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Herbert Smith Freehills is pleased to welcome a global financial services regulation expert to its market-leading Financial Services Regulatory practice in Australia.

Joseph Longo is joining from Deutsche Bank where he has worked for 17 years. Prior to his retirement from the bank in March, he was the General Counsel, UK and EMEA. Prior to that, Mr Longo served as the bank’s General Counsel in Asia Pacific.  He also brings experience as a regulator, having been National Director, Enforcement, at the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). He will join Herbert Smith Freehills as a Senior Adviser.

Based in the firm’s Perth office, Mr Longo will advise clients located across Australia as well as those in Asia and the UK.

Regional Head of the Dispute Resolution Practice in Australia, Luke Hastings, said Mr Longo’s appointment to the firm’s financial services regulatory team reflected the growing need for specialist global banking expertise in the Australian market.

“Joe’s experience speaks for itself. He brings deep global financial services and regulatory insights to the Australian market,” Mr Hastings said.

“He has an intimate understanding of the challenges faced by banks and corporations when addressing cultural and regulatory issues.

“His experience spans several continents in legal advisory, regulatory enforcement and internal legal and commercial matters. He has navigated multi-jurisdictional investigations and regulatory enforcement activity, and that experience is of particular interest to our clients.

“With the ever-increasing regulatory focus on financial services institutions in Australia, we continue to look for ways to share with our clients our global experience of responding to these developments.

“We’re excited to have Joe on the team. Having worked in the global banking sector for the best part of 20 years and having dealt first hand with the issues our clients are grappling with, Joe will bring another perspective to our expert global team.”

Mr Longo will focus on providing additional insight to clients into the way global banks have been navigating regulatory engagement, managing non-financial risk and financial services investigations. He will also use his extensive experience to advise clients on their response to regulatory, prudential and community expectations and how to 'horizon scan' for future risk areas.

Having previously worked at Freehills in Perth and Sydney, Mr Longo said he was pleased to be returning to work at Herbert Smith Freehills after 17 years’ working at Deutsche Bank.

“I have experience working in private practice, in securities and corporate law and in-house, and I am excited to be able to share that experience with clients.”