Stephen has more than 35 years’ experience of corporate, finance and regulatory work in the Lloyd’s, London and international insurance markets.
He has advised on various start-ups, reorganisations, acquisitions and disposals in the insurance sector and regularly advises Lloyd’s underwriting businesses on a wide variety of matters, including transactions with commercial banks and reinsurers for the provision of funds at Lloyd’s, consortium underwriting arrangements, ‘turnkey’ syndicate management arrangements and third-party RITC transactions.
Expertise
- Lloyd’s start-ups
- Lloyd’s syndicate capital structuring
- Lloyd’s syndicate financing
- Lloyd’s capacity offers
- Lloyd’s syndicate mergers
- Lloyd’s syndicate cessations
- Lloyd’s third-party RITC transactions
- Underwriting agency relationships
- Corporate reorganisations
- Mergers and acquisitions
- Advising managers of private equity-backed insurance businesses
- Insurance conduct-of-business regulation
- Insurance business transfer schemes
Experience
M&A and other transactions
- Advised management teams and private equity investors on investments into and sales of various Lloyd’s underwriting businesses.
- Advised various clients on obtaining regulatory approvals for changes in control.
- Acted for the shareholders of an insurance fund management business on a trade sale of their shares.
- Acted for various clients on capital reductions for a variety of purposes (including elimination of losses, release of surplus capital and enhancement of distributable reserves).
- Advised on various group reorganisations.
- Advised on the first Part VII transfer of non-life business from a Lloyd’s Syndicate to an insurance company.
Lloyd’s
- Advised on more than 30 capacity offers and numerous transactions/arrangements of the following kinds:
- acquisitions and disposals of corporate members
- syndicate minority buy-outs
- syndicate mergers
- syndicate cessations
- new syndicate start-ups (including Special Purpose Arrangements)
- third-party syndicate management arrangements
- third-party FAL arrangements
- limited tenancy capacity arrangements
- variations to the standard agency agreements and Lloyd’s membership agreement
- reorganisations of funds at Lloyd’s (including corporate interavailability arrangements)
- third-party RITC and other ‘legacy’ transactions
- underwriting consortium arrangements
- Advised on the extent of the activities that may be undertaken by a managing agent in respect of investment of Premium Trust Funds without extension of regulatory permissions and on regulatory matters concerning the nature and extent of particular investments of PTF assets.
- Advised on the requirements of Lloyd’s Minimum Standards in various contexts.
- Advised on intra-group staff secondment and services arrangements.
- Advised on the establishment of Lloyd’s Japan.
Recognition
Listed in The Legal 500 UK 2025 ‘Hall of Fame’ in the ‘Insurance: Corporate and Regulatory’ category
Listed in Best Lawyers (UK( for Insurance Law (2009 – 2025)
Listed in The Legal 500 UK 2023 ‘Hall of Fame’ in the ‘Insurance: Corporate and Regulatory’ category
Described in Chambers UK as “capable of taking a high-level view” but also having “a real grip on the underlying business matters. He has a formidable standing in the Lloyd’s market”.
Career
Stephen qualified as a solicitor in 1988. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2023, he worked at the following firms:
- Clyde & Co
- Barlow Lyde and Gilbert