Financial Institutions & Fintech

+ 13 other experts

unique expertise for a unique type of client

Financial Institutions are subject to myriad and ever-evolving regulation affecting their products, services, governance, and processes. Therefore, they need lawyers with a deep understanding of the specific challenges and opportunities they face.

With leading experts in their respective fields, our integrated, multidisciplinary practice has an established track record working both alongside, and within, major financial institutions.

We advise on the most important deals in the financial services market and successfully represent major institutions in litigation, arbitration, and mediation proceedings around the globe.

We help existing market players to navigate fintech developments and to adapt to upcoming regulations, and we advise them seamlessly across borders on the most innovative and complex tech-driven projects and financing.

We also frequently work with emerging fintech companies to achieve their business objectives and protect their intellectual property and know-how within the boundaries of a vast, and sometimes daunting, regulatory regime.

Our Financial Institutions Group is also part of the European Financial Institutions Group set up by our Best Friends Network.

Recent Matters

13 May 2023

De Brauw advises Eurocommercial Properties N.V. on its Euronext Milan listing

De Brauw has advised Eurocommercial Properties N.V. on the Dutch law and regulatory aspects of the listing of its shares on Euronext Milan. Eurocommercial was able to benefit from a Prospectus Regulation exemption due to its listing on Euronext Amsterdam and Euronext Brussels for more than 18 months, on the condition of the publication of a summary document. The project required elaborate work on Dutch law, corporate governance, clearing and settlement and other aspects to comply with stock exchange and clearing and settlement rules and practical requirements. Trading in Milan will start on 16 May 2023.
4 May 2023

De Brauw advised Triton Partners on the sale of Unica to Triton IV Continuation Fund

De Brauw advised Triton Partners on the sale of Unica (alongside three other portfolio companies) to a newly-formed vehicle, Triton IV Continuation Fund, which closed at €1.63 billion following a competitive auction process. Unica is a leading independent provider of technical services in the Netherlands, focused on end-to-end, sustainable solutions for utility buildings and industry. Unica is set to continue its growth journey through operational excellence and new add-on acquisitions via its proven M&A playbook. The business is further supported by market tailwinds in smart building and energy efficiency. De Brauw worked alongside Kirkland & Ellis, Thomessen and Linklaters to advise Triton on this complex multi asset fund to fund transaction, which provided Triton IV investors with a return of 3.7x on the combined invested capital, or the option to roll into the new vehicle to participate in the Portfolio Companies’ future growth.
24 January 2023

Waterland funds reach final close of EUR 4bn in aggregate

De Brauw assisted Waterland Private Equity Investments (Waterland) as Dutch legal and regulatory counsel in relation to the closing of Waterland's ninth institutional flagship fund, Waterland Private Equity Fund IX ("WPEF IX") at EUR 3.5 billion, alongside Waterland Partnership Fund I ( "WPF I") at EUR 500 million. The funds closed at their respective hard caps four months after initial launch. WPEF IX will focus on investments in medium-sized companies in fragmented growth markets in Europe to finance organic and acquisitive growth. WPF I is the first fund of its kind under management of Waterland a natural extension of the Waterland platform. WPF I expects to make minority investments in a very select number of Waterland portfolio companies when these are exited.Interesting features comprised a stapled structure of multiple limited partnerships (CV's) under Dutch law and the use of feeder vehicles under Irish law. In addition to acting as Dutch legal and regulatory counsel, De Brauw also took on a coordinating role via its legal project management and data science department, with DocuSign and interactive subscription tools being used to make the fundraising process more efficient and streamlined.
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Banking, Finance & Debt Capital Markets

Few firms in the Netherlands can match the quality of our people and our leading position across the full range of corporate, asset and project financing, debt restructuring, and debt capital markets. Our integrated Banking, Finance & Debt Capital Markets practice has a multidisciplinary team dedicated to the design, negotiation and documentation of both general corporate finance transactions and complex high-impact finance transactions.

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Investment Management

Against a continually changing legal, economic and regulatory backdrop, our Investment Management experts are at the forefront of all new developments across the full fund lifecycle.

Our Investment Management Experts
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Insurance

We advise many of the largest internationally operating insurance groups and financial institutions based in the Netherlands (to include the largest healthcare insurer in the Netherlands) on the application of the rules and regulations on the supervision of financial markets. Our clients trust us with significant mergers and acquisitions, regulatory capital-raising transactions, large outsourcing arrangements, global custody and securities lending, and investment management mandates. Clients also recognise our expertise when seeking advice on which complex supervisory rules they are subject to.

Our Insurance Experts

Insights

11 April 2023

Digital Operational Resilience Act: time to start implementing

The Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) – EU legislation in force since 16 January 2023 – sets out requirements for ICT security systems that support the business processes of financial entities. DORA's aim is to centralise legislation related to ICT compliance, but this does not mean it is a mere collection of existing obligations. The requirements laid down in DORA are likely to have a substantial impact on how financial entities arrange the governance of their ICT risks. The industry has been given two years to prepare and implement the necessary changes before DORA starts applying on 17 January 2025. While this may seem far away, significant action is likely to be needed, and financial entities are advised to start preparations as soon as possible.
22 March 2023

Credit Suisse impact on EU market: regulators on alert - consolidation not ruled out

In this article, we briefly discuss the impact of recent Credit Suisse events on the EEA banking landscape and signal potential trends for further consolidation to protect banks and bond holders.
26 January 2023

Negotiating ESG financing – key areas to address

Sustainability elements are incorporated into almost all new or renegotiated financing arrangements. This change is driven by various factors, such as companies enhancing their sustainability agenda and a growing demand for sustainability from lenders, other stakeholders and society at large. In our previous article on ESG financing, we discussed the variety of available instruments and key considerations for borrowers. Since then, we have seen a substantial uptick in the number of sustainability-linked financing arrangements and an increased level of sophistication in the documentation and verification process. Sustainability-linked financing products are available to a broader group of companies since there are no restrictions on the use of proceeds. Given the rise in sustainability-linked products and developments in the standardisation of documentation, we focus on sustainability-linked solutions in this article.