The practice advises leading insurers and reinsurers, new market participants, brokers and other financial institutions on sophisticated mergers & acquisitions, including insurance portfolio transfers, share acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and joint ventures, as well as on capital raises, and on regulatory issues in the UK and European insurance market. The practice also works with U.S., Asian and European clients, advising on cross-border transactions in the U.S., Latin America, Bermuda and Asia-Pacific, as well as in Europe. This global experience at the very top end of the market means the European team is highly familiar with the specific commercial and regulatory contexts of the sector across broad geographies.
In its M&A and capital markets experience in particular, the team is distinct. It fields teams few other firms can match to work simultaneously on M&A and capital market matters. In this way, clients benefit from a team able to handle regulatory issues, share acquisitions, equity raises, stock purchase agreements, reserve financings, reinsurance agreements and bank debt transactions, all in connection with a single transaction.
As well as its transactional strength, Debevoise’s European Insurance practice includes leading U.S. and UK-qualified tax, finance, regulatory and competition lawyers. The team’s experience in advising U.S., Asian and European clients on insurance transactions has given it valuable insight into the differences in approaches among various regimes. Clients rely on the team not just to track the latest regulatory developments, but also to help them design these transactions to address the changing regulatory environment.
The insurance team in Europe works closely with the firm’s private equity funds and transactional lawyers, using Debevoise’s established strength in these areas to advise clients on the growing interplay between these two sectors. This includes advising private equity and fund clients on investments into the insurance sector, as well as capital raisings and acquisitions of specific books of business.
Our range of services include advising clients on:
The multidisciplinary approach of the European Insurance practice has been consistently recognized by the major legal directories, with Chambers Global stating the firm’s “twin strongholds in the US and UK markets power an impressive M&A practice across the globe. Expertise in reinsurance deals, bond issuances and regulatory assignments rounds off the firm's insurance offering.” Chambers UK has described the practice as “commercial and client-friendly,” and notes that it “attracts particular notice for the quality of its advice on transactional and regulatory matters, and has developed an impressive client list.”
Episode 35 - Europe’s Regulatory Approach to Artificial Intelligence in the Insurance Industry
27 March 2025
Clare Swirski, Avi Gesser, Martha Hirst
Episode 34 - Main Issues and Key Trends for 2025
23 January 2025
Drew Dutton, Clare Swirski, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson
Episode 33 - A Roundup of UK and Europe Regulatory Developments During 2024
12 December 2024
Drew Dutton, Clare Swirski, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson, Katie Power
Episode 32 - Is Your Business CSDDD Ready?
17 October 2024
Clare Swirski, Patricia Volhard, John Young
Episode 31 - Market Developments in 2024 and Predictions Going Forward
19 September 2024
Drew Dutton, Clare Swirski, Laura Jackson, Katie Power
Episode 30 - Achieving Finality? An Overview of the Legacy Sector in 2024
20 June 2024
Clare Swirski, Laura Jackson, Katie Power, Philip Orange
Episode 29 - DORA: Key Challenges for the Insurance Sector under the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act
23 May 2024
Clare Swirski, Robert Maddox, Martha Hirst
Episode 28 - What We Can Expect for Insurance Regulation in the UK and Europe in 2024 – A Snapshot
25 April 2024
Episode 27 - Developments in the UK and European Insurance Industry in 2023 and Looking Forward to 2024
21 March 2024
Drew Dutton, Clare Swirski, Katie Power
Episode 26 - Regulatory Update
25 January 2024
Episode 25 - EU Sustainability Reporting Regime
16 November 2023
Benjamin Lyon, Patricia Volhard, John Young
Episode 24 - Artificial Intelligence
26 October 2023
Avi Gesser, Clare Swirski
Episode 23 - Solvency II Regulatory Update
14 September 2023
Drew Dutton, Clare Swirski, Benjamin Lyon, Laura Jackson
Episode 22 - DORA: What the New EU Digital Operational Resilience Act Means for the Insurance Sector
22 June 2023
Clare Swirski, Robert Maddox, Tristan Lockwood
Episode 21 - The UK and European Insurance Industry – Looking Forward to 2023
23 March 2023
Clare Swirski, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson
Episode 20 - Developments in the UK and European Insurance Industry in 2022 and Looking Forward to 2023
19 January 2023
Clare Swirski, Benjamin Lyon, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson
Episode 19 - Regulatory Matters
15 September 2022
Clare Swirski, Benjamin Lyon, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson, Katie Power
Episode 18 - Draft Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence
7 July 2022
Ben Lyon, Ulysses Smith and Merryl Lawry-White
Episode 17 - Recent regulatory developments in the first half of 2022
23 June 2022
Ben Lyon, Clare Swirski, Philip Orange, and Laura Jackson
Episode 16 - Recent regulatory developments in the first half of 2022
9 June 2022
Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson and Katie Power
Episode 15 - Key Sanctions Issues for Insurance Companies
10 March 2022
Ben Lyon, Konstantin Bureiko and Martha Hirst
Episode 14 - Solvency II and its relevance in M&A and other insurance transactions
24 February 2022
Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Laura Jackson and Katie Power
Episode 13 - Developments in the UK and Europe Insurance Industry in 2021 and Looking Forward to 2022 (Part II)
10 February 2022
Clare Swirski, Philip Orange, Laura Jackson and Katie Power
Episode 12 - Developments in the UK and Europe Insurance Industry in 2021 and Looking Forward to 2022 (Part I)
27 January 2022
Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Katie Power
Episode 11 - Cybersecurity and the Insurance Industry
4 November 2021
Avi Gesser, Ben Lyon, Martha Hirst, Robert Maddox
Episode 10 - Key Trends in the Insurance Industry from a Transactional Perspective (Part II)
14 October 2021
David Innes, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Katie Power
Episode 9 - Key Trends in the Insurance Industry from a Transactional Perspective (Part I)
30 September 2021
David Innes, Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Katie Power
Episode 8 - UK and EU Insurance Regulatory Review – Trends and Key Issues
16 September 2021
Episode 7 - Investing in Insurance: Opportunities for Financial Sponsors
20 May 2021
David Innes, Ben Lyon, Clare Swirski
Episode 6 - Brexit – Current Status and Practical Implications Part II
6 May 2021
Episode 5 - Brexit – Current Status and Practical Implications (Part I)
29 April 2021
Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Philip Orange, Sarah Hale
Episode 4 - Lloyd’s – Trends, Developments and Structures
15 April 2021
Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon, Katie Power
Episode 3 - Insurance Webcast Series - UK and EU Insurance Regulatory Review - Trends and Key Issues for 2021
1 April 2021
Episode 2 - Key Takeaways from the FCA BI Case
18 March 2021
Episode 1 - View from London: Insurance M&A and Transactional Update
4 March, 2021
David Innes, Clare Swirski, Ben Lyon