Market Infrastructure

We have a wealth of experience advising on the documentary and transactional aspects of participating in an infrastructure, including direct and indirect derivatives clearing agreements, and rulebook reviews and analysis. We also support engagement with regulators, where members of our team are able to draw on their experience of working at the Bank of England and the FCA.

We can also bring together cross-disciplinary expertise as needed, including technology, data and privacy, insolvency, dispute resolution and investigations, intellectual property, and competition.

The types of matters that the team have advised on includes:

• Advising the operator of a securities financing transaction communications system whether the system constitutes a "multilateral trading facility".
• Advising investment banks on Article 305(2)(c) CCP "look through" opinions and requirements.
• Advising investment banks on their direct market access documentation and their indirect clearing agreements.
• Advising commercial companies on obtaining direct market access to various commodity and emissions allowance exchanges and on the associated clearing arrangements.
• Advising a range of buy-side and sell-side institutions on their regulatory initial margin arrangements where the collateral is held via Euroclear and Clearstream.
• Advising a firm on the legal and regulatory implications of operating a trading platform on which metals-backed digital tokens can be traded.
• Advising an investment bank that is a clearing member of various CCPs on its potential exposures to those CCPs and analysing and summarising the key parts of the CCPs' rulebooks.
• Advising members of the London Metal Exchange on the legal implications of the dematerialised warrant structure.
• Defending members of the London Metal Exchange against disciplinary action taken by the exchange.
• Advising participants in a new real-time sterling payment system.
• Advising a payment service provider on becoming a participant in Bacs.
• Advising a direct participant in CHAPS in relation to the indirect access it provides to its clients.

Our team are at the forefront of legal, regulatory and technological developments and are experts on the key challenges facing market participants.