We advise a wide range of financial institutions including investment banks, private banks and wealth managers, retail banks, asset managers, insurers, trading firms, price reporting agencies, brokers, financial advisory firms and other market participants on both contentious and non-contentious financial services law.
The partners in our team combine experience in leading City law firms with senior in-house (GC and Chief Compliance Officer) roles at global financial services institutions, including investment banks and public and quasi-public bodies such as the London Stock Exchange, the Financial Conduct Authority and the London Metal Exchange.
Non-contentious advisory
Our non-contentious advisory services include interpretation of relevant law, regulation and guidance and their organisational implementation; policy production; policy, procedures and control frameworks generally; advising on adequate reporting and metrics; liaising and engaging with regulators. We can also support our clients to prepare for significant legislative change that may affect them.
Our non-contentious advisory practice covers the lifecycle of regulatory topics covered in the FCA, PRA and exchange handbooks, starting with authorisation and licensing, and including advice on whether activities fall inside or outside the “regulatory perimeter”; regulatory change of control; cancellation of permissions and de-authorisation.
We cover governance, systems and controls issues, including individual accountability and the SMCR; conduct, integrity, market abuse and insider dealing; review of financial promotions and marketing materials; drafting business terms and conditions; advising on new product development and suitability; negotiating agreements with third parties including outsourcing, distribution agreements and trading documentation.
We advise on both wholesale market regulations such as MiFID II, EMIR, SFTR and the Benchmarks Regulation, and on topics such as consumer credit, retail lending, complaints and the consumer duty. We also cover regulation relating to fintech, payment systems, digital assets, and client assets and securities. We are experts in financial crime advisory, covering anti money laundering, economic sanctions, bribery and corruption, and white collar fraud.
We are also investment fund and asset management specialists. We advise investors and asset managers on fund formation and investment, managed account and advisory agreements, and associated trading and other service provider arrangements. We also conduct regulatory due diligence for private equity and evaluation of investments.
Our non-contentious advisory team is Julian Gooding, Jonathan Greenwold, Tom Hine and Jasmina Yang.
Contentious regulatory and investigations
We provide advice to firms, boards, senior management and individuals on a range of contentious regulatory matters and enforcement action, particularly by the FCA, PRA, SFO, HMRC, exchanges and other authorities. We understand how to support our clients in matters where regulatory and media scrutiny is intense, and where regulatory enforcement will negatively impact financial performance and reputation. We are strategic and thoughtful, with relevant in-house experience of taking similar decisions to those on which we now advise.
Our contentious regulatory practice covers investigations, enforcement actions, disciplinary proceedings, s166 “skilled person” reviews, assertive supervision, complaints, and whistleblowing reviews. We conduct effective and cost-efficient internal investigations on behalf of clients.
We work closely with our specialists in the non-contentious financial services advisory team, as well as those advising on employment law, data privacy, dispute resolution and financial crime. Our team also advises on the contentious regulatory aspects of legal and regulatory change.
Our contentious regulatory and investigations team is Tepo Din, Julian Gooding, and Tom Hine.
Our expertise in a range of further regulatory matters is detailed on the ESG, Compliance & Investigations page.
You can initiate a discussion about instructing us by contacting any partner directly, or by using the main office contact details at the bottom of the page if you prefer.
