Financial Services
Businesses in the financial services sector operate in a complex, high stakes environment, under regulatory scrutiny and with fierce competition for talent.
We work with clients to manage risk and protect and grow their businesses on a domestic and international scale. Our multi-disciplinary team encompasses specialists from our employment, dispute resolution, regulatory, intellectual property, banking and corporate practices.
We act for clients across the industry, from some of the largest global banking institutions and hedge funds, to asset managers, insurance companies, as well as acting for the senior executives who lead them.
We advise on the full spectrum of employment and immigration law, from day to day HR advisory, to team moves and restrictive covenants, including the theft of confidential information and trade secrets. We also work with clients to design and advise on partnership structures, executive remuneration and incentive schemes.
If matters become contentious, we have significant experience managing some of the most complex and high value disputes in the sector, with significant expertise in all aspects of injunctive relief, including springboard injunctions, as well as in managing disputes through mediation and arbitration.
Our corporate specialists act for leading financial institutions from a fund-raising and investment perspective, acting for both Venture Capitalists and banks and the companies in which they invest. This work includes fintechs and has an additional focus on the blockchain and crypto space. We also offer the full suite of commercial lending capabilities.
Our commercial and intellectual property team are actively involved in services arrangements for our firm’s clients (including outsourcing), together with addressing their data protection and workplace privacy requirements, including SARs. Our real estate group advises corporate occupiers on a wide range of areas including, investment, property finance, and transactional support as well as specialist advice covering planning, construction, dispute resolution and tax.
In this highly regulated sector, we advise a wide range of clients on financial services regulatory matters – both advisory and contentious. This includes: change in control and financial promotions advice on corporate matters; SMCR, fitness and propriety, remuneration, regulatory references, individual approvals and settlement agreements in employment matters; financial promotions advice for advertising intermediaries; payment services and e-money advice; and on contentious regulatory matters ranging from internal investigations to RDC and Upper Tribunal cases. We have a particular focus on the crypto sector, and advise on all aspects from corporate structuring and application of the UK MLRs 2017 to advertising and the regulatory perimeter. We work closely with our corporate, employment, IP, and immigration teams to provide a seamless service for startups in this space.
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