Darren Fox

Recent Work

• advising an array of major European and US hedge fund managers on complex insider dealing and market abuse issues (including use of private side lender information, alpha capture systems, sectoral correlation issues, shareholder activism and compliance systems and controls).  Darren also runs scenario based  training sessions on insider dealing and market abuse for front office staff
•  regulatory capital advice for sell side and buy side financial markets sector clients, including on the regulatory capital treatment of CDO structures, credit derivatives trading, hedge fund investments (designing structures to allow fund seeding without capital deduction) and providing netting, collateral and Tier 1, 2 and 3 opinions
• assisting financial services firms with their compliance with FSA rules in the post MiFID environment, including preparing MiFID compliant best execution policies, conflict of interest management policies, terms of business, compliance manuals and compliance monitoring programmes for a range of financial sector clients (hedge fund managers, private equity fund managers, investment banks and private banks)
• assisting financial services firms to comply with disclosure of major shareholding requirements across the globe including analyzing the impact of such rules in the context of synthetic trading and stock borrowing and lending and advising on the trading disclosure requirements under applicable takeover regimes
• assisting a number of fund clients with their claims in relation to the administration of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) including advising on trust asset claims, client money issues and post administration mistaken payments.

General Experience

Darren specialises in UK and European regulation of buy side and sell side clients, including hedge fund managers, private equity houses, investment banks and broker dealers. He is widely acknowledged as a leading regulatory advisor in the hedge fund sector.

Darren regularly advises a wide range of financial sector clients on all aspects of the law and regulation applicable to the discretionary management of investments, the trading, clearing and settlement of transactions in securities, derivatives and other financial instruments (both on exchange and over the counter), investment banking activities and other financial services.

Darren’s areas of specialism include hedge fund manager regulation, exchange traded derivatives and banking regulation (including capital adequacy requirements).

Background

Darren qualified as a solicitor in 1997 and joined Simmons & Simmons in 2001.  He became a partner in May 2005 and is based in the financial services group that is part of the firm's financial markets practice.

Darren is recommended in the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners for his work in relation to financial services regulation and futures.