Tokenised collateral and settlement credibility
Assessing whether a proposed collateral or settlement model is legally, operationally and commercially credible.
Independent advisory for capital markets transformation
McGonagle Advisory helps financial institutions, market infrastructures, law firms and technology companies design legally grounded products, operating models and systems across derivatives, collateral, digital assets, AI and market infrastructure.
Professional experience
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Why McGonagle Advisory
Upstream advice before critical design, investment and delivery decisions.
McGonagle Advisory sits upstream of implementation, helping clients decide what should be built, how it should be structured, and whether it can withstand legal, operational and institutional scrutiny.
Capital markets depth
Deep derivatives, collateral and market-infrastructure expertise across institutional products and workflows.
Legal, product and technology bridge
Experience across ISDA, global banks and financial technology, with practical understanding of CDM, tokenisation, smart contracts and computable contracts.
Independent design judgement
Clear challenge where legal, product, commercial and engineering teams need one design authority.
Scenarios
Typical scenarios I help with.
I help clients turn difficult legal, collateral, digital-asset and market-infrastructure questions into product architecture, operating models and executable delivery plans.
Legal terms into product requirements
Translating rights, obligations and lifecycle events into product requirements, workflows and system logic.
Smart contract and workflow review
Reviewing computable contract, smart contract or workflow designs before client, investor or regulator engagement.
Documentation-to-data operating models
Designing operating models using CDM, legal engineering and governance controls.
Roadmaps for digital asset infrastructure
Turning digital asset, collateral or market infrastructure strategies into credible product and implementation roadmaps.
Independent design authority
Providing challenge where legal, product, commercial and engineering teams need a common architecture.
Services
Four pillars across strategy, legal design, product architecture and operating models.
Senior, independent judgement for institutions designing complex products, markets and capabilities.
Pillar 01
Strategy and Operating Models
Help financial institutions, market infrastructures, law firms and technology companies define how new products, markets and capabilities should operate.
- Legal-function and product operating models
- Entry into digital-asset or other new markets
- Alignment across legal, trading, operations, product and technology
- AI strategy for legal, product and operational functions
Pillar 02
Legal Engineering and Documentation-to-Data
Translate legal agreements, market conventions and lifecycle processes into structured data, executable rules and system requirements.
- Computable-contract design
- Documentation-to-data operating models
- Lifecycle, event and state modelling
- Explainable, deterministic and controlled automation
Pillar 03
Digital Assets, Collateral and Settlement
Design legally robust institutional infrastructure for digital assets, tokenised collateral and programmable settlement.
- Tokenised product and asset structures
- Collateral mobility and eligibility workflows
- Repo and derivatives infrastructure
- Legal, operational and technical architecture
Pillar 04
Independent Review and Design Authority
Provide senior independent challenge for complex products, transactions and infrastructure programmes.
- Strategic expert reviews
- Legal-operational architecture assessments
- AI governance, model risk and explainability reviews
- Ongoing senior design authority
McGonagle Advisory provides independent strategic, legal-design, product-architecture and operating-model advice. It does not provide formal legal advice, software development, implementation delivery or staff augmentation.
Approach
Practical engagement formats for senior teams.
Engagements can take the form of focused decision support, structured diagnostics or ongoing senior input into live programmes.
A focused session for boards, founders or leadership teams assessing a product, market-structure opportunity or strategic direction.
A short, structured review of a proposed product, platform or workflow, identifying design gaps, execution risks and decision points.
Senior advisory support for live programmes where legal, product, commercial and technical teams need a common architecture and narrative.
Profile
Founder-led by Ciarán McGonagle, a capital markets lawyer and product leader.
I have worked at ISDA, leading global financial institutions and financial market infrastructure providers, focused on the legal, operational and technological foundations of digital assets, smart derivatives contracts, tokenisation and computable financial-market workflows.
Relevant experience
- Former Assistant General Counsel, ISDA — led work across smart derivatives contracts, digital asset documentation and legal data standards.
- Chief Legal & Product Officer, fintech infrastructure — directed product architecture for tokenised financial instruments and automated collateral workflows.
- Former Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Allen & Overy — experience across global financial institutions and capital markets legal practice.
Industry leadership
- Chair, FINOS CDM Tokenised Assets Working Group & Smart Contracts Taskforce
- Global Digital Finance Executive in Residence
- LexisNexis Banking & Finance Consulting Editorial Board
Industry acknowledgements
- RegTech Insight Awards Europe, 2026 – Best Post-Trade Solution (Tokenovate)
- The Lawyer Hot 100, 2025
- Financial Times Innovative Lawyers Award, 2019 – Innovation in Legal Expertise (ISDA)
Publications
Published work on digital assets, smart contracts and market infrastructure.
A selection of publications, expert contributions and journal articles across capital markets law, tokenisation and computable contracts.
2026
Crypto derivatives — legal, regulatory and contractual issues
LexisNexis Practice Note · Banking & Finance
2024Schrödinger’s property? D’Aloia and the legal superposition of digital assets
Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Finance Law
2023Providing Contractual Certainty — the ISDA Digital Asset Derivatives Definitions
ISDA Quarterly
2022If we build it, will they come? Developing and distributing digital standards for smart derivatives contracts
MIT Computational Law Report
2021Translations: Creating Legally Effective Smart Derivatives Contracts
Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Finance Law
2019Smart Derivatives Contracts: the ISDA Master Agreement and the automation of payments and deliveries
Academic paper with Professor Christopher D. Clack (UCL)
Contact
Discuss a potential mandate.
Initial discussions are used to assess fit, scope and timing for potential engagements. Please get in touch where there is a clear potential mandate involving tokenisation, smart contracts, collateral, settlement or market infrastructure.