewed in Legal 500 describe him as “highly responsive” and “one of the most value-add attorneys” who “understands data, information, and systems related to regulatory risk.”
Steve works with growth-stage startups, venture capital (VC)-backed fintechs, blockchain firms, and Fortune 50 companies alike. He cultivates responsible financial innovation through compliance for digital asset exchanges, digital wallet providers, non-fungible token (NFT) platforms, payment processors, and online sports books and casinos, as well as brands seeking to expand into fintech.
A core member of the firm’s Chambers USA ranked Fintech industry group, Steve centers his practice on financial product development and governance strategy, compliance program frameworking and design, development partner evaluation and acquisition due diligence, domestic and international regulatory strategy and licensing, and advocacy and enforcement defense. He is a certified anti-money laundering specialist (CAMS) through the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS).
Steve’s advising and litigation experience spans rapidly evolving legal issues such as anti-money laundering, economic sanctions, data privacy and security, state money transmitter licensing, and unclaimed property. It covers laws such as the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), New York Financial Services Regulation Part 500, and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA).
Steve is known for his ability to understand and apply the law to underlying technologies, and then serve as a translation layer for C-suites and corporate stakeholders, judges and juries, and regulators across risk management and growth, litigation, and regulatory enforcement.
