Liam Hennessy

Liam Hennessy specialises in compliance / risk matters, regulatory investigations and complex disputes.

His practice focuses on financial services clients, and he has acted for banks, insurers and others in the financial services industry in a number of significant regulatory investigations, commissions of inquiry and class actions spanning multiple international jurisdictions. Liam’s experience covers long periods working in London, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne and he is a committed thought leader, including in his capacity as a course creator and lecturer for a financial services regulation law course at a Brisbane university. He is a member of a number of financial services regulatory policy working committees.

Liam has considerable experience with the Banking Executive Accountability Regime (and its United Kingdom equivalent, the Senior Managers & Certification Regime), ASIC’s DDO / PIP regime, AML / CTF frameworks, financial services and credit licensing obligations, policy reviews, anti-hawking reforms, whistle-blowing frameworks and white-collar crime prevention. More generally, he advises clients in relation to risk, governance and compliance issues. Liam has structured and undertaken a wide range of internal investigations and risk reviews for clients in Australia, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and other jurisdictions.

Recent contentious matters include acting in several confidential ASIC investigations for financial services entities; representation of clients called before the Hayne Royal Commission; advising a global bank concerning multiple global regulatory agencies’ investigations into allegations of manipulation of financial benchmarks and related conduct; advising a large mutual bank in relation to multiple UK regulators’ investigations concerning allegations of systemic mismanagement; acting for a leading advisory firm in a class action relating to a large capital raising for a failed construction conglomerate.