PLUS+ is a service from O'Connors which enables lawyers, accountants, and other professional advisers to add O’Connors’ insurance and legal/financial services regulatory expertise to their advisory team when helping clients to manage risks in projects and transactions. Some examples of advice on financial services projects are:

Insurance, reinsurance, captives & alternative risk transfer vehicles

  • We provided regulatory structuring and FCA authorisation advice to an international high street retailer. Our advice facilitated the decision to enter into an introducer appointed representative agreement which we reviewed and recommended changes to ensure that the agreement contained terms required by the FCA.
  • We advised on the key regulatory and commercial considerations of an introducer appointed representative agreement between an international broker and a UK SME which had developed a new insurance product for distribution.
  • We supported a Guernsey-domiciled captive reinsurance company in relation to a commercial dispute with its international fronting insurer.
  • We delivered regulatory advice to a UK principal insurance platform provider regarding the activity of multiple appointed representatives operating in various jurisdictions.
  • We delivered a cyber insurance policy wording review for a specialist cyber insurance broker which enabled it to secure a new policyholder client by placing the risk with an alternative carrier and with a significant premium saving.
  • We advised a Guernsey-based protected cell reinsurance company on the terms of a third-party commission agreement with UK-based broker and its deployment of substantial insurance capacity via a UK managing general agent.
  • We provided advice to an FCA-regulated insurance intermediary acting as principal firm to a global network of appointed representatives on the regulation of reinsurance broking activity domestically and globally (USA, EU, Bermuda, India, Dubai, and Oman).   ​
  • We established a Guernsey-based protected cell reinsurance company and advised on the promotion of the cellular reinsurance facility to UK-based insurance customers. We negotiated the terms of the reinsurance agreements with the UK fronting insurer and advised on the financial and legal regulatory considerations.​
  • We acted for a niche, short-term motor insurance broker in the review, amendment, and negotiation of a binding authority agreement with a Gibraltar-domiciled insurance carrier, with particular regard to risk transfer between carrier and broker, and the proposed Gibraltar Authorisation Regime following impending expiry of the temporary permissions regime between the UK and Gibraltar.  ​
  • We drafted and negotiated the terms of an IR35 indemnity insurance policy for a national construction and engineering recruitment company in anticipation of the introduction of changes to the off-payroll working rules in April 2021.​

Discretionary benefits schemes

  • We advised a specialist insurance broker in the education sector on replacing an insurance arrangement with a discretionary benefits structure utilising an alternative corporate structure to retain potential enterprise value and to mitigate indirect tax exposures.  
  • We analysed the regulatory status of an extended warranty product offered by a national supplier of consumer medical devices, to determine whether such product constituted regulated insurance activity. Following our advice, we delivered a structure which took the arrangement out of FCA regulation by establishing a discretionary benefits scheme with bespoke scheme rules to ensure compliance with FCA and consumer regulations. ​

Consumer credit

  • We advised a consumer credit litigation funder on the regulatory compliance of proposed introducer agreements with its FCA obligations and whether, by carrying out its obligations under those agreements, it would be carrying on regulated claims management activity.

Wealth & asset management, investment management & MiFID II investment business

  • We supplied technical regulatory advice to a London-based discretionary investment manager in relation to the application of the PRIIPs regulations to the proposed investment of £80m of assets under management into US exchange traded funds.

Investment funds, collective investment schemes & alternative investment funds

  • We provided perimeter guidance to a digital cryptoassets company being listed on a UK stock exchange on whether it was required to be authorised by the FCA in relation to cryptoasset activity, or as a collective investment scheme or alternative investment fund.

Funeral plan contracts

  • We acted for the purchaser of a pre-paid funeral plan and probate plan business that had stepped away from regulation after funeral plans backed by trust or insurance arrangements were brought within the FCA’s regulatory perimeter.

Retail & investment banking

  • We provided regulatory advice to a Maltese-domiciled retail bank operating under the temporary permissions regime on its exit from the UK market.

Regulated home finance, bridging finance & non-traditional finance

  • We provided advice to a bridging finance lender on whether its lending activities (secured by way of legal mortgage over residential property) constituted regulated mortgage activity and the availability of relevant statutory exclusions and/or exemptions to enable it to continue lending without regulatory exposure.

Cryptoassets, digital assets, DeFi and Web 3.0

  • We acted for institutional investors into a digital assets business in an application to the High Court to give the cryptocurrency share consideration cash equivalence.
  • We advised the issuer of 1:1 £GBP backed stablecoins that it must be authorised by the FCA as an e-money institution and registered as a cryptoasset business under the Money Laundering Regulations.
  • We analysed the regulatory status of a recruitment platform created by blockchain developers which uses principles of decentralisation and consensus protocols to enable employers to more fairly recruit candidates who have been monetarily backed by third parties using fiat currency.

View some PLUS+ testimonials here. 

For further information, please contact Josh Bates, Sally Lazar, Kathryn Howard or Louis Hamilton.