Addleshaw Goddard has added further Partner strength to its Financial Regulation team with the appointment of two more partners, making it a six-Partner team and one of the largest in the UK. 

Consumer finance specialist Clare Hughes will be joining from Eversheds. Lorna Finlayson, former head of Burness Paull's financial services regulatory practice, joins AG's Edinburgh office.  This is AGs first partner hire in Scotland since the firm's combination with HBJ in 2017, and provides AG with specialist Financial Regulation expertise in Scotland.

Amanda Hulme, Head of the Financial Services Sector at Addleshaw Goddard said that in an area where there are few true specialists, AG now has the strongest line-up of any firm in the market, adding:

"With more regulatory change in the pipeline, new players emerging and banks transforming what and how they deliver their services, AG is creating important, additional bandwidth, not just to resource existing demand from a large and established portfolio of retail and challenger banks and other FS businesses, but to help us to better service the growing financial services community in Scotland from a local presence.  Both Clare and Lorna are outstanding, long established specialist Financial Regulatory Partners, who are both well known in the market and highly respected by clients and we are delighted they are joining us."

She continued:

"Clare's experience and clients are a perfect fit with our own retail financial services practice.  She will add additional senior support to both Rosanna Bryant and I to help us meet the increasing demands for advice in this area.  Lorna's arrival fits perfectly with our strategy to offer an enhanced service to the many FS businesses based in Scotland. Her skill set is a good fit with our retail financial services practice, but expands beyond into the IFA and discretionary management market, investments, pensions and distribution arrangements.  She will provide a great bridge into our wider wholesale and financial markets regulatory team covered by existing Partners Brian McDonnell and David Ellis.  Lorna's practice, background and Scottish ties makes her particularly unique in the market."

Clare Hughes – London

Clare is Ranked in Band 1 of Chambers and Partners with a focus on the retail financial services market, advising retail banks, credit card issuers, short term lenders, asset finance providers, brokers and debt collection businesses on all aspects of interactions with customers, new propositions and regulatory issues involving the FCA.  

Her work with clients relates to all retail finance products including loans, credit cards, overdrafts and current accounts as well as asset finance products. Clare also has considerable experience in advising clients on remediation projects as well as the regulatory aspects of transactions. 

Clare, a barrister, previously worked as a specialist consumer lawyer at the Office of Fair Trading, and also with the team at Addleshaw Goddard. 

Lorna Finlayson

Lorna is also well known in the financial services arena and brings more than 25 years' experience of advising a diverse portfolio of businesses on all aspects of product and process compliance, as well as related commercial contracts. Her expertise covers the FSMA and consumer credit regimes and she provides strategic financial services regulatory advice.  She also has extensive experience advising on the regulatory issues arising on significant corporate and banking transactions, securitisations and funding structures.

Prior to joining Burness Paull, Lorna worked with Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP in the City of London, and before that, was Company Secretary at Direct Line Financial Services.

The Financial Services sector is Addleshaw Goddard's largest single market sector, with the firm providing clients with a full range of transactional, regulatory, compliance, advisory and dispute advice. Over a third of the firm’s annual income is earned within the sector, with financial services clients including most of the best well known UK brands accounting for more than 80 of its top 250 clients by income.

These hires will take the Financial Regulation Team to more than 30 specialist lawyers spanning both retail and wholesale financial services and is relatively unique in the way it integrates experienced Financial Regulation lawyers with senior Compliance Directors who have frequent interaction with regulators and specialise in operational governance, risk and compliance and supporting firms with the FCA conduct challenges.  AG also has a separate Regulatory Investigations and Enforcement Team, headed by Partner Nicola Peters, which covers financial crime, ABC and FCA enforcement work. 

AGs Payments and Consumer Finance teams led by Fiona Ghosh and William James, Mandie Hulme and Rosanna Bryant, are consistently ranked #1 by the legal directories which also single out the firm's wider financial regulatory capabilities led by Brian McDonell, David Ellis and litigation partner Chris Brennan.