Mark Simpson

Mark advises clients on a wide range of financial services legal and regulatory issues throughout the business lifecycle. Clients who Mark works for span the financial services and FinTech sectors, and include payment and e-money institutions, asset and wealth managers, broker-dealers, cryptoasset firms, consumer lenders, banks, insurers and brokers. Mark has a particular focus on the FinTech sector, advising rapidly scaling organisations on all manner of issues, including on their business expansion in the UK and globally. Issues that Mark advises on include business launches and regulatory authorisation, expansion, business innovation, new regulatory developments, and on responding to internally identified regulatory issues as well as external regulatory enquiries and investigations. As well as his commercial client base, Mark has advised governmental bodies on the development of financial services laws. Mark is knowledgeable in AML and financial crime issues, and alongside his financial services and FinTech work, Mark advises the Firm's corporate client base on financial crime related issues.

• Acting for a number of financial institutions including AIFMs, investment firms, payment/e-money institutions, cryptoasset firms and insurance intermediaries in respect of authorisation or registration applications before the PRA and FCA.
• Representing one of the UK's largest FinTechs on optimising its group governance arrangements in anticipation of obtaining new regulatory authorisations.
• Representing a rapidly scaling UK-headquartered global payments firm on various cryptoassets-focused initiatives, including in relation to processing of stablecoin payments.
• Advising a G-SIFI on the regulatory treatment of a proposed issuance of a new stablecoin.
• Advised numerous FinTechs on cross-border business models and global expansion.
• Advising the UK arm of a large global asset management group on its launch of a new retail digital advisory service in the UK.
• Advising a number of large financial institutions on the development and execution of their Brexit contingency plans.
• Advising a major Eurozone headquartered bank on the establishment of its London branch, the Senior Managers & Certification Regime, and the impact of Brexit.
• Advising numerous clients on the impact of major EU-level and other international regulatory reforms, including advising a G-SIFI on the impact of MiFID 2 on its records management requirements, and on the impact of the PRIIPs Regulation and MiFID 2 on Exchange Traded Funds.
• Advising a number of financial institutions on financial crime risk assessments, policies and procedures, and handling internal and regulatory reviews into identified financial crime issues.
• Acting for individuals in connection with cross-border investigations into allegations of LIBOR and FX manipulation by the FSA, FCA and overseas regulatory and law enforcement authorities.
• Advising the unsecured creditors of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) Limited in respect of proceedings before the High Court and the Court of Appeal in respect of applications for directions on the return of client money.

• Leading Individual in Corporate and Commercial: Financial Services: Non-Contentious/Regulatory, Legal 500 UK, 2021-2022
• Individually ranked in FinTech Legal, Chambers FinTech 2022

• Law Society of England & Wales