Jessica Smith

Special Counsel

Jessica is a financial services lawyer with an extensive background in regulatory change and risk and compliance. She has a deep appreciation of the commercial landscape her clients operate in and thrives on helping clients understand and comply with their regulatory obligations.

Jessica assists clients with issues arising out of the AFS and AML/CTF regime including management of breaches, regulatory issues and enforcement action, development of AML/CTF programs and reviews and compliance signoffs of disclosure documents and advertising material.

Jessica is passionate about regulatory engagement with AUSTRAC, ASIC, APRA and ACCC, and brings her diverse experience to her regulatory and fintech practices, acting for clients across financial services, wealth management and fintech.

Prior to joining Hamilton Locke, Jessica worked at The Fold Legal, which merged with Hamilton Locke on 1 September 2022. Jessica has also worked in large national firms and acted in several legal and non-legal roles for financial services companies including Banks, global fund managers and fintech start-ups.

Jessica is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Financial Services Regulatory; Fintech; Wealth Management; AML/CTF; Payments;

AWARDS

Australian Cyber Security Awards – Financial Services Cyber Security Professional of the Year, Finalist 2023
Lawyers Weekly Corporate Counsel Awards – Financial Services Lawyer of the Year, Finalist 2021

QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor of Laws – Queensland University of Technology
Bachelor of Creative Industries – Queensland University of Technology
Certificate IV in Compliance Management – Governance Risk and Compliance Institute
Certificate IV in Governance and Risk Management – Governance Risk and Compliance Institute
Graduate Diploma of Applied Corporate Governance and Risk – Governance Institute of Australia
Certified Information Privacy Manager – International Association of Privacy Professionals
Admitted to practice in Queensland

SELECTED REPRESENTATIONS

Advised BetaCarbon on the licensing and regulatory requirements of its Australian Carbon Token and Retirement Token, including proposing the innovative two-token design to enable an early launch of the Carbon Token.
Advised two international cryptocurrency exchanges on product and services offerings, payments and regulatory requirements.
Advised on the design, structure, distribution, regulatory requirements and commercial negotiations for payment solutions including Divipay and EonX.
Advised Oracle Advisory Group on a range of regulatory issues including adviser onboarding and offboarding, group restructure, MDA and SMA offering, platform relationships, client disclosure and conflict management.
Advised Oaktree Capital on a major regulatory due diligence project in relation to the potential acquisition of a large, diversified financial services business.
Advised various payments, lending, funds and crypto clients on their AML/CTF compliance and regulation obligations including applicable designated services, know-your-customer (KYC) measures, AML programs and AUSTRAC applications.