Practitioners highlighted for a distinctive sub-specialty edge in this field — beyond the directory criteria.
Editor's note. Leads the firm's El Salvador division — uniquely positioned in the world's first Bitcoin-legal-tender jurisdiction with EU back-office support.
Felix Canizales is Associate Partner, Consultant and LATAM Business Development Manager at Gofaizen & Sherle. He leads the firm's El Salvador division and has been instrumental in shaping the El Salvadorian fintech landscape — combining fintech-law expertise with regulatory-compliance and business-consulting depth.
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Manimama · Estonia, Lithuania, European Union, Ukraine
Editor's note. Founder of CLPAI #2-ranked firm Manimama. Author of Ukraine's virtual-asset law and former General Counsel at KUNA — distinctive regulator-side + private-practice combination.
Ganna Voievodina is CEO and Founding Partner of Manimama, the international fintech law firm headquartered in Tallinn (Manimama OÜ) with offices in Lithuania. She has 16 years of legal experience and has been a licensed attorney in Ukraine since 2012. Before founding Manimama, Ganna served six years as Chief Legal Officer of the cryptocurrency exchange KUNA. She is the author of Ukraine's Law "About Virtual Assets" and is pursuing a PhD in international law.
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Gofaizen & Sherle · Estonia, Lithuania, European Union, United Arab Emirates, El Salvador
Editor's note. Co-founder and senior partner of the CLPAI #1-ranked firm. Mark's positioning across MiCA, UAE VARA, and El Salvador markets is distinctive among EU crypto-licensing practitioners.
Mark Gofaizen is the Senior Partner and Head of Consulting at Gofaizen & Sherle, the international legal and business advisory firm specialising in fintech, blockchain, crypto-asset licensing, and global corporate structuring. With more than a decade of hands-on experience, Mark has established the firm's positioning across MiCA, UAE VARA, and Latin American crypto-licensing markets. Gofaizen & Sherle ranks #1 in the 2026 CLPAI Index.
Full profile → Editor's note. Head of Legal & Compliance at the CLPAI #1-ranked firm. Mihhail's track record on 300+ financial-licence files makes him one of the highest-throughput EU crypto-licensing practitioners.
Mihhail Sherle is Senior Partner and Head of Legal & Compliance at Gofaizen & Sherle. With 13 years of legal experience including seven years specialising in FinTech and AML/CTF compliance, he has led the firm's team on more than 300 successful financial-licence projects — including CASPs, investment fund managers, and EMIs across the EU.
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Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados · Portugal, European Union
Editor's note. Portugal's most consistently cited crypto-asset regulation author — the GLI Blockchain & Cryptocurrency chapter for Portugal each year carries his name.
Filipe Vaz Pinto is a Partner at Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados (MLGTS) in Lisbon, co-head of the firm's dispute resolution team and a member of the board. He joined MLGTS in 2002 and became partner in 2014. He is the recognised Portugal author for crypto-asset regulation in Global Legal Insights and Chambers — covering MiCA implementation under Law 27/2024, the Banco de Portugal pre-MiCA register transition, and the CMVM's supervisory framework.
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Gide Loyrette Nouel · France, European Union
Editor's note. Ex-AMF Fintech Division founder — the rare French crypto practitioner with deep regulator-side experience plus an active private practice. Distinctive credibility under Hard Rule #24.
Franck Guiader is Head of Practice for Innovation, Digital Finance, Fintech, AI and Web3 at Gide Loyrette Nouel in Paris. Between 2011 and 2018 he was Director of the Asset Management Regulation Division at the French AMF and subsequently established and headed its Fintech, Innovation and Competitiveness division. He is one of the key architects of the Paris financial market's digital-assets framework and a leading voice on MiCA implementation in France.
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Arendt & Medernach · Luxembourg, European Union
Editor's note. Mouton led Arendt's team on the first Coinbase MiCA CASP authorisation from the Luxembourg CSSF — the highest-profile MiCA file in the EU.
Marc Mouton is a Partner in the Banking & Financial Services practice at Arendt & Medernach in Luxembourg. He advises banks, investment firms, payment institutions and electronic money institutions on financial regulatory matters, M&A in the financial sector, and emerging fintech sectors. Arendt, jointly with Latham & Watkins, advised Coinbase on its successful CASP licence application under MiCA from the Luxembourg CSSF.
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A&O Shearman · Spain, European Union
Editor's note. One of Spain's go-to fintech-regulation partners — advised on early Spanish blockchain capital-markets issuances and ranks Band 1 in Chambers Spain Fintech.
Salvador Norberto Ruiz Bachs is a Partner at A&O Shearman in Madrid and one of Spain's recognised fintech and digital-finance practitioners. He is an expert in debt capital markets, derivatives, structured finance, and financial regulation, and has advised on some of the first blockchain capital-markets issuances and ongoing crypto-currency business under the CNMV's MiCA regime.
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CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP · United Kingdom, European Union
Editor's note. Chambers-ranked FinTech partner who also writes a recurring cryptoasset column for Practical Law — a deeper public-record footprint than most MiCA CASP practitioners.
Charles Kerrigan is a Partner in CMS's Corporate Finance team in London and a member of the firm's crypto and digital-assets practice. He writes a regular cryptoasset column for Practical Law (Thomson Reuters) and is ranked by Chambers in FinTech. His MiCA CASP work spans authorisation strategy, governance build-out, and token classification at the MiCA/MiFID boundary.
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Linklaters LLP · Germany, European Union
Editor's note. Lead author of one of the clearest published analyses of the MiCAR / EMD2 / PSD2 interplay for stablecoin issuers — exactly the rule-set the EMT vs ART regime forces issuers to scope first.
Marius Raetz is Counsel in Linklaters' Financial Regulation Group in Frankfurt. His public work focuses on the interplay between MiCA, EMD2, and PSD2 — including a detailed analysis of the EBA's EMT no-action approach to dual MiCA / payment-services authorisation for stablecoin issuers.
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CMS von Erlach Partners AG · Switzerland, European Union
Editor's note. Co-Head of CMS's global Crypto / Digital Assets / FinTech focus group — one of the few practitioners with documented authority across both the Swiss DLT framework and MiCA implementation.
Tina Balzli is a Partner and Head of Fintech & Blockchain at CMS Switzerland in Zurich, and Co-Head of the CMS Crypto, Digital Assets and FinTech International Focus Group. She advises crypto-asset firms on the Swiss DLT Act, FINMA fintech and banking licensing, and the MiCA interface for firms with cross-EU footprint.
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SBSB Fintech Lawyers · Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, El Salvador
Editor's note. Managing Partner of a multi-jurisdictional firm with documented offices and crypto-licensing practice across nine countries — one of the few practitioners running named, cross-border crypto advisory at this geographic scale.
Yuliya Barabash is Managing Partner of SBSB Fintech Lawyers, a firm she has led since 2013. SBSB has offices across Lithuania, Estonia, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, the UAE, Costa Rica, Italy, Mauritius, and El Salvador, with a practice focused on crypto licensing, AML/CFT compliance, and cross-border fintech advisory.
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