Expertise - Financial Services and Markets
Our people are not just regulatory lawyers. They are financial services experts who apply a wide range of legal principles to resolve highly complex (and sometimes seemingly baffling) problems, while delivering clear, practical advice in a user-friendly way across a broad range of financial sectors – wholesale and retail, domestic and international. We have a close understanding of how regulators think – although we do not always agree with them. Our work and our representation on trade associations gives us a detailed knowledge of the workings of the financial markets, enabling us to bring greater insight to the transactions on which we advise. Our lawyers have earned a reputation for innovation and quality, advising on the latest changes in this fast-moving marketplace.Just some of the areas we specialise in include: a broad range of domestic and pan-European regulatory and compliance issues, including the impact of the regulatory regime on corporate finance, venture capital and private equity businesses; securities trading, clearance and settlement matters; new payment products and services, including e-cash; investment management and global custody services; wholesale and retail financial product development; the structuring, establishment and promotion of investment fund vehicles; market conduct issues; regulatory capital requirements; and discipline and enforcement issues.
We have acted as the principal legal adviser on all of the major securities infrastructure projects over the last decade. Our recent work includes:
- preparing firms for the significant changes to UK securities regulation resulting from recent EU directives, including MiFID
- advising on the regulatory and capital aspects of mergers between financial institutions
- advising on complex market conduct issues (including advising firms under investigation)
- advising hedge fund and private equity fund managers on a wide range of issues, including MiFID, the FSA’s approach to conflicts of interest and regulatory status issues
- the dematerialisation of the UK's securities market
- assisting a global provider of broking and other financial services to launch its electronic trading platforms
- advising a major US payments provider on the launch of an internet payment service
- the restructuring of a US investment bank’s European financial services operations
- conducting a regulatory review of the global custody services provided by an international bank
- advising a significant new manager of unregulated funds on its structure and regulatory requirements
