Janelle Rodriguez-Mena is an associate in Winston & Strawn LLP’s Financial Services practice group.  She has significant experience representing a broad range of financial services firms, including banks and their holding companies, money services businesses, payments and FinTech companies, cryptocurrency and other digital assets firms, broker-dealers, investment advisers, private equity funds, and other financial institutions and their institution-affiliated parties.

Janelle advises financial services firms on all aspects of their operations, including licensing, capital raising, new product development, and compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) laws. She also provides guidance on prudential regulation, business combinations such as mergers and acquisitions, regulatory examinations, and troubled institution matters, helping clients navigate complex compliance requirements and regulatory challenges

With a particular focus on the intersection of law and technology, Janelle provides strategic counsel on the regulatory frameworks surrounding digital assets, blockchain technology, and distributed ledger technologies. Janelle counsels FinTech companies, digital payment providers, and technology companies on structuring their products and services while navigating a dynamic regulatory environment.

Janelle also advises clients in designing and maintaining robust compliance programs. She assists with developing tailored policies and procedures that address critical regulatory areas such as the BSA, AML laws, and sanctions regulations enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

Janelle earned her J.D. in 2019 from the University of Miami School of Law, where she was an editor of the Inter-American Law Review and worked as a student attorney in the International Human Rights Clinic, focusing on advocacy related to violence against indigenous women.

Janelle is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.