Some highlights of Ben's transactional experience include advising:
- Coventry Building Society on its £780m cash acquisition of The Co-operative Bank Holdings p.l.c.
- Nationwide Building Society on certain key aspects of its recommended all-cash acquisition of Virgin Money UK PLC valued at approximately £2.9bn
- Barclays Bank UK plc, HSBC UK Bank plc, Lloyds Banking Group plc, Nationwide Building Society, NatWest Group, Northern Bank Limited (trading as Danske Bank), Santander UK plc, TSB Bank plc and Virgin Money, alongside Bank of Ireland (UK) plc on the creation of Cash Access UK Limited, a joint venture created by the UK's largest high street banking providers designed to protect access to cash across the UK (Winner - Inhouse/Law Firm Collaboration of the Year, Legal Business Awards 2023 and Highly Commended - FT Innovative Lawyer Awards 2023)
- Nationwide Building Society on the transfer of its financial planning service to Aegon UK
- Reclaim Fund Ltd, the HM Treasury owned FCA regulated sole operator of the UK Dormant Assets Scheme, on the expansion of the scheme for the first time to insurance and pensions sector institutions
- the founding banks on the creation of the Business Banking Resolution Service, a ground-breaking new independent dispute resolution service for small and medium-sized businesses in the UK
- StoneX on its acquisition of Dublin-based fintech company Chasing Returns
- Virgin Money on the establishment of its strategic investment and pensions joint venture with Standard Life Aberdeen in respect of Virgin Money Unit Trust Managers Limited
- a commodities exchange on the disposal of its stake in a UK clearing house
- a European bank on the wind down and closure of its London corporate banking branch
- on various director/shareholder disputes and governance-related projects in relation to regulated firms
- various UK savings and mortgage providers on disposals of mortgage portfolios (including lifetime and equity release mortgages) and the entry into forward flow arrangements
- a major banking group on various intragroup restructurings of its UK wealth and investment management business (including, amongst other things, in relation to its stockbroking, share dealing and pensions and investment businesses)
- a major bank on the substantial intragroup hive up of the banking and wealth and investment management businesses of its off shore bank subsidiary, involving court approved banking business transfer schemes in Jersey and the Isle of Man and a transfer of its Guernsey branch business
- Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited on its £1.388bn recommended cash offer to acquire The London Metal Exchange
- on a substantial skilled person's review under section 166 of FSMA 2000 with a focus on corporate governance controls and procedures within a major insurance group
- on the establishment of Reclaim Fund Ltd (RFL) and the creation of the UK dormant assets scheme, on the subsequent launch of the alternative scheme for smaller banks and building societies and on the change to RFL's ownership and governance structure following the decision by the Office of National Statistics in September 2019 to classify RFL as a public body and its subsequent change in status to become a Non-Departmental Public Body owned and sponsored by HM Treasury, acting at arm's length from Government
- the UK retail banks on the creation of, and their investment, in Big Society Capital Limited
- Bank of Montreal on its acquisition of UK-based institutional asset manager Pyrford International plc.
In addition, Ben heads our market leading Building Societies and Mutuals team and is widely recognised as a leading adviser in the field.
Ben's significant experience advising building societies and other mutuals includes acting on numerous strategic transactions, building society mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, governance and constitutional matters (including AGMs) and on a wide range of innovative developments in the sector, including advising:
- Nationwide on its mergers with Portman, Derbyshire and Cheshire building societies, as well as its partial acquisition of Dunfermline Building Society under the UK Banking Act 2009 and its subsequent social housing book acquisition from the Bank of England's wholly owned subsidiary DBS Bridge Bank Limited
- Nationwide on the establishment of Nationwide UK Ireland (and subsequent closure many years later) and on the closure of its branch in the Isle of Man
- Nationwide on the launch of its lifetime mortgage product and related arrangements
- Manchester Building Society on its merger with Newcastle Building Society
- Yorkshire Building Society on its mergers with Barnsley and Norwich & Peterborough building societies
- Skipton Building Society on its mergers with Scarborough and Chesham building societies
- Holmesdale Building Society on its merger with Skipton Building Society
- Portman Building Society on its merger with Lambeth Building Society
- Britannia Building Society on its merger with Co-operative Financial Services; the first merger between two different types of mutual organisation under new enabling legislation
- Coventry Building Society on the legal and constitutional aspects of becoming the first building society to achieve B Corp status
- Nationwide on the launch of its Fairer Share Payment
- the Building Societies Association (BSA) on the drafting and launch of the 7th Edition of the BSA's Model Rules
