Daniel Meyer

Daniel combines specialist consumer finance knowledge with genuine automotive understanding and experience. He has experience working in a leading UK motor insurer and, since qualifying as a solicitor, has developed a thorough knowledge of consumer credit and insurance regulation alongside extending his understanding of the challenges facing the automotive sector. Daniel is regularly featured in Automotive Management Magazine.

Cases

• Supporting Mercedes-Benz Financial Services with a range of financial services regulatory issues relating to consumer finance and insurance distribution.
• Advising Motorpoint on financial services regulation.
• Providing regulatory compliance support and assisting to streamline a national franchised dealer group’s processes, ensuring these sales processes are FCA-compliant and practical for the business.
• Advising regulated firms in the automotive sector on responding to the FCA in relation to a range of regulatory compliance issues.
• Advising regulated firms in the automotive sector on the introduction of the Consumer Duty.
• Advising on high volume litigation and FOS complaints relating to mis-selling claims arising from the FCA’s 2019 review of commission models and disclosures in motor finance.
• Advising a vehicle leasing company on its full suite of compliance documentation and finance and insurance processes and documents.

Daniel has developed a particular specialism and interest in the consumer finance sector, and regularly advises lenders and credit brokers on all aspects of consumer finance.

Cases

• Drafting lenders’ full suites of consumer finance documentation.
• Advising on a range of consumer credit and regulated mortgage contract issues, including on the upcoming regulation of the “Buy Now Pay Later” sector.
• Advising a lending platform provider on acting as lender of record in relation to a loan book of regulated mortgage contracts with a total value of around £4billion.
• Acting for a regional fund lending to start-ups including completing a review of the fund’s pre-contract information, regulated credit agreements and post-contractual documents.
• Advising credit brokers on their consumer documentation and sales processes.
• Advising a mortgage broker on its agreements with key suppliers and structure of its business.
• Acting for clients in relation to high value and complex lending disputes.

Daniel’s knowledge of and experience working with the UK regulator gives him valuable insight into how the regulator will approach investigations and enforcement action.

Cases

• Advising clients on communications with the FCA responding to alleged regulatory non-compliance.
• Advising on risk management and avoiding the risk of FCA investigation or enforcement action.
• Drafting responses to FCA requests for information to assist clients in avoiding further supervisory or enforcement action.
• Assisting clients with internal investigations and drafting notifications to the FCA.
• Advising a discretionary asset manager on an FCA investigation and allegations relating to its management of a UCITS fund.
• Advising a mortgage broker on an FCA investigation.

Daniel works with specialists in our legal service areas across our wider Financial Services sector team, including in private funds, tax, corporate, commercial and data protection to provide the full spectrum of services for financial services clients.

Cases

• Daniel routinely works closely with his Corporate and Tax colleagues on buying and selling regulated financial services businesses to ensure the change in a control process is as efficient as possible to minimise the impact on the transactions timetable. Daniel also conducts regulatory legal due diligence and assists with the drafting of transaction documentation.
• Daniel assists our Commercial team on consumer finance issues arising out of commercial contracts and on outsourcing arrangements involving regulated firms.
• Daniel works with our Data Protection team to provide data protection advice to financial services clients, including on making notifications to the regulator following a data breach.
• Daniel works with our Private Funds and Tax teams on the regulatory aspects of setting up and operating investment funds.

Daniel combines his specialist financial services knowledge and understanding of complex financial services issues with his ability to manage disputes, meaning you can be confident in him handling disputes competently and robustly. His experience dealing with a wide range of financial disputes also means he can advise on implementing risk management processes to avoid disputes.

Cases

• Acting for clients in the automotive sector on dealing with a high volume of mis-selling claims and complaints brought by claims management companies and claimant law firms arising from mis-selling allegations and alleged secret commissions.
• Advising lenders and borrowers on high value consumer finance claims, including claims relating to an unfair relationship under sections 140A to C of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.
• Acting in relation to a cross border recovery action in respect of a multi-million-pound Ponzi scheme in which investors funds had been misappropriated and the identity of the fraudulent parties was initially unclear.
• Advising on coverage and acting on behalf of clients in respect of claims for COVID-19 related business interruption losses.
• Advising on the SMCR and regulatory reference aspects of a dispute.
• Advising a client on a multi-million-pound claim involving several million pounds worth of alleged consumer loans provided by an unauthorised lender.
• Advising the US SIPA Trustee of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC and Bernard L. Madoff in respect of his English and cross-border claims – arising out of the world’s largest Ponzi scheme.

Daniel acts for both FCA authorised and unauthorised clients active in the financial services sector and undertakes a range of contentious and non-contentious financial services regulatory work.

Cases

• Advising on the implementation of the FCA’s Consumer Duty.
• Advising a building society, credit brokers, insurance intermediaries and personal pension providers on SMCR and regulatory references.
• Supporting several funeral plan providers on successfully applying for FCA authorisation, following the sector becoming regulated by the FCA in July 2022, including advising on the structuring of arrangements, all aspects of regulatory compliance and advising on and drafting key documentation, including trust and insurance arrangements backing the funeral plans, the terms and conditions of the funeral plans and key supporting documentation.
• Advising on the special administration process in relation to a SIPP provider facing a number of mis-selling claims (of an approximate value of £8million) which arose following the decision in Berkeley Burke SIPP Administration Ltd v Financial Ombudsman Service Limited.

Daniel understands the needs of fintech and payment services clients, so can assist you with all of the needs for a technology driven financial services business.

Cases

• Advising a fintech start-up on payment services and its key agreements in respect of its new product aimed at revolutionising how employees are paid.
• Advising a leading consumer credit reporting company on the payment services issues arising from an acquisition.
• Advising a multi-national retail chain on payment services and e-money requirements.
• Advising a start-up equity investment platform on structuring its business and the platform, the design of the platform, its agreements with key suppliers, its agreements with clients and its ongoing regulatory obligations.
• Reviewing client terms relating to FX and payment services.
• Advising an over the counter cryptocurrency derivatives margin calculation agent on the EU regulations relating to margin calculation and EU risk mitigation requirements for over the counter derivatives that are not cleared by a central clearing house.
• Advising cryptocurrency businesses on regulatory issues relating to providing cryptocurrency services in the UK and the relevant anti-money laundering requirements.

Daniel has experience advising insurers and insurance intermediaries on a range of regulatory, coverage and claims-related issues.

Cases

• Daniel’s experience working in-house on secondment at Centrica plc means he understands the pressures on general counsels and in-house lawyers and can provide practical and commercial advice on a range of insurance issues.
• Drafting insurance policy documentation.
• Advising on the regulatory perimeter in respect of contracts of insurance.
• Advising on legal and regulatory issues for new product launches.
• Advising on a range of regulatory and compliance issues, including the Consumer Duty, fair value (PROD 4) assessments, operational resilience and arrangements with key suppliers.
• Advising insurance intermediaries on client money handling arrangements.
• Advising an insurtech start-up on its data driven home insurance product, including securing FCA authorisation, advising on an ongoing basis on a number of legal issues and advising on and drafting its key agreements with its carriers and appointed representatives.
• Advising and acting on behalf of clients in respect of high value and complex insurance coverage disputes.
• Drafting a Terms of Business Agreement (TOBA) on behalf of a start-up insurance broker.

Daniel advises on a broad range of regulatory issues affecting wealth managers and financial advisers and is well accustomed to helping clients navigate the complex (and continually evolving) regulatory environment in which they operate.

Cases

• Advising Becketts Financial Services and a range of regulatory and compliance issues.
• Advising a financial adviser on a range of regulatory and structuring issues arising from open-ended investment companies (OEICs).
• Advising on the regulatory perimeter, including the advice/guidance boundary.
• Drafting and conducting reviews of client agreements.
• Advising an online investment platform on financial promotions and the layout of its platform.
• Advising a start-up equity investment platform on structuring its business and the platform, the design of the platform, its agreements with key suppliers, its agreements with clients and its ongoing regulatory obligations.