Pinsent Masons advises on £1bn Royal London asset transfer

International law firm Pinsent Masons has advised Royal London on its £1bn asset transfer to newly formed Irish subsidiary, Royal London Insurance DAC.

Led by insurance partner Hammad Akhtar, the firm advised the mutual on the implementation of its Brexit strategy which involves the Part VII transfer of legacy Irish, German and other business from the mutual to DAC.

Commenting on the transfer, Hammad Akhtar, said: "I am delighted to have advised Royal London on another complex strategic project. Our team to worked closely with Royal London from the early stages of project to deliver the transfer before Brexit and in line with the group’s timetable.”

As part of the transaction, the majority of the transferred business has been reinsured back to the UK-based mutual. The strategy enables Royal London to service EU-based policyholders in the event of a no-deal Brexit should 'passporting rights' be scrapped.

Deputy group general counsel of Royal London, Richard Gordon, said: “This was an important project for Royal London, and for our Irish and German policyholders in particular. 

"The Brexit context and the nature of some of the transferring business meant that there were a number of challenges and complications, but these were overcome and we achieved our desired outcome.  The collaboration between the Royal London team and Pinsent Masons, expertly led by Hammad, contributed hugely to this.”

The team at Pinsent Masons included legal director Matthew Brewer, banking partner Nick Gavin-Brown and regulatory partner Iain Sawers.