Hannah Meakin > Norton Rose Fulbright > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Norton Rose Fulbright ‘has built a strong derivatives and structured finance practice, drawing top talent away from the Magic Circle‘. The firm undertakes both transactional and advisory work across a wide variety of asset classes, though it is best known for its work on repackaging transactions. Nigel Dickinson and up-and-coming partner Yusuf Battiwala are the standout practitioners. Dickinson ‘occupies a league of his own in the market for complex asset repackaging, with unparalleled product and market knowledge‘.  He assisted JP Morgan with hedging transactions related to a static RMBS transaction backed by buy-to-let mortgage loans secured on UK properties. Battiwala recently acted for Goldman Sachs in multiple market access total return swap transactions that transactions provide counterparties with the ability to synthetically access local currency bonds in emerging market jurisdictions. Global head of financial services and regulation Jonathan Herbst, market infrastructure, derivatives and fintech specialist Hannah Mean, covered bond and structured finance partner David Shearer, and Peter Noble, who frequently acts for Canadian issuers in establishing structured securities programmes, are also central to the practice.

The team at Norton Rose Fulbright is ‘at the top of its game’ in the wholesale markets arena, with a strong focus advising on retail and wealth management matters, often involving cross-border elements on account of the firm’s international footprint. Jonathan Herbst spearheads the global financial services regulation group and stands out for his expertise in bank structuring, while Hannah Meakin provides ‘exceptional advice’ on matters concerning market infrastructure, commodities derivatives and fintech. Albert Weatherill, who spearheads the payments practice, and policy development expert Matthew Gregory were promoted to partnership in January 2023. Katie Stephen, who co-heads the contentious financial services group, is another key contact.

Engaged by clients including major financial institutions, trade bodies, insurtech startups and payment infrastructure providers, Norton Rose Fulbright advises on matters across the fintech spectrum, including payments systems,  distributed ledger technology, digital assets, decentralised finance and transformative transactions. The practice is jointly led by five partners. Global head of fintech Sean Murphy is well placed to advise on the development and deployment of financial services technology. Co-head of payments Victoria Birch advises clients ranging from governments to start-ups on fundraisings, regulatory compliance strategic investments into fintech companies. Fellow co-head of payments Albert Weatherill advises on a broad range of domestic and cross-border financial services regulatory matters. Hannah Meakin, who heads the fintech regulation department, is an authority on the use of distributed ledger technology in relation to market infrastructure and commodity derivatives. Head of insurtech Nicholas Berry, who completes the leadership team, has an in-depth understanding of the deployment of emerging technology in the insurance space. James Russell and Michael (Mike) Knapper  are further names to note.