Blakes is held in high esteem for its full-service regulatory group handling M&A transactions in the banking sector, insurance regulation, product rollouts and anti-money laundering mandates. Sources state: ‘Blakes [is] always ready to meet strict or tight timelines when needed, including on complex and detailed matters.’
Ranked Band 1 in Banking & Finance: Financial Services Regulation, Chambers Canada: Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2024
The financial services industry in Canada is constantly adapting to a complex and ever-changing regulatory landscape. Financial services companies need a law firm that knows their industry, understands the regulators, is skilled at risk -management and compliance strategies, and can represent them before regulatory bodies.
Blakes is recognized as having Canada's preeminent financial services practice, including the largest and most active financial services regulatory practice in the country. Our multidisciplinary team is particularly skilled at assessing regulatory risk, developing appropriate risk-management strategies to meet a client’s needs and business model, communicating complex topics with finesse, and fostering strong relationships with regulators while maintaining the client’s reputation at the forefront in all facets. We provide sophisticated advice to numerous regulated financial institutions (including domestic and foreign banks, insurance companies, trust and loan companies, and credit unions), as well as commercial and consumer finance companies, operators of payment systems and other financial-service providers, fintechs, intermediaries, and distributors.
Our lawyers also regularly advise leading foreign banks and their affiliates on structuring cross-border arrangements in compliance with Canada’s banking legislation and other applicable Canadian laws. We advise our clients on:
Material transactions
Products and documents
Governance and compliance
Registration and licensing
Anti-money laundering, anti-bribery, anti-foreign corruption and sanctions
Legislative advocacy support
Liaising with the federal, provincial and varying industry regulators
Definity Financial (formerly, Economical Mutual Insurance Company) on the first property and casualty demutualization in Canada.
Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board on its acquisition of HomeQ Corporation, the parent company of HomeEquity Bank.
TD on its strategic alliance with Canada Post to expand access to financial services for Canadians, beginning with a new personal loan product.
Global Payments Inc. on its acquisition of the merchant acquiring business and portfolio of 40,000 merchants of Desjardins Group.
Republic Financial Holdings Limited on its acquisition of Scotiabank (British Virgin Islands) Limited from The Bank of Nova Scotia.
Power Financial and Power Corporation on their and Great-West Lifeco’s substantial issuer bids totalling C$5-billion.
SCOR Global Life in relation to the C$5-billion pension de-risking insurance contract with Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada and Bell Canada.
Standard Life plc on the C$4-billion sale of its Canadian business to Manulife.
MCAP Financial Corporation on its C$1.5-billion mortgage purchase from Home Trust Company.
Silicon Valley Bank on the establishment of a Canadian branch.
The Bank of Nova Scotia on the sale of the business and assets of Roynat Lease Finance, a division of its subsidiary Roynat Inc. to Meridian Credit Union Limited.
Canadian federal and provincial financial institutions on the rules governing payments systems in Canada, as well as on legal matters relating to payment clearing and settlement.
A major bank on structuring, drafting and negotiating its key arrangements with payment networks.
