Colin Shields spent a decade writing the rules that startups seeking international licensing must follow.

As a policy advisor at both the FCA and Bank of England, Colin was intimately involved in crafting major regulations of international significance—and was primary author of the FCA Consumer Duty, called “the most important change to financial regulation in a decade”.

Colin built on this experience in-house at the heart of the UK’s banking and payments infrastructure, as a key voice on a national digital currency (CBDC) blueprint and multi-billion-dollar central IT procurement for the UK banking industry.

He knows how senior regulators approach decisions and has supported innovation as both regulator and industry senior adviser.

Today Colin channels that insider knowledge into RegClarity, a lean practice built for seed and venture-backed innovators who need to access European scale without BigLaw overhead.

With a transatlantic background, Colin now bases RegClarity out of SantaMonica, and where helpful can work for clients on-site throughout California as well as attending in-person meetings in London and Brussels when this is critical.

RegClarity is a fully licensed California legal business, State Bar #326893.

  • Pay UK Ltd (Bacs/FPS), London—directed development of on/off ramps for potential UK CBDC/”Digital Pound” with the Bank of England, at the core ACH / money movement rail owned by the UK’s retail banks.

    Bank of England, London—advised on banking, insurance and stablecoin rules at the British central bank, equivalent to the Federal Reserve.

    Financial Conduct Authority, London—wrote and advised on major international regulatory priorities, including lead authorship of UK Consumer Duty, a landmark regulation which now sets the basic requirements for 60,000+ retail financial businesses nationwide.

  • Notre Dame Law School—LLM

    University of London—JD (equivalent) and LLM , high academic distinction, 1st in class

    Cambridge University—BA

  • Colin maintains a keen interest in economic empowerment and community service, and has volunteered as a pro bono advisor with Public Counsel (Los Angeles), Citizens Advice (Brighton, United Kingdom) and the Free Representation Unit (London).