What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?

Following a tender process by the office of government procurement, in July 2024 Danske Bank was re-awarded the “Single Supplier Framework Contract – Government Banking Services”. First won in 2018, Danske Bank now manages the majority of payments (c.70m transactions per annum) and cash pooling requirements of Ireland’s state departments. Lindsay and her legal team supported the LC&I relationship team in negotiating and finalising all aspects of this contract.

Dublin-headquartered Smurfit Kappa Group Plc combined with WestRock Company in July 2024 in a transaction valued c. USD$ 12.7bn. forming Smurfit Westrock Plc to create the world’s largest sustainable packaging company with a combined turnover of USD$ 31bn. and 100,000 employees. Danske Bank helped facilitate the transaction by acting as Joint Bookrunner and Mandated Lead Arranger on the combined entity’s new multicurrency revolving syndicated facility totalling USD$ 4.5bn. While the syndicate had its own external legal counsel, Lindsay supported the LC&I relationship team heading the deal with sanctions and opinion review work for Danske Bank.

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?

A unique career highlight last year was planning and providing the legal support to Danske Bank’s commencement of its relationship with Payac CLG, providing SEPA Payment Clearing and Settlement services to Irish credit unions which enable their members to execute SEPA credit transfer and SEPA direct debit transactions. Having supported the LC&I relationship team in its engagement with external counsel on primary documentation, my team and I then drafted and created execution packs and managed the completion process for 123 credit unions across Ireland, involving over 1,000 documents, a significant project spanning a number of months. The Payac relationship enables credit union members to access current account services, thereby delivering an increased level of competition and accessibility to banking and payments services for Irish consumers.

Based on your experiences in the past year, are there any trends in the legal or business world that you are keeping an eye on, of which you think other in-house lawyers should be mindful?

In the banking industry in which I work, the EU Instant Payments Regulation will significantly reshape the legal framework and infrastructure for payments processing within the EU, allowing customers to send and receive payments within seconds, and verify payee details. This is not without its challenges to banks, who will need to step up sanctions screening and fraud detection capabilities to match the speed of instant payments. Additionally, banks must ensure robust customer transparency and legal protections in their terms and conditions.

The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Act 2025, which aims to right the possibility of financial exclusion resulting from a reduction in the use of cash and the closure of local bank branches, is one to watch, as it will have a large (hopefully positive) impact on society as a whole. The Act will oblige banks to make elements of cash infrastructure, such as ATMs, available to the general public and will bring ATM operators and cash in transit companies under regulatory supervision. The CBI is currently in the process of collecting relevant data from banks, so expect more on this one.