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Desktop Image: Lorentz, Andrew J.
Mobile Image: Lorentz, Andrew J.

Andy Lorentz

Partner

T 202.973.4232 Washington, D.C.

Our fintech team shares your energy and passion for your business—and we know what to do next, whatever challenge you face.

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Events

April 18-19, 2023
7th Annual Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Forum on FinTech & Emerging Payment Systems
He has deep expertise, combined with an excellent negotiation demeanour and business-minded advice."

"He is deeply familiar with the payments industry, and he has been able to provide clear, well-reasoned guidance for all issues we have brought to him. Furthermore, he has been fantastic with counterparties during contract negotiations."

Client Quote, Chambers FinTech Guide


Andy Lorentz helps clients find the shortest path through the maze of regulations between their vision and the launch and scaling of innovative financial services businesses and products. A relentless team builder and the founder and co-chair of DWT's fintech practice, he advises on complex regulatory issues, negotiates transactions, helps resolve disputes, and offers insight on developing legal concepts amid continual technological innovation.

Named as one of the country's top fintech lawyers for payments and lending by Chambers & Partners (Band 2), Andy represents clients of all kinds and sizes: banks and non-depository financial institutions; technology companies ranging from established global players to startups; fintech unicorns and neo-banks, e-commerce companies, payment processors, and program managers of all kinds. Many of Andy's clients have cross-border operations, and he and the DWT team have advised many companies on their initial entry to the U.S. market. Clients frequently comment on the breadth of perspective as a particular strength of the practice.

A large part of Andy's leadership in DWT's financial services group and his own practice concentrates on emerging technologies, the business models they enable, and the novel legal issues that arise as they intersect with ever-changing financial regulations. He advises on matters crucial to everyday technology and financial services: mobile, P2P, smart contracts, blockchain, cryptocurrency, and all kinds of networks, including ACH, RTP, credit, debit, and other networks. He negotiates new relationships involving major institutions and technology providers, counseling clients on business planning, regulatory compliance, and conflict de-escalation, relationship transitions, and resolution. He also represents companies that provide alternative financing to businesses and consumers.

Andy is particularly adept at navigating interlocking legal regimes for financial services providers offering innovative SaaS solutions – for example in the complex areas of employee benefits (with the DWT benefits team), deposits and stored value (with the DWT core bank regulatory team), and cryptocurrency (with the DWT securities and commodities teams). A particular area of emphasis in Andy's practice across financial institutions and their partners of all kinds is anti-money laundering compliance under the Bank Secrecy Act and associated laws and regulations and matters involving the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions, often in close collaboration with other OFAC experts.

Andy is committed to driving change within the delivery of legal services, drawing on lessons learned from the industry's most innovative and disruptive companies, and he and the team seek to match the energy and enthusiasm of their great clients. He seeks client relationships that allow for a joint focus on value delivered and continuous improvement and afford the greatest opportunities for the further development of DWT's amazing people.

Practice Highlights

Fintech product launches

Assisting bootstrapped fintech companies with the offering of new gift transfer and distribution products, which require structuring and documenting bank relationships, analyzing bank oversight, money transmitter, and anti-money laundering issues, managing relationships with state regulators, and striking the right balance between mitigating risk and market launch.

Assisting fintech "unicorns" with navigating regulation and product development

Assisting tech, fintech, and e-commerce companies in navigating payments regulation and money transmitter laws, either by becoming licensed or structuring operations and relationships to avoid direct regulation, and advising on innovative credit and quasi-credit products for retail purchases and SME loans for operating capital, including consumer and commercial credit compliance and bank loan originator relationships.

Fintech bank-side innovations

Advising banks large and small on enabling fintech relationships in payments and lending.

Admitted to Practice

  • District of Columbia, 1995

Education

  • J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1994, cum laude
    • American Jurisprudence Award in Constitutional Law
    • Journal: Law and Policy in International Business
  • M.A., International Relations, Boston University, 1990
  • B.A., International Relations, German, University of Pennsylvania, 1985

Languages

  • German

Memberships & Affiliations

    • American Bar Association, 1996-present
    • Member, 2015-2021; Vice chair, 2018-2021 – Davis Wright Tremaine Executive Committee
    • Member, Grace Episcopal Church

Professional Recognition

    • Named as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in FinTech Legal: Payments & Lending (USA) by Chambers FinTech Guide, 2019-2022; Received "Band 2" Ranking, 2023
    • Named as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in Payments & Lending (Global-wide) by Chambers FinTech Guide, 2018 
    • Selected to "Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers," Thomson Reuters, 2015-2017

Background

    • Counsel, Financial Services Group, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, Washington, D.C. and Brussels, 1997-2010
    • Corporate Associate, Patton Boggs LLP, Washington, D.C., 1994-1997
    • Intelligence Officer, Analyst, U.S. Army and Drug Enforcement Administration, Germany and Washington, D.C., 1986-1994
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