The ‘pragmatic and commercial’ team at Baker McKenzie pulls together a strong offering with RADI authorisations, regulatory issues for cross-border banks and advice relating to international card schemes among the unit’s areas of expertise. The practice is also active on regulatory and criminal investigations in the financial sphere. Bill Fuggle and Adrian Lawrence share leadership duties from the firm’s Sydney office; Fuggle is an authority on restricted ADI regulation and actively managed ETFs, and Lawrence frequently assists companies in the fintech arena with issues such as mobile banking and payments. In Brisbane, Trudi Procter, who joined from McCullough Robertson in August 2022, has a focus on payment systems and digital assets. Back in Sydney, Yechiel Belfer is well placed to advise on AML regulation, while Shemira Jeevaratnam frequently assists wealthtechs, neobanks and payment processing providers with regulatory matters.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Extremely capable people, familiar and repeatable processes, and the way the entire team communicate during a matter is excellent. This, in my view, eliminates risk and miscommunication.'
‘Firstly, my team and I feel we have more than a transactional relationship with the team at Baker McKenzie, and this is unique across our other experiences of legal firms.'
- 'The clarity of communication and thoughtful explanations together with good humour at the appropriate time was also refreshing and something which helped us enjoy the transaction at every twist and turn. Don't get me wrong, they weren't cavalier, but human - and it really helped over the months that it took to close the transaction.'
‘Lewis Apostolou is diligent, pragmatic, commercial, accessible and responsive.’
- 'A well resourced team with a breadth of experience, very responsive and work collaboratively across multiple jurisdictions.'
Key clients
- AFEX
- ALS Ltd
- CMC Markets Ltd
- Morgan Stanley Australia Securities Limited
- Jarden Securities Limited
- Wayflyer
- RAM
- Loftus Peak Investment Management Ltd
- Quay Fund Services Ltd as RE for Wisemans Surf Lodge
- Sequoia Specialist Investment Pty Ltd
Work highlights
- Acting for ALS Limited in regulatory and criminal investigations concerning certification irregularities by employees in the company's Australian Coal Superintending and Certification unit.
- Advising an American multinational financial services company, in respect of its global activities carried out in Australia and the regulatory environment in Australia.
- Advising a global investment bank and financial services firm on various regulatory matters both domestically and on a cross-border basis.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Bill Fuggle, Adrian Lawrence