Legal Financial Services


We partner with a broad range of clients, including a variety of leading financial institutions to solve their legal talent requirements. Our coverage spans the UK, US, Europe, and Asia, where we have access to an extensive international network of senior talent.

We specialise in senior-level appointments, from General Counsel, Head of Legal and senior lawyers in financial services. We have an unrivalled network of legal financial services contacts and work with some of the most prestigious financial services firms internationally. We cover all legal practice areas and have a particularly strong track record within investment funds, private equity, derivatives, and regulation.

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Seniority Levels:

General Counsel

Managing Director

Head of Legal

Director/Senior Director/Executive Director

VP/SVP

Senior Legal Counsel

Legal Counsel

Partner

Counsel

Senior Associate

Contact Us

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Matthew Simmons

Managing Director

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Nick Ford

Senior Consultant, Legal Financial Services


Matthew Simmons

Managing Director

Matthew founded Simmons & Hanbury in 2018. He has advised on executive search and legal consultancy services for many global listed corporations over the last two decades. Prior to establishing Simmons & Hanbury, Matthew held various senior leadership positions, including head of legal practice and head of legal consulting practice at other global search firms. Over the course of his career he has developed an extensive network of cross-border candidates and clients within financial services.

Matthew has in-depth expertise within the financial services sector and has successfully completed search assignments for some of the most prestigious financial services firms in the world. This includes banks, investment funds, private equity houses and leading law firms. In addition, he has completed numerous assignments for corporations across a range of industries. He also leads several high-profile general counsel networking events.

Before moving into executive search, Matthew obtained a Master’s degree in Business Management & Marketing at the University of Westminster.


Nick Ford

Senior Consultant, Legal Financial Services

Nick joined Simmons & Hanbury in 2022 to work in the legal financial services practice. His client base includes but is not limited to, Investment Banks, Asset Managers, Hedge Funds, Retail Banks and Insurers. He brings with him a unique blend of experience across both legal and compliance search. Prior to joining Simmons & Hanbury Nick worked in a leading governance search firm.

 


Practice Areas
Legal Financial Services
Location
Head Office

I have used Simmons & Hanbury for a number of legal searches within the European Legal Team, ranging from fixed income for buy side to consultants on reform projects such as MIFID II & GDPR. I have been constantly impressed with their level of professionalism, responsiveness and in-depth knowledge of the market. All the hires we have made have been excellent additions to the team.

$170 billion AUM Asset Manager, European General Counsel

I have used Simmons & Hanbury for some time as both a candidate and a client. On the client side, they have always found good candidates for any role I have hired for and they manage the recruitment process extremely well. On the candidate side, they worked with me to secure a senior role. I was very impressed with their knowledge, diligence and professionalism. I would not hesitate to recommend Simmons & Hanbury to anyone looking to change jobs or to hire for new roles in the legal/compliance sector.

Tier 1 Investment Bank, Managing Director, General Counsel Division

I have used Simmons & Hanbury for several legal searches and have been consistently impressed with their professionalism, expertise and knowledge of the market. They are always willing to go the extra mile. Every candidate we have hired through them has been exceptional and I would - and have - recommended them to other firms for their legal searches.

Proprietary Trading Business, Head of Legal