Tom handles Financial Services matters (non-contentious advisory and contentious regulatory and investigations). His non-contentious practice includes advising clients in wholesale markets (across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, commodities, fixed income, digital assets and others), and retail. He regularly advises clients on UK regulated activities, FCA Handbook matters, authorisations, payment systems, individual accountability and the SMCR, outsourcing, banking, fintech, digital assets, financial promotions, client assets, banking, market conduct, systems and controls, client assets, exchange rulebooks, and wholesale market regulations such as MiFID II, EMIR, SFTR & the Benchmarks Regulation. He also covers retail issues, such as consumer credit, retail lending, complaints and the consumer duty. Tom’s contentious regulatory practice covers investigations, enforcement, complaints and whistleblowing. Tom was previously Head of Enforcement for a UK regulatory body, and prosecuted dozens of enforcement actions against financial market participants. He now brings that experience to bear in defence of clients who are being investigated by the FCA, exchanges and other regulatory bodies. Tom assists clients with internal investigations, whistleblowing and complaints. Tom also handles Corporate, Commercial and IP & Technology matters and is a member of our ESG, Compliance & Investigations team. His expertise in these areas is summarised below. Tom’s clients include exchanges, clearing houses, banks, trading firms, brokers, lenders, fintech companies, digital assets providers, data providers, price reporting agencies, government agencies and others, ranging from growth stage companies to household names. Before joining Temple Bright in 2023, Tom spent 17 years at the London Metal Exchange, most of it as General Counsel and Head of Enforcement, also running the Company Secretarial function. During his career he has been named twice in Financial News’ “40 Under 40 Rising Stars of the Legal Profession”. Prior to joining the LME, Tom worked at international law firms Simmons & Simmons and Debevoise & Plimpton in the City.

Experience

Relevant experience at Temple Bright and previous firms includes:

Advising international financial services firms on regulatory matters, including perimeter issues, outsourcing and regulated activities.
Advising retail-focused financial services organisations on FCA Handbook, perimeter and consumer credit issues.
Defending multiple firms against investigations by the FCA and other regulatory bodies.
Advising benchmark providers on benchmark and licensing arrangements.
Advising major international exchanges on governance.
Helping regulated firms deal with enquiries from national regulators.
Drafting rulebooks for exchanges and clearing houses.
Helping growth stage companies with their funding and capital raising arrangements.
Advising payment providers on their compliance with the Payment Services Regulations and FCA rules.
Undertaking an end-to-end review of a major international trading firm’s commodities trading arrangements and rulebook compliance.
Drafting and negotiating commercial contracts and joint venture agreements.
Corporate matters including shareholder agreements, articles of association, company administration, terms of reference, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, fundraising and financing arrangements.
Commercial and technology matters including contracts, software and data licensing and distribution, terms and conditions, privacy notices and procurement.
ESG and sustainability matters including mandatory ESG disclosures and reporting under UK law, board governance and obligations, the Bribery Act, the Modern Slavery Act, policy drafting, designing processes (e.g. reporting, escalation, supply chain due diligence), design of contractual clauses to ensure third party compliance and manage risk, investigation of alleged policy breaches, minimising greenwashing risks, and advice on external communications.
Provision of tailored ESG training for boards and management teams, horizon scanning, and an ESG updates service.

Temple Bright LLP Verified Firm

Our Lawyers