Funds Formation & Structuring

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We act for both domestic and foreign clients on the structuring and formation of managed investment schemes and bespoke investment vehicles, with particular expertise in difficult or novel fund models. Our practice includes the design of retail and wholesale structures involving:

• Retail registered schemes with complex investment strategies
• Multi-jurisdictional fund-of-funds and feeder structures
• Tokenised unit funds and blockchain-linked managed investment schemes
• Private credit, venture capital, litigation funding, and real asset vehicles

Our team is regularly instructed on high-risk disclosure work, including PDS and IM drafting for first-time retail products, and we are experienced in designing governance frameworks and investor protections to address ASIC’s heightened focus on retail product suitability.

We advise on structuring to optimise investor eligibility, compliance with key regulatory guides, and preparation of bespoke constitutions, compliance plans, custody arrangements, and platform distribution terms. Our cross-border fund work includes alignment with EU AIFMD, Singapore VCC, Cayman SPC and other parallel vehicle structures.

We are frequently engaged to provide second opinions on fund structures where the regulatory or legal risk is not straightforward. Our work reflects a deep understanding of fund operator obligations, financial product classification, and investor protection rules in high-risk sectors.

AML / CTF Compliance

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We provide high-end AML/CTF legal advisory services to institutions facing complex structuring, cross-border exposure, or regulator engagement risk. Our clients include Tier 1 banks, global asset managers, trading houses, and payments platforms with significant operational reach.

We advise on the design and implementation of AML / CTF Programs for domestic and multi-jurisdictional businesses including:

• Retail custody platforms and P2P lending models
• Cross-border investment flows and foreign source wealth
• Crypto-linked financial services
• Correspondent banking and cross-jurisdictional onboarding

Our team has extensive experience in advising on AUSTRAC registration, program testing, SMR escalation, and enforcement interaction. We assist with risk ratings, politically exposed persons (PEP) protocols, and drafting of training and controls for AML Compliance Officers, board members and auditors.

We are also active in the advisory space in relation to Tranche 2 reform and have advised large law and accounting firms on the expected extension of AML/CTF obligations to professional services. Our risk-based approach aligns AUSTRAC expectations with practical implementation, enabling clients to operate confidently in high-compliance sectors.

Prudential Compliance

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We are trusted advisers to prudentially regulated entities requiring high-assurance compliance with APRA’s standards. We assist with the implementation of prudential frameworks that address the most material regulatory and governance risks, including:

• Executive accountability under the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR)
• Operational risk and resilience under CPS 230
• Remuneration governance under CPS 511
• Strategic outcomes and trustee duties under SPS 515

We have been engaged in over 30 accountability regime implementations in Australia, Hong Kong, and the UK, and regularly prepare accountability statements, mapping frameworks, reasonable steps documentation, and escalation protocols. Our FAR implementation work includes tailored board training and governance remediation following regulator feedback.

Our team also advises on:

• Intra-group service agreements and regulatory outsourcing contracts
• Board committee structure and delegation design
• Prudential response strategies in the event of regulator engagement or review
• Global compliance alignment where entities are subject to multiple regimes

We assist global clients navigating APRA licencing requirements and compliance standards where they hold an Australian branch or subsidiary, and regularly provide opinions on equivalence, substituted compliance, and local adaptation of global policies.

Consumer Credit

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Our credit practice is focused on clients with complex product offerings or high-volume market exposure — including lenders, platforms, fintechs and aggregators dealing in regulated and unregulated credit. We assist with licensing, compliance structuring, responsible lending, advertising, remediation, and regulatory dispute defence.

Our lawyers advise on the most technical aspects of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), particularly:

• Complex credit products (e.g., BNPL, wage advance, asset-based lending)
• Integration of consumer protection and DDO obligations
• ACL applications and variation strategies
• Credit licence breach remediation and incident reporting
• ASIC surveillance defence and product-level risk audits

We are known for our ability to design compliant contract and disclosure documentation, and for providing second-opinion advice on product classification, perimeter issues and hardship handling. We also advise foreign lenders on Australian credit law exposure and exemptions, and on operational alignment with foreign credit regimes.

Commercial & Governance Support

We draft and negotiate critical commercial arrangements for financial services clients, particularly where contracts intersect with licensing conditions, outsourcing regulation, or operational risk obligations. This includes:

• Third-party and intra-group service agreements (including under CPS 230)
• Distribution and referral agreements for regulated products
• Investment management and custody agreements
• Financial services outsourcing and white-labelled platform arrangements

Our governance advisory work addresses the legal and regulatory overlay of ASIC and APRA obligations, including:

• Design of board and committee charters
• Governance and compliance frameworks
• Conflict of interest registers and risk escalation pathways
• Implementation of “reasonable steps” documentation under FAR

We are also retained to advise clients undergoing regulator scrutiny, significant business change, or enforcement activity — where contractual and governance infrastructure becomes critical to demonstrating compliance. Our support ensures these arrangements withstand both legal challenge and regulatory inspection.

Investigations / enforcement ‍

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We act for financial institutions facing regulatory scrutiny from ASIC, APRA and AUSTRAC, advising on the full lifecycle of engagement — from initial notices and breach reports to formal investigations, enforceable undertakings, and litigation. We assist clients in responding to statutory notices under the ASIC Act, APRA inquiries under prudential legislation, and AUSTRAC review findings under the AML/CTF Act. Our work includes preparing regulator responses, advising on legal privilege, conducting internal reviews, and managing engagement strategies where the commercial and reputational stakes are high. We have acted on investigations involving responsible lending, client money obligations, AML/CTF controls, governance failings, and misleading disclosure, many of them cross-border in nature.

We are trusted by banks, fund managers, platforms and insurers to manage complex and sensitive regulator interactions, including following breach notifications, surveillance activity, or cross-border coordination. Our team regularly develops root cause analyses, remediation frameworks and response plans that align with regulatory expectations, and we support accountable persons under the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR) in preparing defensible “reasonable steps” documentation. Our financial services regulatory experts partner with our litigation team to deliver seamless advice to clients at their most critical times.