"Christian McDermott’s niche expertise encompasses FinTech and payments regulations."
The Legal 500 UK 2025
"By far one of the smartest lawyers I have worked with. His calm demeanour, keen insights, and sharp intellect make him indispensable."
The Legal 500 UK 2025
Ranked – Financial Services: Payments Law
Chambers UK 2025
Next Generation Partner – IT & Telecoms
The Legal 500 UK 2025
"He has a deep knowledge of the market and is always focused on providing high-quality and practical advice."
The Legal 500 UK 2024
"A technical expert, who also gives practical advice and understands client motivations."
The Legal 500 UK 2024
"Payments and crypto specialist Christian McDermott is noted for his focus on the monetisation of assets via NFTs."
The Legal 500 UK 2024
"Christian McDermott has expertise in the IT space, conducting technology-related transactions for clients as well as handling work in the emerging technology space."
The Legal 500 UK 2023
Profile
Christian McDermott, an experienced technology lawyer and Co-Chair of the firm's Payments Practice, advises global and UK-based clients on large-scale technology contracts, commercial collaborations, and complex fintech and payments transactions.
Christian advises major financial institutions, as well as publicly listed, private, and emerging companies, on the development, use, and commercialization of technology, in the context of:
Large-scale technology and outsourcing projects
Complex commercial collaborations, including joint ventures
Fintech contracts
Established and emerging payments technologies
Licensing and distribution arrangements
Technology licensing arrangements
IP development and licensing agreements
IP transfers
General commercial law and intellectual property matters
He also regularly leads the technology and IP aspects of M&A and capital markets transactions.
He has a keen sense of what is at market, utilizes effective collaboration strategies, and has developed a reputation as a skilled negotiator who knows how to get deals done.
Experience
Christian’s representative experience includes advising:
Fintech and Payments
Coinbase on acquiring Deribit, the world’s leading crypto options exchange with about US$30 billion of current open interest
FIS on its US$24.2 billion sale of Worldpay with GTCR to Global Payments and concurrent US$13.5 billion acquisition of Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions business
Payoneer, a global payments platform, on its strategic acquisition of Skuad, an employer-of-record and agent-of-record on behalf of enterprise customers in 160 countries
A European financial services provider on its joint venture with a leading US telecoms company, including drafting and negotiating various associated business and outsourcing arrangements, as well as launching a co-branded credit card
Goldman Sachs on developing Marcus Invest, its UK Retail Investment Platform
Goldman Sachs Bank USA on its US$150 million receivables funding facility for Splitit Payments Limited, a global BNPL solutions provider
Madison Dearborn Partners on acquiring all outstanding shares of MoneyGram, a global leader in money transfer services, valued at approximately US$1.8 billion
Square on acquiring Verse Technologies, a Spain-based mobile payments application company
The Rise Fund, an investing platform of TPG, on its US$200million investment in Airtel Mobile Commerce (Airtel Money), a Netherlands-based mobile money business and wholly owned Airtel Africa subsidiary
Cipher Mining Technologies on a master services and supply agreement with Bitfury to enable Cipher to establish its bitcoin mining operations in the US
A global online marketplace on contractual negotiations with a payment service provider in relation to rolling out a BNPL product in the Middle East
Thomas Cook Group plc on the payments-related aspects of its attempted rescue, in particular renegotiating arrangements with its three largest payment service providers
Interswitch on its strategic partnership with Visa, which made Interswitch one of the most valuable African fintech businesses with a valuation of US$1 billion
A nation state on developing a new domestic and international payments system, including drafting the various underlying commercial contracts
TransferWise on strategic structuring and developing template B2B terms and conditions
A crypto-brokerage on the developing its standard client-facing terms and conditions
Numerous merchants and merchant acquirers on payment processing terms, including applying the GDPR to such arrangements
CVC and Blackstone in connection with the £2.96 billion acquisition by a consortium comprising Blackstone and CVC Capital of Paysafe Group a UK-based online payment solutions company
The underwriters on the US$2.4 billion IPO of Nets — Scandinavia’s largest payments processor
A major natural resources company on its global paying services contract with a global bank
A leading Asian social network on the international product rollout of a new payments platform in various countries, including regulatory, compliance, and local partnership arrangements
A major merchant services provider on its new standard form, large-market merchant services agreement
Videogames
CVC on its investment in Dream Games as its sole equity partner
Build A Rocket Boy, an international game developer and publisher, on acquiring PlayFusion
CVC Capital Partners and the acquisition vehicle it formed with Haveli Investments on acquiring Jagex, a leading videogame developer and publisher, from Carlyle
Non-Fintech M&A
A consortium of investors, led by Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises Global Football Group, on acquiring a majority stake in Rangers Football Club
Muse Capital on its investment into the Red Bull Italy SailGP team, as part of a consortium of investors and sports industry leaders
DoorDash on its proposed take-private of food delivery platform Deliveroo
Anglo American on the US$3.775 billion sale of its Australian Steelmaking Coal Portfolio to Peabody Energy
Jersey Telecom on selling its IoT division, including advising on transitional and long-term separation arrangements involving proprietary systems and underlying IP and source code issues
A global household appliance company on the carve-out of its EMEA business
EQT, CPP Investments, and Nord Anglia Education on the sale of Nord Anglia Education to a consortium formed by Neuberger Berman Private Markets, EQT, and CPP Investments, together with other global institutional investors, for an enterprise value of US$14.5 billion
Cadence on its agreement to acquire Arm’s Artisan foundation IP business
Outsourcing
A leading UK insurer on outsourcing its policy administration activities, as well as certain IT and business processes
A global media company on negotiating framework services agreements with the client’s three main offshore service providers
A global media company on negotiating licensing and support arrangements to implement and run tax compliance software and associated outsourced services across the client’s operating divisions
A UK-headquartered exchange on renegotiating and insourcing its IT function
A global retail and investment bank on the multibillion-euro global outsourcing of its investment banking IT infrastructure
A global UK-headquartered retail and investment bank on the top-down renegotiation of its relationship with its biggest IT supplier, comprising individual hardware, software, and services streams
A leading South African bank on outsourcing the bank’s applications maintenance arrangements
A global UK-headquartered retail and investment bank on the global outsourcing of the bank’s facilities management functions
A global retail bank on renegotiating a complex framework agreement covering of all of its voice and data telecommunications requirements
Qualifications
Bar Qualification
England and Wales (Solicitor)
Scotland (Solicitor)
Education
QLTT, College of Law, London, 2010
Master of Laws, Cambridge University, 2007
Diploma in Legal Practice, University of Edinburgh, 2006
Bachelor of Laws, University of Edinburgh, 2005 First Class Honours
Firm honored by Law360 for advising startups, financial institutions, VCs, digital asset and Web3 participants, and corporations on their most innovative and complex transactions, investigations, litigation, and regulatory matters.
Cross-border, multidisciplinary deal team led by members of the firm’s Asset Management M&A Practice represents the independent investment firm providing capital solutions and strategic support to alternative asset managers in the transaction.
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