Welcome back to the Fides Weekly Update. Take a look at some of the key news stories of the week for legal and compliance and don’t forget to scroll down to see the Movers & Shakers of the week!
This week:
1. Lloyds overhauls senior management ahead of new strategy launch
Some shock departures and appointments were made this week as Lloyds boss Antonio Horta-Osorio announced a management shake-up, preparing the bank for its new slim line strategic plan for 2018 to 2020.
Amongst a number of changes, Lloyds risk officer Juan Colombas will be taking on the new role as COO for the bank, whilst Simon Davies, who only joined two years ago to become chief people, legal and strategy officer, is set to depart, with finance chief George Culmer taking over responsibility for the legal and strategy departments.
With the key objective of privatisation completed, and a new senior management in place, investors and experts are expecting Horta-Osorio to step down as chief and take on a new challenge. Market speculation suggests that he is likely to replace Stuart Gulliver as head of HSBC, who announced his departure will take place next year, but the Lloyds boss has remained adamant of his plans to stick with the bank, and has demonstrated his commitment by purchasing £36,000 of Lloyds shares.
The management changes seem to have been received well within the ranks at Lloyds, and employees and investors alike are backing the overhaul of the lender. Shares remained stable after the news was released, with a steady increase of 0.19%.
The above changes will come into effect in September this year.
2. Hogan Lovells diversifies its offering as competition continues to rise
Global firm Hogan Lovells has hired a former PwC director to launch a new financial services regulatory consulting practice, aimed to assist the firm’s financial institutions clients on a host of regulatory issues, including any upcoming Brexit-related challenges.
Steve Murphy previously led PwC’s regulatory consulting practice since 2008, and has obtained 25 years of experience in the field. He will take the lead at new business Hogan Lovell Financial Services Regulatory Consulting, which will be advising asset managers, banks, building societies, wealth management firms, payment services providers and insurance companies.
Financial services partner Emily Reid has claimed that Brexit will likely bring about “significant upheaval and change for the sector” and the aim of this business will be to help Hogan Lovells’ clients “successfully navigate the challenges ahead”.
This enterprise marks a recent trend in the legal sector in which law firms have been diversifying their offerings and servicing their clients outside of pure legal work. With significant levels of competition entering from all corners of the market, firms are both consolidating and diversifying to remain successful.
Similar to Hogan Lovells’ new venture, Eversheds Sutherland also runs a consulting arm made up of lawyers and non-lawyers. The key components include advisory services, interim resources (through Eversheds Sutherland Agile) and managed services (through Eversheds Sutherland Ignite). Additionally, Addleshaw Goddard and RPC now offer consultancy services that extend beyond core legal advice.
Pinsent Masons has also recently sought to diversify its talents. This year the firm acquired Brook Graham, a diversity consultancy that boasts an expansive client base and international network, as well as New Law start-up Yuzu, which offers an innovative take on legal outsourcing. Meanwhile, Slaughter and May have also taken advantage of the new technology initiatives in the legal market as they acquired a 5% stake in AI provider Luminance.
Movers & Shakers of the week
Panel Watch
Moves
Heathrow hires a head of legal for its third runway
Senior associate Anita Kasseean will leave Stephenson Harwood to accept the new role of head of legal at Heathrow Airport Holdings for planning its third runway
NRF sees Middle East departure swiftly after Chadbourne merger goes live
TMT partner Dino Wilkinson has joined Clyde & Co in Abu Dhabi from Norton Rose Fulbright
Simmons hires US capital markets veteran
Simmons & Simmons has expanded its corporate team with the hire of US capital markets partner Chris Walton from Clifford Chance in London
WFW adds two partners to its London ranks
Asset finance partner Louise Mor and energy specialist Colin Graham both join Watson Farley & Williams from White & Case and Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe respectively.
Withers makes a 12-strong corporate play in Hong Kong
Withers has hired three corporate partners, along with four associate, three paralegals and two support staff from Winston & Strawn in Asia. The team is headed by former Winston & Strawn Asia corporate head Mabel Lui, with the other two corporate partners Polly Chu and Daniel Tang.
Lloyds’ chief people, legal and strategy officer departs
Simon Davies steps down from his role as chief people, legal and strategy officer at Lloyds Banking Group only two years after his shock departure at Linklaters and appointment with the bank
Office Openings & Closings
Charles Russell Speechlys open in Hong Kong with double partner hire
Jonathan Mok and Richard Grasby exit Mayer Brown JSM in Hong Kong to launch Charles Russell Speechlys’ first office in Hong Kong, to be headed up by Mok
Former Fieldfisher team opens corporate boutique in Manchester
Ex-senior Fieldfisher corporate partners Matt Fleetwood and Jim Truscott, along with several other Fieldfisher Manchester lawyers are set to launch Beyond Professional Services Group, a corporate boutique. They have also acquired Atticus Legal, a fellow Manchester corporate boutique led by Kevin Philbin
Fieldfisher sets up fifth Italian office
Fieldfisher has hired a team of 18 fee earners from boutique Lucchini Gattamorta & Associates (LGA) to launch an office in Bologna. It will be led by LGA founder and corporate partner Gianvincenzo Lucchini