Liam Hennessy
Partner
Areas of Expertise

Financial Services Regulation, Funds Management, Digital Assets

Liam advises globally leading financial services clients in relation to financial services product, licensing, governance and compliance matters. His practice serves domestic and international clients on their most complex, and challenging mandates and experience spans periods working in London, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane at leading law firms.

His clients include insurers, funds, trading houses and digital asset firms.

He is an Adjunct Professor of Law (Griffith) where he teaches financial services law, is undertaking his PhD (tokenisation of financial products), has a Masters in Law from Sydney University (advanced corporate governance) and works closely with policymakers, regulators and media.

Liam sits on various policy groups, is a contributing author for looseleafs in LexisNexis (Banking & Financial Services) and Thomson Reuters (Financial Accountability Regime) and he publishes a weekly newsletter.

What others say

"Liam Hennessy’s team is very dedicated to clients. They are very good at anticipating clients’ needs and providing a tailored solution to fit.’"
Legal 500 Asia Pacific
"Liam Hennessy has built a standout practice and team. He is excellent at keeping his clients abreast of any new developments, anticipating client needs, and building truly long-lasting client relationships. He has deep expertise in traditional financial services, but is also a thought leader on new and emerging issues such as crypto asset regulation. He really sees the whole field, and his clients are the beneficiaries."
Legal 500 Asia Pacific
Financial Services Partner of the Year, Finalist
Lawyers Weekly Partner of the Year Awards, 2023
Blockchain Leader of the Year, Finalist
Digital Economy Council of Australia, 2023

Experience

Kinesis Money

Acting for Kinesis Money on all aspects of its gold/silver-backed and USD-backed stablecoin, which has a US$15 billion market capitalisation.

Dubai Future Foundation

Acting for Dubai Future Foundation in the creation of Dubai's regulatory framework for real estate property tokenisation.

Financial Accountability Regime

Acting for 26 banks, insurers and super funds in connection with their implementation of the market-shaping Financial Accountability Regime and UK Senior Managers & Certification Regime.

Digital asset exchanges

Acting for 4 of the 5 largest digital asset exchanges in the world on their licensing mandates, product mandates and compliance aspects. Acting for multiple funds, family offices, trading firms, and governments in connection with real world tokenisation.

Barclays Bank

Acting for Barclays Bank in connection with UK, Japanese and Singaporean investigations into its FX division.

Xe.com

Acting for Xe.com, one of the world's largest FX providers, in relation to all aspects of its licensing, compliance and ASIC and FMA interactions.