Fintech Outfit Greenlight Taps Outside Counsel as Top Lawyer (1)
Greenlight Monetary Technological know-how Inc., a startup that can help teach kids about personal finance, reported Thursday it hired Douglas Spear as chief authorized officer.
Spear is the chief of the rising firms practice at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. He served as outside the house counsel to Greenlight because 2015.
“I have liked doing the job with the workforce for quite a few decades,” Spear said in a assertion. “I am honored to enable help this fantastic company in my new position as it continues on its higher-advancement trajectory.”
He joins the firm following Greenlight’s banking and debit card app for young children came under scrutiny for the particular info it collects. Greenlight has said it does not provide own details in trade for income but does share information with 3rd parties for buyers above 18.
At Nelson Mullins, Spear specialized in counseling angel buyers, technological know-how businesses, and venture cash corporations on corporate governance, finance, and merger-connected matters. He used the earlier dozen a long time at the regulation company in Atlanta immediately after functioning as a spouse at DLA Piper and associate at Morris, Manning & Martin.
Spear led a team from Nelson Mullins final 12 months that advised the Atlanta-centered Greenlight on its $260 million Sequence D fundraising. That expense spherical led by undertaking capital firm Andreessen Horowitz valued Greenlight at $2.3 billion.
Greenlight has to date raised more than $550 million from investors, which also include LionTree LLC and Wellington Management Co.
Nelson Mullins and Spear have taken care of prior fundraisings for Greenlight, and the company represented the company in a trade insider secrets lawsuit it filed past year. Court filings present that scenario has been the subject of a dispute more than jurisdiction.
Nelson Mullins continues to be principal outdoors counsel to the enterprise, Greenlight spokeswoman Joann Wobby mentioned. Spear will oversee equally the lawful and compliance divisions at Greenlight, she said.
The organization named lawyer Jessica Gebhardt its main compliance officer past calendar year, whilst basic counsel Bradley Fauss has worked for Greenlight given that mid-2019. Both of those will keep on in those roles beneath Spear’s management, Wobby stated.
Another attorney hired previous calendar year, senior company counsel Margaret Geer Wooden, reports to Fauss. Wooden expended the earlier a few yrs at Fiserv Inc., a economical services organization that final year hired Adam Rosman as main administrative and lawful officer.
Greenlight used a noted $7 million to air a tv ad during the Super Bowl in February featuring Ty Burrell, an actor and comic who starred in the sitcom “Modern Spouse and children.”
Stripe Hires
Greenlight isn’t the only fintech firm scoring new authorized talent.
Nium Inc., a payments startup whose valuation topped $1 billion previous year, introduced Thursday its marketing of head of regulatory affairs and product legal Dylan Lowrey to basic counsel. Nium is centered in San Francisco and Singapore, and Lowrey works out of San Francisco.
Lowrey joined Nium late previous year following serving as group lead and product counsel at payments processor Stripe Inc., where he expended roughly 4 several years. The former White & Case financial institution finance associate previously was acting head of lawful for U.S. company banking at British fiscal solutions giant Barclays Plc.
Bloomberg News claimed very last year on Nium’s programs to go after an original community giving in the U.S.
Christine Habeeb, a different former product counsel at Stripe, was introduced very last month as the 1st-ever legal main for Tango Card Inc., a Seattle-primarily based fintech focused on digital benefits and incentives.
Habeeb, a previous Hogan Lovells affiliate, put in two years at Stripe and pretty much a half-dozen many years at Amazon.com Inc., the place she was a senior lawyer for payments regulatory issues.
She spoke with trade publication Corporate Counsel previously this thirty day period about how her selection to develop into a specialist, relatively than a generalist, aided Habeeb changeover into law office leadership.
A lot more Fintech Recruits
Stavvy Inc., a Boston-centered fintech targeted on home finance, also announced Thursday its appointment of standard counsel and chief compliance officer Brooke Adams. Stavvy’s new prime law firm invested just about the earlier 9 many years at Fannie Mae, wherever she was most a short while ago an affiliate standard counsel.
Adams joins a organization that lifted $40 million in Series A venture funding past year to even further its mission of serving to householders obtain techniques to modify their financial loans. Adams comes aboard just after Stavvy noticed former head of compliance and buyer production Beth Lehman depart in January.
Lehman, who also was company counsel to Stavvy soon after being employed final 12 months, is now a running director of lawful and compliance at Twin Concentrate Capital Partners LLC, according to the internet site for the boutique multifamily office.
