As part of the continued current growth of senior management at Universal Asset Sciences, along with extending our own global reach, we are delighted to welcome aboard Nicholas Blomfield.
Nicholas has joined our executive team as General Counsel. Nicholas will focus on all legal matters including overseeing all business transactions and agreements as well as ensuring good and proper corporate governance.
BIO
Nicholas has over ten years of international experience and transferable knowledge in transactional and advisory work, covering banking, asset management, venture capital, financial regulation, crypto, blockchain and compliance. He has worked with some of the pre-eminent global companies and financial institutions including BlackRock, Credit Suisse, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, FIS, Stormharbour and Banco Santander. Nicholas has worked extensively with UHNW family offices, sovereign wealth funds and venture capital funds across the GCC, Europe and APAC.
Nicholas has advised on a variety of transactions, including fund launches (AIFs, UCITS and REITS), private fund creation (including Islamic funds), large scale regulatory projects (MiFID II, BRRD, Priips) and alternative investments (venture capital, private equity and real-estate). At BlackRock for example, he advised on the two high profile public fund launches including the BlackRock Circular Economy Fund and BlackRock China A-Shares Fund. Other matters he has advised on in recent years include:
advising on the co-investment of a separately managed Shariah account for a Saudi client valued at $20bn
advising on the proposal and structure for integrating securities lending into a Middle East clients’ £11bn portfolio
advising the global franchising of a sports services provider
advising on Liability Driven and Securities Lending segregated IMA £2.5bn mandate for a major UK pension fund
advising on the launch of the BSF European Unconstrainted Equity Fund and BSF Global Equity Absolute Return Fund
coordinating the production and legal aspects of financial promotion materials for over sixty jurisdictions
advising on the update of a global distribution agreement relating to cross-border distribution of products and retrocession payments
advising on a private fund of funds for a consortium of APAC clients looking to invest into a Cayman vehicle via a London based finance broker
advising on a $1bn client portfolio solution to diversify current holdings to integrate ESG sleeves
creating the global merchant acquiring business onboarding policy for cryptocurrency clients (interpreting JMLSG and MLD5 requirements)
successfully obtaining the finance and brokerage licence for a Luxembourg entity
establishing a regulated Irish entity and successfully obtaining A1 and A2 licences
negotiating the DPA and security arrangements for a surveillance software
negotiating a lengthy and complex MSA and privacy agreement with an Australian Investment Bank
assisting with the negotiation of an MSA for service offerings and products for a ‘big four’ client.