Strategic & project support
Commercial thinking combined with a detailed understanding of financial regulation.
You may be launching a new business or proposition, buying or selling a firm, dealing with adverse regulatory attention or untangling a complex pensions or investment issue.
- Applications for authorisation
- Variations of permission and change in control
- Regulatory business plans and financial projections
- New products, funds and propositions
- Mergers, acquisitions, sales and due diligence
- Regulatory change and gap analysis
- FCA meetings, reviews and enforcement matters
- Expert opinions and complex claims
Advisers & investment managers
Support for financial planners, advisers and discretionary investment managers.
Off-the-shelf compliance services do not always fit innovative or specialist businesses. We help with routine requirements and the more difficult work that standard providers tend to avoid.
- Compliance planning and monitoring
- Periodic health checks and file reviews
- Policies, procedures and operational processes
- Financial promotions and complaints
- Complex financial plans and DB-transfer reviews
- Corporate structure and asset protection
- FCA visits and skilled-person requirements
- FOS, tribunal and litigation support
Asset managers, funds & fundraising
Regulatory advice for investment vehicles, distribution, marketing and ongoing compliance.
Launching or operating an investment vehicle—and marketing its securities—can involve overlapping regulatory restrictions. We help identify workable structures and distribution strategies.
- Authorisation and registration options
- Investment-vehicle structures and jurisdictions
- Marketing and distribution strategies
- Financial-promotion compliance
- Systems, controls and conflicts management
- Product governance and fair treatment
- Capital adequacy and regulatory planning
- Mergers, launches and permission changes
Pensions, custody & platforms
Experience spanning SIPPs, SSASs, master trusts, custody and investment platforms.
Pension and platform businesses often face several regulators, complex permissions and demanding operational requirements. We help firms choose a route and put the supporting framework in place.
- Authorisations and variations of permission
- Regulatory business plans and capital planning
- Written procedures and compliance plans
- Trust, scheme, service and client documents
- Due diligence on investments and introducers
- Product and platform launches
- Acquisition, sale and integration support
- Complaints, Ombudsman and litigation support
Agree the right scope at the outset
Support may be provided for a defined project, an agreed time commitment or a particular piece of analysis. Fees and deliverables are agreed before work begins.