Insurance in Europe

In Europe, Debevoise’s Insurance practice, centered on the London insurance market, continues the firm’s long history of advice rooted in a keen understanding of the sector, developed through decades of experience.

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Clare Swirski

Benjamin Lyon

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Debevoise Advises Compre in its Acquisition of a Workers’ Compensation Legacy Portfolio from SUNZ
Debevoise Advises Compre in a Reinsurance Loss Portfolio Transfer Covering Approximately $1.3 Billion of Reserves
Debevoise Advises Helios Underwriting in Raising £12.5 Million
Debevoise Advises Canopius in $780 Million Loss Portfolio Transfer with RiverStone
Debevoise Advising Asta Capital in its Sale to Davies

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Our London team has authored the UK chapter of the latest Insurance & Reinsurance Practice Guide, published by Chambers & Partners.

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Ranked as a leading firm for Insurance: Non-Contentious.

The team has very strong technical abilities aligned with broad commercial acumen and pragmatism.

The firm possesses an extraordinary level of knowledge.

They have a really dynamic team who … understand a deal inside and out.

The team’s deep industry knowledge, experience and incredible work ethic enable them to deftly handle complex matters.

Clare Swirski ranked as a Band 1 lawyer, and Benjamin Lyon is also ranked as a leading individual.

—Chambers UK, 2023-2024

Ranked as a leading UK firm for Insurance: Corporate & Regulatory and for Financial Services: non-contentious/regulatory.

Outstanding creativity, work ethic, commerciality and experience. Very much the team you want in your corner for any negotiation.

The team has a very good balance of strong technical skills and commercial awareness.

One of the top teams in Insurance.

The team’s particular strength is an extremely strong technical understanding of the insurance market allied with a highly tuned commercial perspective and wider contacts base.

Excellent technical knowledge and relentless stamina. Involved in almost every Lloyd’s transaction in recent times.

They have a very deep and experienced team who know the insurance market inside and out.

Clare Swirski ranked as a Leading Lawyer and included in Hall of Fame, and Benjamin Lyon ranked as a Next Generation Partner.

—The Legal 500 UK, 2022-2024

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The practice advises leading insurers and reinsurers, new market participants, brokers and other financial institutions on sophisticated mergers & acquisitions, including insurance portfolio transfers, share acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and joint ventures, as well as on capital raises, and on regulatory issues in the UK and European insurance market. The practice also works with U.S., Asian and European clients, advising on cross-border transactions in the U.S., Latin America, Bermuda and Asia-Pacific, as well as in Europe. This global experience at the very top end of the market means the European team is highly familiar with the specific commercial and regulatory contexts of the sector across broad geographies.In its M&A and capital markets experience in particular, the team is distinct. It fields teams few other firms can match to work simultaneously on M&A and capital market matters. In this way, clients benefit from a team able to handle regulatory issues, share acquisitions, equity raises, stock purchase agreements, reserve financings, reinsurance agreements and bank debt transactions, all in connection with a single transaction.As well as its transactional strength, Debevoise’s European Insurance practice includes leading U.S. and UK-qualified tax, finance, regulatory and competition lawyers. The team’s experience in advising U.S., Asian and European clients on insurance transactions has given it valuable insight into the differences in approaches among various regimes. Clients rely on the team not just to track the latest regulatory developments, but also to help them design these transactions to address the changing regulatory environment.The insurance team in Europe works closely with the firm’s private equity funds and transactional lawyers, using Debevoise’s established strength in these areas to advise clients on the growing interplay between these two sectors. This includes advising private equity and fund clients on investments into the insurance sector, as well as capital raisings and acquisitions of specific books of business.Our range of services include advising clients on:

Cross-border insurance/asset management M&A

Share sales and business transfers (including transfers under Part VII of FSMA)

Corporate reorganisations

Regulatory capital and other capital raisings and financings

Bancassurance and other forms of distribution agreements

Insurance and reinsurance arrangements

BPA and longevity transfers

Issues arising under Solvency II

Governance and other regulatory issues

The multidisciplinary approach of the European Insurance practice has been consistently recognized by the major legal directories, with Chambers Global stating the firm’s “twin strongholds in the US and UK markets power an impressive M&A practice across the globe. Expertise in reinsurance deals, bond issuances and regulatory assignments rounds off the firm's insurance offering.” Chambers UK has described the practice as “commercial and client-friendly,” and notes that it “attracts particular notice for the quality of its advice on transactional and regulatory matters, and has developed an impressive client list.”Episode 25 - EU Sustainability Reporting Regime16 November 2023Benjamin Lyon, Patricia Volhard, John YoungEpisode 24 - Artificial Intelligence26 October 2023Avi Gesser, Clare SwirskiEpisode 23 - Solvency II Regulatory Update14 September 2023Drew Dutton, Clare Swirski, Benjamin Lyon, Laura JacksonEpisode 22 - DORA: What the New EU Digital Operational Resilience Act Means for the Insurance Sector22 June 2023Clare Swirski, Robert Maddox, Tristan LockwoodEpisode 21 - The UK and European Insurance Industry – Looking Forward to 202323 March 2023Clare Swirski, Philip Orange, Laura JacksonEpisode 20 - Developments in the UK and European Insurance Industry in 2022 and Looking Forward to 202319 January 2023Clare Swirski, Benjamin Lyon, Philip Orange, Laura JacksonEpisode 19 - Regulatory Matters15 September 2022Clare Swirski, Benjamin Lyon, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson, Katie PowerEpisode 18 - Draft Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence7 July 2022Ben Lyon, Ulysses Smith and Merryl Lawry-WhiteEpisode 17 - Recent regulatory developments in the first half of 2022 23 June 2022Ben Lyon, Clare Swirski, Philip Orange, and Laura JacksonEpisode 16 - Recent regulatory developments in the first half of 20229 June 2022Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson and Katie PowerEpisode 15 - Key Sanctions Issues for Insurance Companies10 March 2022Ben Lyon, Konstantin Bureiko and Martha HirstEpisode 14 - Solvency II and its relevance in M&A and other insurance transactions24 February 2022Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Laura Jackson and Katie PowerEpisode 13 - Developments in the UK and Europe Insurance Industry in 2021 and Looking Forward to 2022 (Part II)10 February 2022Clare Swirski, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson and Katie PowerEpisode 12 - Developments in the UK and Europe Insurance Industry in 2021 and Looking Forward to 2022 (Part I)27 January 2022Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Katie PowerEpisode 11 - Cybersecurity and the Insurance Industry4 November 2021Avi Gesser, Ben Lyon, Martha Hirst, Robert MaddoxEpisode 10 - Key Trends in the Insurance Industry from a Transactional Perspective (Part II)14 October 2021David Innes, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Katie PowerEpisode 9 - Key Trends in the Insurance Industry from a Transactional Perspective (Part I)30 September 2021David Innes, Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Katie PowerEpisode 8 - UK and EU Insurance Regulatory Review – Trends and Key Issues16 September 2021Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Katie PowerEpisode 7 - Investing in Insurance: Opportunities for Financial Sponsors20 May 2021David Innes, Ben Lyon, Clare SwirskiEpisode 6 - Brexit – Current Status and Practical Implications Part II6 May 2021Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Katie PowerEpisode 5 - Brexit – Current Status and Practical Implications (Part I)29 April 2021Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Sarah HaleEpisode 4 - Lloyd’s – Trends, Developments and Structures15 April 2021Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Katie PowerEpisode 3 - Insurance Webcast Series - UK and EU Insurance Regulatory Review - Trends and Key Issues for 20211 April 2021Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Sarah HaleEpisode 2 - Key Takeaways from the FCA BI Case18 March 2021Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Katie PowerEpisode 1 - View from London: Insurance M&A and Transactional Update4 March, 2021David Innes, Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon