Simon specialises in online financial services, e-commerce, IT, SaaS, privacy, personal data, cryptoassets, smart contracts and AI. His clients include e-money and payment services providers, consumer credit lenders and brokers, online peer-to-peer finance platforms, retailers, marketplaces and data providers. Simon is highly experienced in his field and has consulted as in-house payments counsel to WorldPay and Amazon.com.
Previously, Simon was General Counsel & Company Secretary of Zopa, the world’s first online peer-to-peer lending platform. He was Legal & Compliance Director for a mortgage and consumer credit business in GE and a Director and General Counsel of Earthport plc, the listed payment services provider.
Simon brings a rare level of intellectual clarity to giving advice about complex business and payments models. He’s my first port of call for any challenges in this area!
Jim Moodie, COO at Prolific
I highly recommend Simon for his exceptional ability to ask the right questions, understand the problem and come up with solutions, where others say "it cannot be done".
Pawel Stosik, PingPong Payments
Simon Deane-Johns has helped steer Zopa though regulatory waters since launch and more recently has helped us with our approval process with the FCA. Simon and Keystone have been extremely valuable in protecting Zopa’s business interests whilst aligning them to the regulator’s and government’s wishes to protect consumers.
Giles Andrews, Director (and former Chairman and CEO)
Zopa
Expertise
- Retail financial services regulation and contracts for, e-money and payment services, prepaid card and gift card programmes, consumer credit (including BNPL), consumer hire, P2P lending and cryptoassets
- FinTech development, licensing and outsourcing agreements with suppliers and customers, including SaaS and AI
- E-commerce
- Energy-as-a-service contracts
- Privacy and data protection
- Online data services
- Information technology
- Commercial contracts including IT, outsourcing contracts and online service terms
- Policy and public affairs
Experience
- Advised on the launch of innovative online financial services including Zopa, Prodigy Finance, Abundance, Crowdbnk, LinkedFinance, Proplend, Invest & Fund, Nutmeg, Borro, Yoyo, The Money Platform, Nester, FundingXchange, RoosterMoney, EnerSave Capital’s “energy-as-a-service”, DNIZN and four Amazon services in the EU, including advice on any necessary regulatory filings and/or compliance requirements, service terms, software development, software and data licensing, application processes, customer service, supplier contracts and banking/safeguarding arrangements.
- Co-founded and co-invented Zopa (www.zopa.com). Advised on product structure, the website and lending platform, contracts for insurance, payments and other suppliers, as well as international franchisees. Obtained FSA and other regulatory approvals, identified and addressed operational risk, and managed a public-affairs briefing programme.
- Advised Zopa, the UK’s leading peer-to-peer lending consumer loans service, in 2016 in connection with the first securitisation of UK consumer loans originated via a marketplace platform in the EMEA region by P2P Global Investments PLC, the first UK listed investment trust dedicated to investing in loans originated via marketplace lending platforms.
- Consulted to WorldPay (from Jan 2011 to July 2012) on European payments business, including consolidating separate group company service terms into a single customer agreement and advised on numerous issues related to the acquisition and separation of the business from RBS.
- Consulted to Amazon.com (from March 2008 to Dec 2010) on European payments, including successfully managing an application for an e-money licence in Luxembourg and advising on RFP processes and negotiations with banks and card schemes for the launch of Amazon co-branded credit cards in the EU (including the Amazon.co.uk MasterCard, Best New Credit Card Product of the Year at the Cards & Payments Awards in 2011), the launch of Amazon gift cards in the EU, including agreements with card manufacturer and distributors, the development and launch of Amazon Currency Converter on Amazon’s EU websites, cross-border payments supporting retail activity, EU collections agreements and EU bank account agreements.
- Advised on establishing pan-EU operations of US mobile phone data provider MMetrics (now owned by comScore).
- Managed legal and compliance risk for GE mortgage business, including: creating a panel of firms to offer compliance assistance to GE’s 4,000 insurance and mortgage intermediaries using e-procurement; advising on contracts for 20 significant mortgage distribution deals; advising on contested litigation strategy and loan enforcement; sponsoring 11 significant projects including Six Sigma ‘greenbelt’ project to improve law firm processes, saving approximately £7m; advising on public affairs and media; and presenting regularly on legal and business issues.
- Managed Earthport plc’s £25m private placement, the acquisition of a software development company, and the introduction to AIM (advised by ING Barings, joint brokers with Nomura), and advised on product, website and systems development and supplier contracts and a public-affairs briefing programme containing UK, Europe, Asia and Australia elements.
- Advised on website service terms and IT services and supplier agreements for numerous online businesses, and global distribution deals for financial markets data, as well as other non-financial services and content.
- Initiated and co-ordinated e-commerce strategy for DLA.
- Advised Triple Dragon Ltd, market leader in specialist gaming development financing solutions, on 60+ specialised tailor-made project finance for selected game development projects, often structured as high-yielding debt.
- Advised licensed online betting/gambling operators on agreements for merchant card acquiring facilities, as well as e-money/payment services covering all other types of payment method.
- Advised licensed online betting/gambling operators on the extent to which they can offer vouchers and stored value accounts to their customers; and whether their stored value can be exchanged for cash or other forms of value (e.g. physical casino chips).
- Advised several operators of airline/travel networks on the structural implications of UK/EU payments regulation.
- Advised several airlines on acquiring and other e-commerce/payments arrangements.
- Advised a card acquirer dealing with airlines on various contractual and payment services regulatory issues.
- Acted for numerous employees involved in LIBOR and FX trading scandals. In addition to the employment law implications, this also involved regulatory (FCA and PRA) and criminal law issues
- Advise start-ups and other regulated and non-regulated businesses launching new services on whether their activities fall within the scope of financial and anti-money laundering regulation including cryptoasset exchange and custodian wallet services
- Advise regulated payment service providers on compliance with regulatory requirements, including structuring new services appropriately (e.g. prepaid card programmes), the content/drafting of ‘framework’ and single transaction services contracts, ‘reverse-solicitation’ issues when dealing with ‘foreign customers’ including non-UK firms dealing with UK residents), safeguarding issues, compliance with EBA outsourcing guidelines, orderly wind-down, administration and transfer of inactive and dormant accounts, the transfer of prepaid card and other e-money programmes,
- Advised multiple peer-to-peer lending platforms, including those offering commercial property lending, regulated personal loans, High Cost Short Term Credit and sharia-compliant conditional sale programmes;
- Advised several authorised consumer credit and consumer hire firms on appropriate form of agreements, including drafting multiple sets of regulated, exempt and unregulated hire agreements and credit agreements including conditional sale and hire purchase), including Fixed Sum, High Cost Short Term Credit and Buy Now Pay Later;
- Provided specialist online financial and e-commerce advice in relation to the drafting of an inter-group services agreement relating to payment services of a long standing Danish gambling operator, with a remote casino and bingo business based in the UK
- Provided specialist online financial service advice to a company in the setup of a new structure relating to the metaverse. The company designed a metaverse educational platform which enables users to attend classes virtually
- Provided assistance on various online financial and e-commerce aspects to tech start-up which is developing Web3, blockchain and NFT technologies to create the next generation brand, fan and commerce experience to deepen consumer experience on its founder shareholder agreement
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
- Recognised by the Legal 500 2025 for Bank Lending; Investment Grade Debt and Syndicated loans
- Fellow of the Society for Computers and Law (where he chaired the Advisory Board)
- Senior Fellow of The Finance Innovation Lab
Career
Simon qualified as a solicitor in 1996. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2011, he worked at the following firms:
- DLA Piper