Independent Directorships

Fintechs often face corporate governance hurdles as part of their initial set up or when they decide to expand into international markets. In some cases, this means fintechs need to engage an independent non-executive director (INED) to join the board of their local subsidiary.

The experience of our fintech legal consultants often align with the needs of fintechs who are seeking an INED to meet their corporate governance requirements. A fintech legal consultant on your local subsidiary’s board can provide the trust that your regulators, financial partners and investors want to see as part of your expansion plans.

What our fintech legal consultants do

Independent non-executive director

A fintech legal consultant can serve as an INED on the board of your local subsidiary. INEDs can provide guidance and support as part of their INED role. However, you won’t be able to separately engage the consultant to provide advisory services if you engage them as an INED.

Corporate governance best practice

We will help ensure that your local board operates in compliance with relevant regulations and follows best practices, including adherence to legal and ethical standards.

Strategic local guidance

In their INED role, a fintech legal consultant can provide strategic guidance to explore growth opportunities, address key business challenges and refine your local business strategy.

Local subsidiary chair person

A fintech legal consultant engaged as an INED can also serve as the chair person of your local subsidiary’s board if you assess this as being an essential requirement for good corporate governance of your organisation.

Local board meeting admin

A fintech legal consultant engaged as an INED can help fintechs design and run the board meetings of their local subsidiaries.

FAQs

  • For fintechs operating multiple subsidiaries around the world, an INED is a person who is typically appointed to the board of one of those subsidiaries. This often, but not always, comes up for subsidiaries that need a regulated license. In order to be considered independent, the director must not have been involved in the management of your business in the past (generally, any time within the last 5 to 10 years).

  • Not all fintechs need an INED. Fintechs often need to consider appointing an INED as part of a regulatory licensing application in some jurisdictions. This typically comes up in relation to payment and e-money licence applications in the United Kingdom, European Union and Singapore.

  • No. The INED can serve in a separate role to the chair of the board. However, it is not uncommon to see INEDs being asked to serve as chair as part of best corporate governance practices. If the INED doesn’t serve as chair, the chair can be another director of your subsidiary company.

  • Typically, companies will pay an annual fee to the directors who are appointed to their board. This is usually a fixed fee that is generally determined based on the time commitment relative to the number of board meetings expected throughout the year.

  • Yes. Generally speaking, fintechs will have the right to remove or replace an INED, so you’re not locked into the arrangement. However, you’ll need to consider the optics of removing or replacing an INED if you have an in-flight regulatory licensing application, so timing is critical.