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.
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)