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Matthew Baker

Matthew Baker

Partner

London

T: +44 (0) 20 3400 4902

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Biography

Matt advises a wide range of fund managers, banks, insurers and other financial institutions on the regulatory and commercial issues that arise within their businesses.

He assists clients with matters relating to: establishing and structuring new regulated businesses in the UK; the interpretation and implementation of UK and EU rules and regulatory requirements; custody and asset servicing; compliance; and funds and fund management.

Matt is a member of the City of London Law Society’s Regulatory Law Committee, and also the Financial Markets and Law Committee’s Asset Management Scoping Forum. Matt regularly speaks and writes on regulatory change, including on ESG/sustainable finance regulation, AIFMD and MiFID II.  

Emerging Themes 2025

Emerging Themes 2025

Creating Connections

2025 marks the 15th edition of Emerging Themes in Financial Regulation & Disputes. This year, our overarching theme is Creating Connections, examining three main pillars: Technology, Transparency, and Trust.

Find out more Find out more

Admissions

  • England and Wales

Related Capabilities

  • ESG Governance, Compliance and Reporting

  • Private Equity

  • Private Investment Funds

  • Energy Transition

  • Payment Systems

  • Fintech

  • Finance

  • Tax & Private Client

  • Corporate

  • Logistics & Industrial

  • Financial Institutions

  • Investigations

  • Regulation, Compliance & Advisory

  • Corporate Real Estate and Funds

  • Cryptocurrency & Digital Assets

Experience

  • Advised various institutional fund managers on the implementation and ongoing compliance with AIFMD, including advising on some major restructures of the funds and managers to allow implementation of AIFMD;
  • Assisted £20bn+ institutional investor in designing a compliance function and undertaking a regulatory gap-analysis across its business;
  • Advised an international fund manager on a major internal investigation into its compliance function and obligations under legislation including AIFMD, UCITS and MiFID II following receipt of whistle-blower allegations;
  • Brexit planning, including having advised a European bank in designing its Brexit contingency plan for PRA submission and various European banks and brokers on their plans for exiting the UK Temporary Permission Regime; and
  • Advised investment managers and funds on their implementation of ESG and green finance initiatives, including on the application of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation to a new fund project.

Related Insights

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Awards
Oct 16, 2025

Chambers 2026 UK guide ranks BCLP in 36 practice areas and recognises 76 individual lawyers

In the 2026 edition of Chambers UK BCLP received 36 practice area rankings and 76 individual lawyer recognitions. This year, the firm is recognized in six new practice areas and improved to a Band 1 ranking for Commercial Contracts, as well as a Band 2 ranking for Hotels and Leisure.  
Insights
May 22, 2025

Proposed Reform of UK Regime for Alternative Investment Fund Managers

The Treasury (HMT) launched a consultation and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a call for input in April 2025 kick-starting a review of the UK’s regulatory regime for Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs). The reforms seek to streamline the regulatory framework for AIFMs to reduce burdens and boost growth, whilst maintaining core protections for consumers and markets.
Insights
Apr 16, 2025

AIFMD II Leverage Limits and Single Borrower Exposure Restriction

AIFMD II[1]introduces substantial changes to the EU-wide regulatory framework for alternative investment fund managers (“AIFMs”) that was established under AIFMD. The changes cover a wide range of areas but will have a particularly significant impact on funds that originate loans. Among the new rules on loan origination activities are leverage limits and single borrower exposure limits which are particularly relevant for the use of back-leverage by private credit funds operating in the EU. These new rules will also be relevant for AIFMs in the UK managing credit funds located in the EU.
Insights
Nov 25, 2024

Managing technology supply chains

The FCA, PRA, and Bank of England have published their finalised critical third party (CTP) rules (and accompanying guidance) in PS24/16 Operational resilience: Critical third parties to the UK financial sector.[1]The new rules, which come into force on 1 January 2025, will see designated technology providers whose failure is deemed to pose a systemic risk to the UK financial system become subject to new principles-based, outcomes-focused rules and requirements overseen by the financial services regulators. This is timely given the increasing trend in third-party related incidents affecting operational resilience at financial services firms.  On 31 October, the FCA published its “lessons for operational resilience” following its review of the financial services sector’s response to the recent CrowdStrike outage, which noted that third-party related issues were the leading cause of operational incidents reported to it in 2022-2023. This only serves to bolster the regulatory case for the CTP rules, given the risk posed to the stability of financial markets by dependence on a small number of third party service providers.  The new CTP rules sit alongside the wider rules on operational resilience set-out in PS21/3 Building operational resilience, which become fully operational on 31 March 2025.

Related Insights

Awards
Oct 16, 2025
Chambers 2026 UK guide ranks BCLP in 36 practice areas and recognises 76 individual lawyers
In the 2026 edition of Chambers UK BCLP received 36 practice area rankings and 76 individual lawyer recognitions. This year, the firm is recognized in six new practice areas and improved to a Band 1 ranking for Commercial Contracts, as well as a Band 2 ranking for Hotels and Leisure.  
News
Aug 21, 2025
BCLP advises Federated Hermes Property Unit Trust on £4.7bn merger with L&G’s Managed Property Fund
News
Jun 13, 2025
BCLP advised Dundee Precious Metals on cash and shares offer for Adriatic Metals
Insights
May 22, 2025
Proposed Reform of UK Regime for Alternative Investment Fund Managers
The Treasury (HMT) launched a consultation and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a call for input in April 2025 kick-starting a review of the UK’s regulatory regime for Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFMs). The reforms seek to streamline the regulatory framework for AIFMs to reduce burdens and boost growth, whilst maintaining core protections for consumers and markets.
News
May 09, 2025
BCLP advises iFOREX on potential IPO
Insights
Apr 16, 2025
AIFMD II Leverage Limits and Single Borrower Exposure Restriction
AIFMD II[1]introduces substantial changes to the EU-wide regulatory framework for alternative investment fund managers (“AIFMs”) that was established under AIFMD. The changes cover a wide range of areas but will have a particularly significant impact on funds that originate loans. Among the new rules on loan origination activities are leverage limits and single borrower exposure limits which are particularly relevant for the use of back-leverage by private credit funds operating in the EU. These new rules will also be relevant for AIFMs in the UK managing credit funds located in the EU.
Insights
Jan 30, 2025
UK and US Cryptoasset regulation: what direction next?
Insights
Nov 25, 2024
Managing technology supply chains
The FCA, PRA, and Bank of England have published their finalised critical third party (CTP) rules (and accompanying guidance) in PS24/16 Operational resilience: Critical third parties to the UK financial sector.[1]The new rules, which come into force on 1 January 2025, will see designated technology providers whose failure is deemed to pose a systemic risk to the UK financial system become subject to new principles-based, outcomes-focused rules and requirements overseen by the financial services regulators. This is timely given the increasing trend in third-party related incidents affecting operational resilience at financial services firms.  On 31 October, the FCA published its “lessons for operational resilience” following its review of the financial services sector’s response to the recent CrowdStrike outage, which noted that third-party related issues were the leading cause of operational incidents reported to it in 2022-2023. This only serves to bolster the regulatory case for the CTP rules, given the risk posed to the stability of financial markets by dependence on a small number of third party service providers.  The new CTP rules sit alongside the wider rules on operational resilience set-out in PS21/3 Building operational resilience, which become fully operational on 31 March 2025.
Insights
Sep 20, 2024
The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act 2022/2554 (DORA)