He advises on all aspects of financial services regulation across banking, insurance, superannuation and funds management.
He has over 13 years' experience, including roles at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), top-tier law firms in London and in-house at Standard Chartered Bank.
At ASIC, he investigated and litigated market integrity matters, including the highest appellate decision on market manipulation in Australia. At Standard Chartered Bank, he co-led implementation of the Senior Managers Regime, which Australia largely adopted as the Financial Accountability Regime (FAR). In London, he advised on PSD2, MiFID II, FSMA, AIFMD II, GDPR and DORA.
Chris advises on cross-jurisdictional transactions, regulatory investigations, Chapter 7 of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (including AFSL licensing, exemptions and general obligations), regulatory enforcement, and directors’ and officers’ duties. He regularly advises clients on engagement with ASIC, APRA, the RBA and AUSTRAC.
His current areas of focus include the implementation and embedment of FAR, including internal investigations and regulatory reporting, Treasury's new payments laws and guidance, the Scam Prevention Framework and existing regulatory expectations on scams, RBA rules on interchange fees, surcharging and transparency, AML/CTF compliance and reforms to the Act and Rules and APRA's reforms to its operational resilience rules and guidance, including material service provider contracts, as well as reforms to board renewal, performance and tenure.
Chris draws on his in-house, regulator and multi-jurisdictional experience to solve complex legal and regulatory problems, anticipate client needs and deliver clear, practical advice. His clients include banks, payment services providers, advisers, virtual asset service providers, fintechs and capital markets participants.