Article · 1 July 2026
MiCA's cliff edge, and the lesson for the FCA
Europe's crypto market did not shrink because MiCA set the bar too high. It shrank at the edge of the transition to it. The UK's new regime faces the same test.
The practice
Regulation decides where a financial business can operate, what it can sell and who will back it. OJL Law brings it into the strategy from the start, across every jurisdiction in play.
Four pillars
The practice in detail →Authorisation and market access
Getting licensed, and staying licensed, in the markets that matter to the business.
- Licensing and authorisation
- Regulatory perimeter analysis
- Cross-border market entry
- Change in control and acquisitions
Products and innovation
Bringing new financial products to market within the rules that apply to them.
- Payments and e-money
- Digital assets and stablecoins
- Market infrastructure and trading
- AI and technology in financial services
Compliance and governance
The frameworks that let a board answer for the business with confidence.
- Financial crime and sanctions
- Senior manager accountability
- Conduct and customer outcomes
- Systems, controls and outsourcing
Investigations, enforcement and wind-down
When a regulator is asking questions, or a business is changing course.
- Supervisory engagement
- Investigations and enforcement
- Remediation programmes
- Wind-down and cross-border insolvency
Across borders
English law is the common thread.
International financial business is widely structured, documented and resolved under English law. OJL Law advises on English law and coordinates established local counsel elsewhere, giving clients one strategic adviser across every market they enter.
For founders and executives
Where OJL Law comes in
Launching a regulated product
Whether it needs a licence, which one, and where to obtain it first.
Entering a new market
Sequencing licences and structure so the business can scale across jurisdictions.
Raising capital or selling
Regulatory due diligence, change in control and the questions investors will ask.
Building the board's framework
Accountability, controls and governance that stand up to scrutiny.
Facing a regulator
Supervisory correspondence, investigations and remediation.
Changing course
Restructuring, exit and wind-down, handled in an orderly way across borders.
OJL Law is led by its principal, Oliver Linch, a solicitor with fifteen years in financial services regulation in private practice and senior in-house roles.
Profile →Insights
All insights →In the press
DL News · 5 Sep 2024
Why the FCA rejected almost 90% of crypto firms' applications
The New York Times · 7 Jun 2023
Crypto Firms Start Looking Abroad as U.S. Cracks Down
Financial Times · 24 May 2023
Don't treat crypto like gambling - even if it is largely pointless
Contact
To discuss a matter, write to
oliver@ojllaw.com
38 Bow Lane, London EC4M 9AY
Please do not send confidential information until OJL Law has confirmed that it can act for you.