William Yonge
William Yonge draws on more than 25 years of experience advising clients as they navigate UK and EU financial services and securities regulation, manage regulatory risk, and achieve their business and investment objectives. He advises asset managers and fund sponsors across diverse asset classes, portfolio and wealth managers, banks, broker-dealers, corporate financiers, insurance intermediaries, institutional investors, lenders, and other financial services firms. William partners with clients to address complex regulatory challenges and represents them in dealings with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and other regulators.
William assists financial services firms to establish, obtain authorisation for, and operate UK-regulated businesses, guiding them along the UK regulatory perimeter and its territorial and extraterritorial application. He advises on the regulatory requirements governing the marketing and cross-border distribution of funds and other financial products and services, securities law disclosure, and compliance requirements. He helps clients address financial promotions, governance, senior management arrangements, anti-money laundering, market abuse, and other ongoing compliance obligations.
He supports clients undertaking mergers, acquisitions, investments, and restructurings involving financial services businesses, helping them to identify and address regulatory issues, navigate approval processes, and secure FCA change-in-control approvals, interacting with FCA as appropriate. He also counsels lenders on regulatory perimeter questions, anti-money laundering compliance, and FCA’s AML registration requirements.
Additionally, William supports clients with issues related to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, helping them to navigate evolving UK and EU sustainable finance regulations, including the evolving EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements. He advises on structuring and marketing funds, promoting environmental impact, social, sustainability, or transition characteristics, meeting disclosure obligations, and responding to climate-related and corporate sustainability reporting requirements and standards.
William regularly speaks and writes on reforms in the sustainability space, UK regulatory reform post-Brexit, and other regulatory developments and contributes to the firm’s Hedge Fund Deskbook. He actively supports the firm’s pro bono programme and chaired the London office’s Pro Bono Committee for nine years, during which period the office won Pro Bono Initiative of the Year at The Lawyer Awards in 2020.
Prior to entering private practice, William served as an in-house lawyer at the UK Securities and Investment Board (now the FCA) and the former Investment Management Regulatory Organisation.
