Financial services

A driving force in the UK and the worldwide economy, the financial services sector has effected radical technological and regulatory changes over the last decade and broken down many entry barriers. At Penningtons Manches Cooper, our UK and international financial services lawyers provide the integrated support clients demand to operate with confidence in the midst of these developments and stay ahead.

We work closely with the firm’s other core sectors delivering financial services legal advice and solutions for both users and providers. These are tailored to the specific needs of those sectors, whether real estate, shipping, wealth management, education or technology.

Our banking and finance team acts for a large number of UK and overseas banks, assisting in the structuring and documentation of their various finance transactions and steering them through even the most complex of deals. As their trusted advisers, we ensure that our clients can address the pace of change and numerous demands that the current dynamic financial services sector presents.

For fintech start-ups and new market entrants, we guide and advise on fundraising and financing, the contractual and regulatory aspects of financial services, and related data protection and cyber security issues, enabling them to focus more closely on the development of their products and services. Our team is also increasingly engaged to help established market participants meet the challenges to their business models from fintech companies and other disrupters by dealing with the impact of technological change on legacy systems, developing their own fintech or pairing up with start-ups.

We also give financial regulatory support to our clients - particularly in our core areas of real estate, trade and commodity and project financing - to ensure they are well placed to address the risk and compliance environment in which their services are delivered. This includes our employment lawyers advising on the Senior Managers and Certification Regime and breaches of it. It also covers managing compliance reviews and addressing regulatory requirements through insurance and other qualifying credit risk mitigants.

The rapid growth of regulation following the 2007/8 financial crisis means visits and investigations by regulators are a common part of life for financial services firms.  We have a wealth of experience in bringing and defending contractual and non-contractual claims, including for the mis-selling of financial services, and can provide guidance during enforcement activity. 

While technological change and innovation are the source of motivation to many businesses and organisations, we recognise that they also drive fraudsters and other criminals to ever-more creative and complex means of exploiting these developing technologies. Our specialists assist clients who have been cyber attacked, combat fraud, and recover assets lost through misappropriation.