Senior lawyer becomes one of the leaders of the firm’s banking regulation offering
Herbert Freehills Hills (HSF) has welcomed a leader in the financial services regulation sector.
Lesley Symons has joined the firm as an executive counsel. Based in Brisbane, Symons has become one of the leaders of the banking and regulation offering at the firm, HSF said.
Symons’ extensive experience includes both contentious and non-contentious sides of financial regulation. She has run large-scale and complex enforcement investigations for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). While at the commission, she was one of the senior managers responsible for running high-profile investigations and for launching related civil penalty proceedings.
She has also most recently acted on behalf of private clients in response to these matters. She made the move to HSF from a corporate governance consulting firm in Brisbane.
Outside of legal practise, Symons is an advocate for women’s equality. She has a focus on supporting access career-enhancing opportunities for women in the law, as well as ensuring equal access for women to financial literacy education.
“Lesley brings a wealth of valuable experience from her time at a boutique financial services compliance and advisory practice, as well as her background at ASIC, where she worked for more than seven years on a variety of high-profile matters, often managing teams and providing strategic, technical, and practical advice to the commission, various committees, members of the executive, and the chairman,” said consultant Tony Coburn.
Coburn, who is the head of the Australian banking regulatory team at HSF, said that Symons is “uniquely qualified” for her role at the firm.
HSF said that Symons main focus will be on financial and corporate regulation. That includes license obligations, corporate and director obligations, and the regulation of financial and credit products subject to ASIC supervision.
“She will also advise clients on Anti-Money Laundering, Counter-Terrorism Financing and ‘Know Your Customer’ obligations, privacy, prudential regulation and the governance of financial organisations (including the BEAR regime), in addition to evolving areas such as payment systems,” HSF said.
