Financial Services

We help clients anticipate change and innovate across the product lifecycle – from launch to funding, growth to disposals. In a fast-moving sector, our deep industry knowledge and clear, pragmatic advice makes the difference.

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Our Financial Services Regulatory team is recognised as an industry leader with deep sector knowledge and a proven ability to put regulation in context, help clients innovate through change, engage strategically with regulators, and challenge decisions with confidence.

Acting across the entire ecosystem and product lifecycle, we have a unique perspective. From start-up FinTechs to institutional, global banks and asset managers and from product launch to funding, regulatory interventions to acquisitions or disposals, we are involved and understand the issues. With significant breadth and depth, we break through regulatory and legal silos to deliver practical, commercially focused solutions.

We stay ahead of the curve, anticipating market disruption and shaping the regulatory and policy environment to our clients’ advantage. Our collaboration with regulators, industry bodies, and market participants allows us to share insights on interpreting and applying new regulations, experiences with existing regimes, and future trends.

With a strong global presence, we bring this depth of experience to the leading markets in Europe, the U.S., and Asia. Our clients include commercial and investment banks, asset managers, insurers, pension funds, securities dealers, broker dealers, trading platforms, financial market infrastructure, commodities traders, rating agencies, and payment service providers.

Client Assets

Consumer Finance

Fintech

Digital Assets and Blockchain

Investment Products and Services

Market Infrastructure

Payment Services

Dealing with Financial Services Regulators

Governance

Product distribution and outsourcings

Authorizations

We regularly advise retail and commercial banks on their product offerings. This includes novel product launches and new market entrants. We have helped institutions across Europe comply with PSD2 and SEPA requirements. In the UK we assisted the Open Banking Implementation Entity in establishing Open Banking and we have since advised on similar initiatives around the globe. We also advise on bank regulatory compliance including prudential and governance aspects and U.S. Bank Holding Company Act compliance.

We regularly advise a wide range of financial institutions on the FCA’s rules governing the holding and use of client money and client assets (CASS). This not only includes advising on how to comply with the CASS rules on an ongoing basis, but also on the options for structuring arrangements for handling and holding clients’ monies and assets in order to identify the optimal model. This may include advice on how best to structure arrangements with third parties who are involved in the transmission or holding of clients’ funds and assets; advice on systems and controls; negotiation of custody agreements, or advice on what restrictions apply to the use of client assets. We are also able to advise on the implications for a firm’s client assets in the event of an insolvency, including what to do to protect clients’ interests and ensure compliance with the FCA’s rules on distribution.

We are the go-to firm for consumer finance launches and compliance, assisting clients with a number of market firsts. We help clients with secured and unsecured loans, credit cards, buy now pay later and embedded finance, merchant finance and mortgages. As well as advising on product terms and processes, we routinely advise on funding and securitization arrangements, debt sales, and regulatory and consumer challenges in this space.

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We regularly advise both retail and wholesale investment firms on their development and provision of investment products and services. This may include assisting firms to understand the regulatory requirements applying to their investment products and services and how operationally and legally to implement their investment offering. Such tasks may range from developing compliance procedures, drafting product and service terms and conditions, and negotiating arrangements with service providers and market counterparties. Given the breadth of our experience, we are able to provide regulatory advice on all aspects of the life-cycle of a firm’s investment activity, from issuance or trading, to risk management and settlement of an investment transaction.

We are a leading firm in the field of financial market infrastructure, advising some of the world’s most significant FMI groups on a wide range of legal and regulatory matters. This includes advising on the establishment and authorisation of new FMIs, such as our work on the establishment of a number of significant central counterparties and on the development and maintenance of rulebooks for multiple investment exchanges, CCPs, and settlement systems. We help FMI operators to determine how best to bring new products and functionality to market, including how to mitigate risks of challenge by regulators, market participants, and other third parties. We also help FMI operators during times of crisis, whether arising from operational outages or external events such as disorderly market conditions. This may include assistance with complaints, investigations or litigation and any remediation work designed to reinforce the resilience of these market-critical systems. In addition to advising the FMIs themselves, we are also perfectly placed to advise market participants on their own arrangements for accessing and using the services of FMIs.

We regularly advise payment institutions and banks on their payment offerings. This includes payment accounts, money remittance services, and card issuing and merchant acquiring. We have assisted with novel payment use cases, including the first introduction of digital wallets and the application of payment regulations to wearable or embedded products. We have helped institutions across Europe comply with PSD2 and SEPA requirements and regularly advise on card scheme rules and interchange requirements.

We have good relationships with regulators and legislators around the world and routinely help our clients to engage with regulators and Government. We help clients navigate and influence regulatory change as it applies to their business, including by helping them engage with Government and regulators. We also support our clients through regulatory engagements and enforcement actions.

We help our clients to navigate the various laws and regulations relevant to the governance of financial institutions, including corporate laws on the operation of boards and the duties of directors, and the regulatory regimes applying to senior managers. This may include helping firms to establish the policies and procedures to enable them to comply with these legal and regulatory requirements, and undertaking reviews of the structure and effectiveness their governance arrangements. We assist with applications for regulatory approval of senior managers and the preparation for individual interviews with the regulators. In the event of adverse events occurring, where the conduct of individuals or the effectiveness of governance arrangements may be scrutinized, we help firms to determine how best to engage with their regulators and on any subsequent remediation activities.

We help our clients with their regulated commercial arrangements. This includes distribution agreements, co-brand, white labelling, or partnership arrangements to get products to new distribution channels. In the cards space, it also includes merchant agreements and card scheme agreements on both the issuing and acquiring side. We also assist on outsourcings and regulatory compliance, including undertaking a projects relating to EU and UK outsourcing guidance and operational resilience requirements such as DORA.

We support clients through their application journeys, advising holistically on product design, regulatory permissions, prudential and conduct concerns, the authorization journey and documents, and policies and procedures. We do this through a combination of legal and consulting professionals within a single team. Our work in this area has included banks, investment firms, consumer finance firms, payment institutions, e-money institutions, virtual asset service providers, and crypto asset service providers.