Phillip Yung
Phillip is a Senior Associate in Ashurst's Finance Regulatory Practice Group. He advises a broad range of investment firms, market operators, wholesale and retail brokers, and banks on regulatory and compliance matters, with a particular focus on prudential regimes for financial institutions.
Phillip advises on day-to-day regulatory matters and leads the delivery of material change programmes, including post‑Brexit change, the Wholesale Markets Review, and IFPR implementation. His experience spans the full regulatory lifecycle: conducting regulatory perimeter analyses and advising on cross‑border activities; preparing and managing authorisation applications; designing and implementing compliance frameworks; supporting corporate transactions and capital raising; and advising on wind‑downs and cancellations of regulatory permissions.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Experience
- Ashurst (2018 - Present)
Qualifications
- LPC MSc Law (2018)
- Bachelor of Laws (LLB) (2017)
Education
- University of Law (2017-2018)
- Durham University (2014-2017)
1 Contributions by Phillip Yung
PRACTICE NOTES
UK ring-fencing regime post-2025: raised thresholds, new exemptions, SME equity, de minimis exposures, international operations, M&A transitions, and practical compliance issues for ring-fenced banks and groups
The UK’s ring-fencing framework, initially created by the Financial Services (Banking Reform) Act 2013 (FS(BR)A 2013), has been materially updated following commencement of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Ring-fenced Bodies, Core Activities, Excluded Activities and Prohibitions) (Amendment) Order 2025, SI 2025/30 (the 2025 reforms). This Practice Note outlines the background to the 2025 reforms, sets out the principal amendments made, and flags practical and compliance considerations that ring-fenced banks and their groups may face.
Background to the 2025 reforms
Brought in during 2013, ring-fencing formed part of a suite of UK banking reforms responding to the 2008–2009 global financial crisis. It took full effect in 2019, obliging the biggest UK banks to segregate core retail banking from wholesale and investment operations. The policy aim was to protect essential banking services on which households and SMEs rely from contagion risks that might originate in the wider financial system. In practice, only ‘ring-fenced bodies’ (RFBs) may deliver core banking services, and RFBs are barred from undertaking specified higher-risk activities, including proprietary trading. These measures seek to secure resilience for critical retail banking services while limiting exposure to riskier activities within groups, supporting households and SMEs through clearer structural separation. Previously...
Financial Services
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