As a financial services lawyer, Senior Associate Giulia Del Bianco undertakes a range of work involving investment funds and financial institutions, with a focus on the UK-regulated funds space.
As a financial services lawyer, Giulia advises financial institutions on a wide range of issues and complex matters involving investment funds and financial products.
Giulia regularly works on both UCITS and AIFs and advises on structuring, establishment and authorization of such investment funds. As such, she can advise you on issues arising in the lifecycle of a fund, including variations to existing fund specifications, cross-border UCITS mergers, domestic schemes of arrangement and terminations. She also has experience in large-scale project management, corporate transactions in the financial services sector, regulatory and advisory work, legal drafting, and negotiation.
Whether you are an asset manager, depositary or service provider in the asset management sphere, Giulia can advise you on regulatory changes, ongoing legal obligations and all contracts relevant to investment funds, including depositary agreements.
Her recent experience has focused on sustainable funds and LTAFs. She worked extensively on the launch of the UK’s first ever fully seeded LTAF and has since advised on other LTAF launches, conversions of existing funds into LTAFs and cornerstone investments into LTAFs. She is currently assisting UK authorised fund managers with their review and implementation of the FCA’s Guiding Principles for ESG funds as well as the new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements. Giulia has assisted on a broad range of sustainable investment funds.
Before becoming a financial services lawyer, Giulia read Law at Newcastle University and subsequently completed the Legal Practice Course at BPP University in London. She trained with Eversheds Sutherland and qualified as a Solicitor in September 2020.
Latest Insights
Latest News
Giulia has acted on a wide range of financial services transactions for leading asset managers, depositaries, pension schemes and other financial institutions. Her recent experience includes:
- assisting on all aspects of structuring, designing and launching the UK’s first ever fully seeded LTAF including initial regulatory advice, drafting fund documents and liaising with the regulator;
- advising on the establishment of the first Shariah-compliant retail fund range in the UK;
- advising a major depositary bank on a two year project to transition over £200 billion in custody assets from a branch of an EU bank to a UK entity. The project involved repapering of over 500 contracts and other documents for 19 underlying fund managers, engaging with the regulator in the UK and in 10 other jurisdictions as well as ongoing regulatory advice;
- advising a number of clients on the formation of funds with ESG or sustainability objectives, including consideration of the relevant regulatory requirements and disclosure obligations;
- acting for a local government pension scheme on the launch of their first passive Paris-Aligned product, which is expected to grow to over £1 billion in value within the first three years of launch; and
- advising on the stamp tax-efficient transfer of the UK and Irish equities part of an international portfolio from a life company to an authorised fund in order to restructure the underlying insurance client’s investment holding.
Please see Giulia's latest publications on behalf of Eversheds Sutherland:
- UK: FCA’s finalised guidance on the anti-greenwashing rule (AGR) and consultation on SDR and portfolio management
- The FCA's Dear CEO Letter on Asset Management Supervision Strategy
- The FCA's Dear CEO letter to depositaries and custodians, "Our custody and fund services supervision strategy"
- The FCA introduces side pockets for authorised funds: Protecting investors in authorised funds following the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- named in the 2024 edition of Legal 500 as a key lawyer in the Eversheds Sutherland retail funds team
- deal teams nominated for Funds Team of the Year at The Lawyer Awards 2022 and Regulatory Team of the Year at the British Legal Awards 2023
- team Ranked in Band 1 for open-ended/retail funds in Chambers and Legal 500
- recipient of various internal Eversheds Sutherland awards including the Client Service Excellence Award, Knowledge Excellence Award and Personal Brand Award
As a Trainee Solicitor, Giulia was elected Chair of the Eversheds Sutherland London Junior Networking Committee. She is now leading on a similar networking initiative for junior financial services lawyers. Since her qualification, she has inputted into various government and regulator consultations.
- qualified as a Solicitor in England and Wales in September 2020
- trained at Eversheds Sutherland
- completed the Legal Practice Course at BPP University in London
- graduated from Newcastle University with an LLB in Law