Regulatory & Disciplinary
Through his prior practice as a financial regulation solicitor in the London office of a major US law firm and secondments to the FCA and Goldman Sachs, Nikesh has experience in a wide spectrum of contentious and non-contentious FCA regulatory matters.
Nikesh's contentious financial regulation experience includes:
- presenting to senior decision-making organs within the FCA
- reviewing and advising on evidence for investigations
- developing and executing strategy for regulatory interventions (e.g. variation of permissions, undertakings and skilled person reviews)
- issuing and responding to compelled information requests
- preparing and conducting compelled interviews
- advising on regulatory remediation and restitution programmes
- penalty calculations
Representative matters include:
- money laundering investigations
- bribery and corruption investigations
- mis-selling interventions (including under s.166, FSMA)
- contentious fitness and propriety assessments
- unauthorised business remediation
- contentious perimeter questions (notably in relation to UCIS, AIFs and payment services)
Nikesh's non-contentious financial regulation experience includes advising on firm and individual regulatory authorisation applications and approvals (e.g. in relation to senior managers, approved persons, certification staff and controllers). Nikesh advises on regulatory structuring matters and perimeter queries, particularly in relation to collective investment schemes and alternative investment funds. Nikesh has experience in regulatory inventory and systems and controls reviews. He has advised on payment services questions.
Nikesh is also regularly instructed in regulatory and disciplinary law matters outside of financial services, notably in healthcare regulatory hearings for the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council.
Public & Administrative
Nikesh's interest in broader public and administrative law matters stems from his MPhil master's degree studies at Cambridge focusing on the legitimacy, accountability and discretion of EU law enforcement.
Nikesh has gained extensive public law tribunal advocacy experience through working as a Presenting Officer for the UK Home Office. Nikesh’s advisory experience includes freedom of information and environmental information requests and HMRC data gathering powers.
Nikesh is particularly interested in public law issues in the financial services context.
Publications
Greenwashing: rising regulatory temperature for financial services, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) Financial Services Faculty Guide, October 2021 (with Alessia de Quincey). https://www.icaew.com/insights/viewpoints-on-the-news/2021/Nov-2021/Greenwashing-rising-regulatory-temperature-for-financial-services
Room for Manoeuvre: FCA Bans for Non-financial Misconduct, Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation, Sweet & Maxwell, 2021 J.I.B.L.R. 36.2 (with Aidan Lawes and Emirali Mustafa - to be published in January 2021).
‘Making arrangements with a view’ High Court provides further perspective on Article 25(2) RAO, 4-5 Commentary, September 2020 (with Kristen DiLemmo). https://www.4-5.co.uk/publications/view/nikesh-pandit-member-of-4-5s-regulatory-professional-discipline-and-business-crime-team-and-kristen-dilemmo-financial-regulation-associate-at-white-case-llp-co-author-article-on-the-often-tric
Closing Borders? UK Follows Italy’s CONSOB in Unprecedented Inbound MiFID II Passport Removal, Oxford University Business Law Blog, July 2020 (with John Ahern). https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/business-law-blog/blog/2020/07/closing-borders-uk-follows-italys-consob-unprecedented-inbound-mifid
Policing the EU's External Border: Legitimacy and Accountability under Scruting, Journal of the Academy of European Law, ERA Forum 13, 397-410, 2012. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs12027-012-0273-9
EU Law Enforcement: Legitimacy, Accountability and Discretion, Cambridge: Univertity of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology, 2012 (first class MPhil thesis placed in the Cambridge University Library collection). Link to the library reference here.
