Our investment firm clients include MTFs, OTFs, IFPRU and BIPRU firms, complex securities and futures firms, corporate finance houses, broker-dealers, and asset managers.

We are regularly asked to advise FCA solo regulated and PRA dual regulated investment firms on wholesale and retail regulatory issues.

Our clients are in the UK, and overseas. They include small LLPs, financial advisor networks, and appointed representatives. They also include national and international household names.

We are often deal with the complex regulatory issues facing our clients both from an advisory and enforcement perspective. Our specialist team includes lawyers who have previously worked within the regulatory authorities and within the financial services industry itself.

Key contacts

Peter Wright

T: +44 (0)20 7614 2680
M: +44 (0)7738 122 614
or Email

Chris Finney

T: +44 (0)20 7614 2614
M: +44 (0)7469 083 565
or Email

Investment firms expertise

  • Applications for permission to acquire control of an authorised firm
  • Applications for permission to carry on regulated activities, especially if there is something unusual or controversial that makes taking specialist legal advice worthwhile
  • Corporate governance, and internal systems and controls
  • Cross-border services, branches and passporting
  • Defending / responding to regulatory investigations and enforcement action
  • Initial capital, and ongoing regulatory capital, requirements
  • Internal investigations
  • MiFID II and MiFIR
  • Sales processes and related conduct of business and financial promotion issues
  • Skilled persons reports
  • The regulatory perimeter (do you need to be authorised? If so, can you lawfully avoid that result?)
  • The Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR)
  • Transactional regulatory due diligence
  • What do you need to be authorised as, and for? (Will you be operating an MTF, OTF, or as a regulated market? Will you be a BIPRU or IFPRU firm and, if so, which type?)
  • Applications for permission to acquire control of an authorised firm
  • Applications for permission to carry on regulated activities, especially if there is something unusual or controversial that makes taking specialist legal advice worthwhile
  • Corporate governance, and internal systems and controls
  • Cross-border services, branches and passporting
  • Defending / responding to regulatory investigations and enforcement action
  • Initial capital, and ongoing regulatory capital, requirements
  • Internal investigations
  • MiFID II and MiFIR
  • Sales processes and related conduct of business and financial promotion issues
  • Skilled persons reports
  • The regulatory perimeter (do you need to be authorised? If so, can you lawfully avoid that result?)
  • The Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR)
  • Transactional regulatory due diligence
  • What do you need to be authorised as, and for? (Will you be operating an MTF, OTF, or as a regulated market? Will you be a BIPRU or IFPRU firm and, if so, which type?)

Investment firms experience

  • Advised on how and when to comply with the requirements of MiFID II and MiFIR – internal policy drafting, terms of business, other documents, and other internal systems and controls.

  • Advised IFA networks on regulatory capital and FCA threshold condition requirements. Our role included advising on FCA requirements and providing support on FCA supervisory interactions.

  • Advised on internal investigations into actual and potential insider dealing and other forms of market abuse, disciplinary action against senior bankers and reporting to the regulators in a safe, appropriate and timely way.

  • Advised pensions transfer businesses on the FCA’s requirements, and responding to FCA enquiries, challenges and investigations.

  • Advised on the correct categorisation of investment firms: in particular, is it operating an MTF, OTF or a regulated market? Is it BIPRU firm or an IFPRU firm and, if so, which type?

  • Advised on regulatory capital breaches – curing the problem, and reporting to the regulator(s) in the right way and on time.

  • Advised on appointing (and terminating the appointment of) Appointed Representatives, introducers and tied agents.

Investment firms FAQs

We can, if there’s something especially novel about it; it’s unusually complex; or there’s a reason to think it might be rejected. If there isn’t, you probably don’t need a law firm, but you might need a compliance consultant.

If the compliance consultants need legal advice about something, we certainly help with that.

We can also help if the regulators ask you to get legal advice about an issue, before sharing this advice with them. For example, the regulators sometimes ask applicants (a) to get legal advice, which explains why they need to be authorised and regulated, and which particular regulated activities they need to be authorised for; and/or (b) to get a legal opinion, which confirms the regulatory capital status of their shares, and any other financial instruments they might have issued. Advice like that is right up our street.

If you need to know what a particular PRA or FCA rule means; or whether particular arrangements are rule compliant, we can help. If you need help working out how best to respond to questions from the regulators, we can help with that too. We can’t help with routine compliance activities, compliance monitoring, compliance auditing or the detailed design of new systems and controls. We may, however, be able to introduce you to a compliance consultant who can.

Yes we do, please go to our consumer credit page for more information.

We’re often asked to advise PEVC fund managers on regulatory matters, including the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). But we don’t do fund formation work of any kind.

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"The team at Fox Williams provides sound and practical advice. They are highly responsive and very dependable. Their skill set, strategies and communication style are a great fit for our fast-growing organisation."

Chambers UK 2024

"The team at Fox Williams are professional, friendly, and exceptionally knowledgeable. They collaborate well and offer a fantastic level of service to clients."

Legal 500 2024

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