Financial Services & Insurance

Offering a value proposition for advising financial and insurance institutions, based on the integration of our corporate and regulatory practices, and the broad experience of lawyers focusing almost exclusively on the industry.

Corporate and M&A for financial services

Thanks to the integration of our corporate and regulatory practices, and our sectoral expertise, our teams offer a differentiated service covering transactional matters, and corporate and institutional advice, with a particular focus on corporate governance.

We handle all transactions in the financial services and insurance sectors (e.g., acquisition of entities and qualifying holdings, business transfers, strategic cooperation agreements, group restructurings, and outsourcing of essential activities) for all types of institutions on the Iberian Peninsula and in all jurisdictions where Cuatrecasas is present: banks and other credit intermediaries (regulated and unregulated), insurers and insurance brokers, investment services providers, and payment and emoney institutions.

We advise our clients on all aspects of their corporate life and their governing bodies, particularly when sectoral regulations become more relevant, e.g., board structure and operation, the fitness and propriety of board members ("fit and proper" criteria) and remuneration.

Regulatory compliance

We advise on all sectoral regulations, covering institutional aspects and conduct, applicable to financial intermediaries, including Spanish and Portuguese rules, and EU regulations. Our experience includes prudential and solvency rules (CRD IV, Solvency II and implementing regulations), conduct with regard to investors, clients, policyholders and participants (MCD, IDD, MiFID II, consumer lending), right of establishment and crossborder activities.

Regulatory proceedings

We represent our clients in all kinds of proceedings (licensing and establishment, qualifying holdings, fitness and propriety assessments of board members and key executives, inspections and investigations and, where necessary, sanctions and enforcement) before the Spanish and Portuguese financial regulators (ECB; in Spain, Bank of Spain, the Spanish Securities and Exchange Commission and the General Directorate for Insurance and Pension Funds; and, in Portugal, the Bank of Portugal, the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) and the Portuguese Insurance and Pension Funds Supervisory Authority (ASF)).