Our Regulatory team has extensive experience on advising fund managers, from setting up the initial fund, through to ongoing regulatory advice and advising on FSA investigations and disputes.

Our services include:

• Getting FSA authorisation and ensuring proper systems and controls and compliance procedures are in place from the start
• Ensuring the manager is set up in a tax-efficient way, particularly to take advantage of the UK investment management exemption and to minimise irrecoverable VAT
• Negotiating investment management and advisory, custody, administration and prime brokerage agreements
• On-going regulatory issues including dealing with principles-based regulation and senior management responsibility, systems and controls, market abuse/insider dealing, preparing for Arrow, thematic and unannounced visits from FSA and regulatory developments such as MiFID and UCITS
• Dealing with FSA investigations and enforcement actions. We have represented over 200 firms and individuals in regulatory investigations and enforcement actions brought by the FSA and its predecessors. Our experience includes defending FSA action on issues such as conflicts, fraud, market abuse, custody and mis-selling

Relevant experience includes advising:

• Internos Real on new property fund managers in obtaining FSA authorisation
• Rpmi on FSA authorisation and assist them in ongoing compliance matters
• Jupiter Adria on marketing funds in the UK/EU taking advantage of exemptions within the UK regime for the promotion of unregulated collective investment schemes
• M&G/Scottish Widows Investment Partnership on a range of regulatory matters such as MiFID, UCITS and general compliance with the FSA’s rules
• A leading fund manager in connection with FSA’s investigation into split capital investment trusts
• AAC Capital on the disposal by ABN of its interests in AAC’s funds to Goldman Sachs  
• Numerous fund managers with FSA investigations including market abuse/insider dealing investigations by FSA and foreign regulators