Kennedy Masterton-Smith

Kennedy is the Global and UK Head of Financial Services for KPMG Law.

Kennedy is a regulatory law specialist and works closely with regulated clients to identify and implement solutions to complex problems. This includes international business reorganisations including post-Brexit cross border reorgs, balance sheet and operational model transformation projects, IP and ServeCo implementation, legal entity rationalisations and deauthorisations. Kennedy’s clients for these projects are banks, brokers, asset managers and payments services firms.

Bringing together multi-disciplinary project teams with subject matter expertise Kennedy is able to advise on complex issues and work to implement them as one integrated team. Clients praise Kennedy for her commitment and ability to find practical and implementable solutions, providing direct and clear advice without arrogance and with the insight that comes from a decade working at a multi-disciplinary firm.

Kennedy advises on business change projects, including due diligence for acquisitions, disposals and reorganisations including the creation of service companies and group entity rationalisation projects. She leads on complex change in control applications, as well as large intra-group applications using technology to remove excess costs.

As well as advising existing regulated firms, Kennedy works closely with tax and accounting KPMG colleagues to help clients identify where they need to be authorised and regulated or where they can rely on exemptions to authorisation. Although this is a highly technical skillset Kennedy works as part of multi-disciplinary teams to get under the skin of the proposed business and help guide clients through authorisations.