Thomas Hepplewhite

Thomas Hepplewhite is an Associate (listed as Senior Associate) in Bird & Bird's Banking and Finance team in London. His practice focuses on Banking and Finance Law, advising clients within the financial services sector.

He works with a diverse range of clients from the financial services sector, including consumer credit and mortgage firms, insurance brokers, payment service providers, electronic money issuers and investment firms.

He assists clients with a diverse range of queries, including advising as to whether clients fall within the scope of regulation, assisting with regulatory applications for authorisation or in relation to a change of control, conduct of business issues and the issuance of financial promotions.

He works with firms to ensure that they have the full range of documentation necessary in order to run a compliant business, including product terms and conditions, internal policies and disclosure documents. He has experience in assisting clients to negotiate a variety of commercial arrangements, especially those within the payments sector such as merchant acquiring agreements.

He is particularly interested in the use of emerging technologies within the financial services sector and the regulatory challenges that these new technologies pose. He has followed the open banking initiative, the development of cryptocurrencies and the use of AI within financial services with interest.