Financial services regulation and supervision of it is complex. Our team understands its complexity and interoperability and has vast experience advising many leading retail banks and financial institutions and their insurers, as well as some of the largest national networks of financial advisers, mortgage and insurance intermediaries, sole practitioner IFAs, private banking arms of retail banks, wealth management businesses of investment banks, and leading life companies.
Our client-base also includes financial advisers, trustees, pension administrators and trustees, hedge funds, private equity and venture capital firms.
Advising on strategic issues, policy wordings, coverage, claims management and mitigating future risks is the core of our offering. Another aspect is dealing with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), Royal Commissions and the Financial Ombudsman Service.
Our experience dealing with regulators extends to advising on matters involving international regulators, such as the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK through our Legalign Global alliance firms.
Recent work
Acting for RBS Morgans in a class action commenced against it, the directors of QRXPharma and QRXPharma’s lawyers, regarding alleged misleading and deceptive conduct concerning capital raisings which raised more than $80 million. RBS Morgans was the lead manager and underwriter of the capital raising.
Acting for one of the primary comprehensive professional indemnity insurers of one of the “big four” banks on a $300+ million claim for indemnity, involving several complex coverage issues across several policy years. Its resolution involves the insurance market working collectively.
Acting for the primary and excess PI insurers of several financial planning groups across multiple years of litigation defending declinatures for hundreds of claims relating to the collapse of the Astarra Strategic Fund. The settlement of the declinatures involved a novel structure incorporating a deed of company arrangement to overcome the limitations imposed by section 6 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act.
Representing a financial advisor in New Zealand against all aspects relating to advice on an endowment policy which did not perform as expected. The claim was resolved at an early stage.