Dual-qualified to practise in both the UK and France, Bruno is a lawyer specialising in financial services, payment services and fintech. His versatile practice covers funds, asset management, payments, derivatives, and market infrastructure including clearing and fund custody. Bruno also handles a variety of general banking issues including internal restructuring, rationalisation projects and external growth or strategic change projects such as the acquisition, sale or merger of regulated entities, the termination of local businesses and the entering into commercial or partnership agreements. In addition, he advises on assignments dealing with customer documentation and transfers of assets or liabilities to third parties, as well as from one jurisdiction to another, particularly from the UK to continental Europe and vice versa.
Maintaining a constant focus on pan-European advisory and transactional work, but also regularly advising on cross-border disputes in the field of financial services or even consumer protection outside financial services. Bruno acts for a broad spectrum of clients, such as start-up companies in the fintech space, banks, brokers, institutional investors, sovereign and private equity funds, payment service providers and e-money institutions, servicers, e-commerce companies, retailers, and service providers in clearing, settlement and other areas of market infrastructure.
A regular speaker at global conferences on e-payments and e-commerce, Bruno has also published articles on issues such as bank secrecy, fund custody, prime brokerage, payment services and e-money.
Expertise
- General banking and regulatory
- Funds and asset management
- Derivatives
- Market infrastructure
- Payment services
- White collar crime and litigation
- Commercial contracts
- Consumer and data protection
Experience
General Banking and Regulatory
- Advised an Australian bank on obtaining a guarantee from a French parent nuclear company (including issuing opinions, drafting guarantees, reviewing loans and making changes for French law capacity and enforcement purposes, and reviewing corporate documents proposed by the French company (corporate decision, power of attorney, etc)).
- Advised a syndicate of banks on the financing of the acquisition by a French Belgian company of a French group of manufacturing companies (including obtaining guarantees, proposing changes to draft loan documentation and draft corporate decisions).
- Advised a European banking group in financial difficulty on finding public funding secured by complex collateral arrangements.
- Advised a Moroccan banking group in respect of the creation of an FSA licensed bank and the transfer of business activities from the existing French branch to a newly created branch in Paris (one of the very few cases involving the full withdrawal of a French banking licence).
Fund and Asset Management
- Advised an insurance group in respect of its plan to convert the existing French portfolio management company into a UCITS IV branch of its Italian portfolio management company.
- Advised a French asset manager on the marketing of private equity and UCITS funds in 13 EEA countries.
- Advised on the restructuring of the management of funds underlying life insurance policies.
- Advised on the acquisition of a French real estate portfolio management company by a US real estate investment management company.
Market Infrastructure
- Advised a French bank, as part of a complete review and restructuring of its customer master documentation for clearing services relating to derivatives in Europe, the USA and Asia, including issuance of legal opinion on the protection of margin and collateral.
- Advised a leading French bank and its securities service affiliate in devising collateral schemes providing for a second rank security right in favour of affiliated prime brokers.
- Advised a French bank on a gap analysis relating to clearinghouses in the USA, UK, France and Singapore, for the purposes of classifying risks and harmonising/improving the contractual documentation in place with each clearing house and with customers.
Payment Services
- Advised a European card scheme on entering into technology sharing agreements with VISA CARD and APPLE PAY.
- Advised a start-up company on the distribution of its innovative means of payment in the UK and in France.
- Advised an association of payment service agents on the setting up of a FINTECH incubator.
- Advised an association of UK payment institutions on bank account access issues.
- Advised an e-money issuer on all legal aspects of its business activities in France (passport or licence, distribution, partnerships,customer contracts, litigation, acquisitions).
- Advised a UK “sponsoring” bank (i.e. bank issuing cards or e-money managed by unregulated entities) on its activities in France (passport, distribution, customer documentation).
- Advised a French group on the rationalisation of its global payment and clearing contractual arrangements.
- Advised a major European bank on SEPA and PSD related innovative products.
- Issued capacity, validity and enforceability opinions on behalf of banks applying for SEPA schemes memberships.
Derivatives
- Advised an asset management company on its derivative transactions with the French national pension fund (Fonds de Réserve desRetraites).
- Advised an Australian bank on the entering into of (ISDA, OSLA,EFET, FBF, etc.) master agreements with French counterparties and assessing the various related (enforcement, netting, collateral and insolvency) risks.
- Advised a foreign bank in respect of litigation proceedings launched against it.
White Collar Crime / Litigation
- Advised companies and banks on how to comply with UN and EUbased regulations providing for asset freezes or challenging the validity of asset freezes.
- Advised a Dutch group on compliance with OFAC regulations, in respect of confidentiality issues relating to the transfer of customer information from Europe to the US.
- Advised a foreign bank on its litigation with a French local government body, in respect of so-called “toxic” products(including pre-litigation, litigation and settlement phases).
Commercial Contracts
- Negotiated and drafted distribution and brokerage contracts on behalf of banks or fund managers.
- Drafted a cooperation agreement between a supermarket group and a global banking group for use in several EU, Central America and Asian countries.
- Drafted a WEB payment service standard agreement for a large French bank.
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised in The Legal 500 2020 for Fraud: Civil
Career
Bruno qualified as an avocat in 1996. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2017, he worked at the following firms:
- Rosenblatt Solicitors
- Clifford Chance