Ian Mason is a Partner in the Regulatory & Risk Advisory Group, having joined Walkers' Cayman Islands office in 2023. Ian is a highly experienced senior financial services regulatory, financial crime and FinTech lawyer, with over 20 years' experience advising a broad range of clients on financial services regulation and compliance. He is a former Head of Department in the Enforcement Division at the UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority (now Financial Conduct Authority - FCA) prior to which he was a Manager at the London Stock Exchange. Since leaving the regulator, he has worked as a Partner and headed the Financial Services Regulatory team at various international law firms in the UK, as well as in-house.
Ian's practice includes both contentious regulatory and advising on compliance matters, and he has particular expertise in advising on FinTech and crypto-assets, as well as financial crime, AML and economic substance issues, and advising clients on dealing effectively with regulators, including CIMA inspections, regulatory investigations and enforcement proceedings on the defense side.