Shoosmiths LLP

Banking and Finance, Partner

Suzanne is a Partner within the Financial Services team at Shoosmiths based in our Manchester office.

Suzanne specialises in regulated and unregulated asset finance (with a particular focus on motor and equipment finance), consumer finance and financial services regulation.  Over the past five years, Suzanne has assisted clients with a range of transactional asset finance deals and also provided clients with practical advice in relation to being authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Suzanne has developed a particular specialism advising mobile phone networks on the financing of mobile phone handsets in light of increasing handset prices and heightened regulatory scrutiny.  Suzanne has assisted with designing customer journeys, drafting regulated loan documents and advising mobile phone networks on being FCA regulated businesses including providing training to senior management.

In addition, Suzanne plays a leading role in Shoosmiths debt buying and selling work acting for both sellers and purchasers of portfolios of regulated consumer debt providing advice on both the contractual aspects of the sale and issues of regulatory compliance.

Examples of Suzanne’s experience includes:

• assisting a mobile phone network with its preparations for the FCA Senior Managers and Certification Regime;
• advising a mobile phone network on the design of a regulated mobile phone proposition including drafting regulated documents, advising on the sales journey and drafting FCA compliant policies and procedures;
• acting for a leading provider of consumer retail finance in the sale of a £170 million book of regulated consumer credit agreements;
• advising a variety of financial services companies (both lenders and brokers) on their applications for FCA authorisation including advising on their ongoing compliance with the FCA rules; and
• advising an equipment leasing company on the launch of a regulated consumer leasing product with a major high-street retailer (including advising on the regulatory issues arising out of the structure of the product, drafting regulated hire agreements and advising on contractual arrangements with the retailer and funder).

Suzanne joined Shoosmiths in January 2015.  Prior to this, Suzanne worked in the Asset Finance team at DWF for four years, having qualified as a solicitor at DWF in 2011.