FS Regulation & Governance

Experience professionals with global reach

Our dedicated FS Regulation & Governance team acts for a wide variety of financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies, payment service providers, investment managers and financial intermediaries, based in Ireland and overseas.

Our lawyers have significant local and international regulatory experience, including previous senior roles in the Enforcement Division of the Central Bank of Ireland.

We advise and assist clients on a wide range of financial services regulatory, governance and compliance issues, such as:

• Central Bank of Ireland authorisations
• On-going compliance with the applicable regulatory regime
• Corporate governance requirements and best practice
• Consumer protection
• Conduct of business rules and conduct risk
• The legal parameters of product design
• Product documentation issued to consumer and business clients
• Commercial agreements relating to the appointment of service providers
• AML/CTF and financial sanctions
• Central Bank enforcement
• Regulatory investigations and inquiries
• Payment services requirements; PSD II
• International financial sanctions

We provide Irish legal experience and can also work as one team with our Eversheds Sutherland colleagues based in other jurisdictions to assist clients, in particular where a client’s main base of operations is outside of Ireland and they wish to provide financial services in Ireland.

We also provide  tailored services to clients, through our Eversheds Sutherland Consulting arm. Our Consulting arm forms part of a global multi-disciplinary financial services regulatory and compliance group that includes consultants, leading lawyers, former regulators and experienced governance, risk and compliance practitioners. 

Governance and Risk Culture Reviews

Financial services regulators have clearly identified governance and risk culture within financial services firms as a key regulatory issue of concern to them. Also, as noted in a recent Central Bank of Ireland speech, firms “need to find a way of measuring your culture and tracking cultural change as ‘To measure is to know and what gets measured gets done’”.

We provide firms with a comprehensive, tailored, business-friendly approach to culture measurement and performance improvement. Our Culture Review service is provided in strategic partnership with Denison Consulting, global leaders in the area of organisational culture.

Further details of this service are set out in our brochure “Developing a high performance culture in financial services: The Eversheds Sutherland Governance and Risk Culture Review Service”.

Mitigating conduct risk

We assist firms to ensure that they have comprehensive and effective governance, policies and processes in place, together with an appropriate culture to mitigate conduct risk.

In particular, we undertake a wide range of review and verification work across systems, controls, conduct and governance. Our work includes compliance effectiveness reviews. It also covers reviewing committee structures, governance policies, board effectiveness reviews, review of risk management systems/ policies and advice on board composition and senior appointments. 

Compliance Audits – in particular, AML compliance audits

We provide firms with a tailored review of their policies and procedures, together with their systems and controls, for compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing obligations. We also provide practical recommendations to clients and assist with implementing them, to ensure that clients meet all relevant requirements and expectations of their regulator.

Further details of this service are set out in our brochure “Ensuring compliance with AML/CFT obligations: The Eversheds Sutherland Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Review Service”.

For further information about our FS Regulation & Governance team, please contact Ciaran Walker or Pamela O'Neill.