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Clifford Chance announces new US Financial Services Regulatory Group

12 March 2012

Clifford Chance announces new US Financial Services Regulatory Group

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance today announced the formation of a US Financial Services Regulatory Group that brings together eight partners from three practices who regularly advise on non-contentious financial regulatory matters.  The new team is led by partner Nick O'Neill, who recently moved to New York from the firm's London office.  Other members of the allied group include partners Jeff Berman, David Felsenthal, Steve Gatti, George Kleinfeld, Gareth Old, Tom Pax, Wendy Wysong and senior counsels Len Mackey and David Yeres.  US Litigation leader David DiBari, along with partners Chris Morvillo, Edward O'Callaghan and David Raskin – three former US Attorneys who joined Clifford Chance in November 2011 to bolster the firm's white collar litigation capabilities in New York – will also work closely with the new team.

Clifford Chance has built significant US regulatory expertise that ranges across the financial sector – covering regulations that affect banks and bank holding companies, private equity and hedge funds, registered closed-end funds and exchange-traded funds, investment advisers, broker-dealers, commodities, derivatives, exchanges and other trading platforms, cash management and payment systems – while keeping clients abreast of developments under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Volcker Rule and the other regulatory initiatives coming out of the global financial crisis.  The firm's established Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Anti-Money Laundering and international tax practices complement its focus on regulation of the financial sector.

Outside the US, the firm's presence in every major financial center contributes to an in-depth understanding of regulations like the European Union's Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive, the Basel III capital framework, the Enhanced Investor Protection rules issued in Hong Kong, and the growing number of regulations that include elements of US-type "extraterritoriality," for example, the UK Bribery Act.  O'Neill, who will also continue to co-lead Clifford Chance's Global Funds and Investment Management Group, brings a comprehensive knowledge of these types of global regulatory requirements, further strengthening the US team's advisory capability on cross-border financial matters.

"There have been a considerable number of regulatory reforms introduced by various countries since the financial crisis, as well as a significant rise in extraterritoriality," said O'Neill.  "These events – along with the significant effect US laws and regulations continue to have on global commerce – makes compliance an increasingly complicated matter for firms doing business internationally in the financial markets.  By assembling our most relevant US regulatory experience and integrating it with Clifford Chance regulatory teams around the world, we can now more fully bring to bear our firm's capabilities in support of clients in the States and abroad."

Drawing on capital markets and corporate finance, Clifford Chance has fashioned a unique yet simplified offering to wholly advise clients across financial markets on their regulatory obligations and risks. 

"Our attorneys have been extremely busy counseling clients on the extraordinary regulatory changes we've seen evolve since 2008," said Craig Medwick, regional managing partner for Clifford Chance in the Americas.  "And while collaboration among our practices and across borders has long been a hallmark of Clifford Chance, this additional coordination makes it easier for clients to access our firm's US regulatory expertise from anywhere in the world."