Ashurst has teamed up with Axiom in a bid to support its financial clients in the first law firm partnership model to be announced by the technology provider.
The partnership looks ahead to changes in the variation margin rules and derivatives requirements, which are scheduled to come into force in 2017.
Axiom is supporting banks on the technology and renegotiation side, as they re-paper their derivatives trading portfolios in line with new rules. For example, the provider will be able to deploy technology at a faster rate to extract data from existing paperwork in order to generate new documents.
Meanwhile, Ashurst is providing legal advice on how to write new rules and sign new agreements. The firm found that it was pitching to many of Axiom’s clients, enabling the pair to join up and provide services to shared financial institutions.
“We’ve been supporting banks with their remediation efforts for many years,” said executive vice president and global head of Axiom’s banking practice Chris DeConti. “But we’ve seen a need for banks to be more systematic and modern in their approach to dealing with new requirements.”
The agreement with Ashurst is the first law firm partnership model to be announced by Axiom, with more expected in the near future.
It has been made in a bid to take market share from the magic circle, with Allen & Overy just last week announcing an agreement with Deloitte to help banks deal with new regulatory requirements.
Banks have been subject to new regulations in the wake of the financial crisis, with the requirements putting institutions under pressure to repaper countless documents.