Ruth is a corporate, commercial and regulatory lawyer who specialises in the insurance sector. She acts for insurers, insurance intermediaries, policyholders and risk professionals, advising on a range of matters. Her particular expertise is in outsourcing arrangements, leading legal/regulatory change projects and regulatory advice on complex multi-jurisdictional matters. She also advises on PRA/FCA authorisation applications, change in control applications and insurance portfolio transfers and the cancellation of permissions (births, deaths and marriages).
Ruth has a strong UK and EU regulatory background, having worked in-house at the Financial Services Authority/Prudential Regulation Authority and as Head of Legal & Compliance (PCF12) for an Irish insurer with European reach. She has proven experience of effective communication with European regulators on contentious and non-contentious matters.
Having also worked for a number of years for a global insurance company, Ruth understands the needs of in-house counsel, as well as the operational complexities of the insurance industry.
Expertise
- Insurance/reinsurance
- Financial services regulation
- Corporate transactions
- Commercial agreements
- Compliance
Experience
- Acted for a life insurance company on the entry into a new MGA arrangement in the Netherlands, including correspondence with the ACPR on the materiality of the arrangement and its impact on group supervision
- Set up insurance distribution programmes in multiple jurisdictions in respect of consumer products, advising on all aspects of consumer regulation
- Led High Court and Court of Appeal litigation and lobbying in Ireland on behalf of a large P&C insurer in respect of enforcement action by the Irish Health Insurance Authority
- Acted for a US-based insurance company in respect of its PRA authorisation and the conversion of its third-country branch to a newly established UK subsidiary
- Multiple change in control applications including the multi-jurisdictional acquisition of a large P&C insurer by a Chinese conglomerate
- Acted for the PRA in the Hong Kong branch domestication and related UK court application of a UK life insurance company
- Advised a large P&C insurer on the establishment of a new Irish legal entity to provide risk consultancy services in the EU
- Advised a large P&C insurer on the implementation of multiple multi-jurisdictional distribution agreements, including drafting bespoke policy wordings and coordination with local counsel
- Led the UK branch Part 4A application for a European insurance company with operations in the UK including advice on the ongoing implications of being a “third country” branch
- Negotiation of pool membership agreements, TOBAs, TPA agreements
- Managed multiple remediation projects, including correspondence with the relevant regulators
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised in The Legal 500 2024 for Insurance and Reinsurance Litigation
Career
Ruth qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2008. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2022, she worked at the following firms:
- Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance
- Chubb European Group
- HFW
- Prudential Regulation Authority (formerly the Financial Services authority)
- Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills)