Bitlaw launches Fintech area and incorporates Tomás Pintor Willcock as new Partner  

Chilean Tech boutique Bitlaw has announced the launch of its new Fintech area, which will be led by new partner Tomás Pintor Willcock.

Tomás worked as Advisor to the Capital Markets Coordination of the Chilean Ministry of Finance for the last four years, and was actively involved in the drafting of the Fintech Law and was in charge of its passage through the National Congress.

The new area will focus on promoting the development of this industry through legal, regulatory and strategic consulting services to technology companies that provide financial services, such as payment and remittance services, digital banking, credit granting, investment and savings, insurance, among other innovative business models in this industry; whether they belong to the world of startups or traditional financial institutions.

Tomás is a lawyer from Universidad de los Andes and has an MBA from Universidad de Chile. He has represented the Chilean Government in international instances related to Fintech and Open Finance regulation, standing out today as an expert frequently consulted by the press and guilds for his expertise in financial regulation in the country. Likewise, and from his role in the Ministry of Finance, he led the drafting and processing of several bills related to the capital market, and in the implementation of significant public policies for the financial market.

Prior to his role at the Ministry of Finance, he worked as a lawyer in the capital markets areas of the law firms Barros & Errázuriz Abogados and Honorato Delaveau, and is currently an academic at the Graduate Schools of the Law School of the Universidad de Chile and the Universidad del Desarrollo. 
The creation of this new area in Bitlaw responds to the exponential growth experienced by the financial technology industry, and the need to adapt its structures to the highest standards required by the new regulations.

Paulina Silva, partner of Bitlaw, highlights the relevance of the new area: "The new regulatory context is quite demanding for the Fintech world and the implementation of the new Open Finance system". In this sense, she says: "The incorporation of Tomás is crucial for this practice, as he knows like no one else the peculiarities of the sector and has a close and intuitive handling of the financial world that makes him adequately foresee the path that the sectorial regulation should follow. This will allow us to provide very solid and comprehensive legal advice to our clients, combining it with our expertise in technology procurement and data protection, which are symbiotic areas where specialization and sophistication become essential". 

The firm’s TMT partner, Javiera Sepúlveda, added that "from our experience with our clients, we have detected the inevitable convergence of our practice areas with the financial regulatory world in cases such as the development of data driven financial businesses, the complexity of new business models and financial innovation projects, and even more clearly in the upcoming implementation of the open finance system; challenges in which we are sure that Tomás’ experience will allow us to strengthen and consolidate the integrity and added value of our services".

Since May of this year, Bitlaw is a partner of FinteChile, the Association of Fintech Companies in Chile, which includes more than 200 entities in the industry.

About Bitlaw

Bitlaw is a Chilean boutique law firm focused on technologies led by partners Paulina Silva and Javiera Sepúlveda, who developed most of their careers at Carey before deciding to move on in 2021.
Bitlaw offers a specialized practice in the areas of technology procurement, data protection, cybersecurity, and e-commerce, accompanying companies throughout the life cycle of their technology deals and their privacy and cybersecurity compliance requirements. Moving forward, they will also offer comprehensive advice to clients in the Fintech sphere.