Arash Dashtgard | آرش دشتگرد

Arash Dashtgard is a Senior Managing Associate in the UK/EU Financial Services Regulatory group.

About Arash Dashtgard

Arash advises a broad range of financial institutions and market participants, including banks, broker-dealers, and asset managers, on UK and EU financial services regulatory matters.

His main areas of focus include advising on:

• General UK and EU financial services regulation, including MiFID, AIFMD, the UCITS Directive, the Market Abuse Regulation, the PRIIPs Regulation, EMIR, SFTR, SRD, the Short Selling Regulation, and the Transparency Directive.
• Prudential regulation, including the UK Capital Requirements Regulation (CRR) and the Investment Firms Prudential Regime (IFPR).
• Regulatory authorisation and all aspects of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) rules, including the UK Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR), the Consumer Duty, FCA rules on client money and assets, governance, systems and controls, conduct of business, and reporting.
• The regulatory framework for sustainable finance/ESG in the UK and EU, including the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the EU Taxonomy Regulation, the UK Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR), and investment labels and the UK TCFD-aligned climate reporting requirements.
• The regulatory framework for digital assets in the UK and EU, including the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA).
• Regulatory aspects of structured finance and capital markets transactions, including the regulatory frameworks for securitisation in the UK and EU
• Regulatory aspects of corporate, financing, and restructuring transactions involving financial institutions.

Prior to joining Sidley, Arash was seconded to the asset management division of a global investment bank, where he advised on matters including the UCITS Directive and the implementation of the ESG regulatory frameworks in the UK and EU.

Experience

• Recent representative matters include advising:
• Marathon Asset Management, a leading global credit manager, on UK financial services regulatory aspects of its up to US$ 1.6 billion sale to CVC, a leading private markets investment firm.
• London-based private investment firm RoundShield Partners LLP on the successful raising of its fifth European special opportunities fund.
• Houlihan Lokey, Inc. on UK financial services regulatory aspects of its acquisition of Triago Management Development, a global advisory firm.
• Excolere Equity Partners on UK financial services regulatory aspects of its Strategic Partnership with GCM Grosvenor’s Elevate Strategy.
• MML Capital, a leading international alternatives firm, on UK financial services regulatory aspects of its strategic investments from Capital Constellation (advised by Wafra) and Investcorp Strategic Capital Group.

Admissions & Certifications

England and Wales (Solicitor)

Education

• The University of Law, Graduate Diploma in Law, 2014, Distinction
• University of Durham, B.A., 2013, First Class Honours

Capabilities

• Financial Institutions
• Banking, Payments and Fintech
• Anti-Money Laundering
• Blockchain
• Financial Services Legislation
• Fintech
• Hedge Funds
• Investment Advisers
• Payments
• Registered Funds
• Retail Financial Services
• Securities Regulatory Counseling and Compliance
• Securities, Mutual Fund and Commodities Activities
• Structured Products
• Derivatives
• Business Transactions Involving Financial Institutions
• Financial Institutions Counseling
• Financial Reporting and Disclosures
• Insider Trading
• Market Structure and Broker-Dealer Operations
• Securities Enforcement

Contact Arash Dashtgard

• Phone:
  +44 20 7360 2504
• Office:
  70 St Mary Axe,
  London EC3A 8BE