Clients appreciate Vanessa’s in-depth understanding of their business and ability to provide expert and tailor-made advice on payments activities and related legal and regulatory requirements

Vanessa Johnson is a counsel in McCarthy Tétrault’s Banking and Financial Services group, based in the firm’s Vancouver office. She advises clients on sophisticated and complex transactions in banking and finance, specializing in the payments industry and compliance with related legal and regulatory requirements.

Vanessa understands that participating in the payments ecosystem can be complicated. To this end, she endeavours to keep clients apprised of proposed changes to legislation and regulations impacting the payments industry, including those applicable to payment service providers and financial institutions. She works with clients to devise strategies that help them manage legal risk while embracing opportunities to achieve their business goals.

In addition, Vanessa works with clients to strategically draft and negotiate customer, vendor and other agreements relating to payments and banking services. She has experience negotiating and communicating with a variety of commercial parties, financial institutions, payment services providers, and regulatory and governmental authorities.

Vanessa has an in-depth knowledge of Interac and Payments Canada bylaws, rules and regulations, Financial Institutions Act (B.C.), Credit Union Incorporation Act (B.C.), and B.C. Financial Services Authority (BCFSA) Outsourcing Guidelines and Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) B-10 Guidelines.

Vanessa is a former in-house counsel for a large credit union and was also an associate for a number of years at a large national law firm. These experiences helped her develop expertise advising on public and private mergers and acquisitions, financing transactions, corporate governance, public disclosure, and drafting and negotiating complex commercial agreements.

Vanessa enjoys mentoring junior lawyers and articling students. She was called to the British Columbia bar in 2015, and received her J.D. from the University of British Columbia in 2014.