Criston E. Cicala

Cris Cicala is a partner and member of Chapman’s Asset Securitization and Structured Finance Group; Cryptocurrency, Digital Assets, and Blockchain Group; and Compliance, Regulatory and Payments Group.

Cris advises both foreign and domestic banks and non-bank financial institutions, fintech companies, and private equity and credit funds on complex matters involving structured, trade, supply-chain, and real estate finance, as well as securities, capital markets, and fund formation. He has particularly deep experience in representing Latin American and European financial institutions and their US branches in both US domestic and cross-border transactions and regulatory matters.

Cris has a sophisticated digital assets practice advising funds, financial institutions, fintech companies, and digital-native market participants in matters involving digital assets and blockchain. His experience includes crypto lending and structured sale transactions, cryptocurrency exchange formations and migrations, token and stablecoin issuances, custody arrangements, real-world asset tokenizations, and the formation of both private and registered digital asset funds.

Prior to joining Chapman, Cris practiced law as a corporate partner in the New York office of an Am Law 100 firm, serving as a leader of the Digital Assets and Blockchain Group. He also spent 13 years as a managing director at a New York-based private equity firm.