Simmons & Simmons’ market leading international fintech team, has advised Boubyan Bank and the Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME) on the creation of Nomo, the world’s first international Islamic digital bank.
Using cutting edge technology, Nomo’s new users will be able to open a UK bank account in minutes via the Nomo app. This new banking product will enable users to take advantage of the opportunities of using a stable UK based bank, while ensuring that their money management is Sharia’a compliant.
The cross-practice Simmons team advising on the project was led by head of digital business Alex Brown, supported by financial services partner Rosali Pretorius, Islamic finance and Middle East regulatory partner Muneer Khan, IP partner Darren Meale, corporate partner Steph Featherstone and service excellence project manager Vanessa Pritchard. Simmons provided legal expertise on a full spectrum of matters, from designing the product offering to negotiating vendor contracts and intra-group outsourcing arrangements. The team also made use of Simmons’ service excellence delivery model.
Commenting on this achievement for Boubyan and BLME, Alex Brown said: “The creation of the world’s first Islamic digital bank for the international market is a significant milestone for international digital banking products.”
Alex continued: “The Simmons team advised on the Boubyan and BLME collaboration from inception to the launch of Nomo . We worked to a challenging timetable alongside Boubyan and BLME and its other advisors. The international nature of Nomo required us to look at things through the lens of multiple laws and regulations which presented an additional challenge. In all, it has been a real demonstration of the market leading digital business and financial sector expertise that we have at Simmons.”.
Andrew Freeman, Head of Legal at BLME, said: “The support of the Simmons & Simmons team has been a vital component in successfully launching the Nomo offering. Their unique fintech expertise has helped us to create a first-of-its-kind digital product that allows customers in the Middle East to open and enjoy the benefits of a UK bank account in the knowledge that it also meets their Sharia’a principles and beliefs.”.
BLME and Boubyan were also advised by PWC (Peter Maybrey in the Middle East and David Kenmir in the UK), and Mckinsey.