Dr Robert Purves

3 Verulam Buildings (3VB)

Qualified:

Attorney (South Africa) 1990
Solicitor (England & Wales) 1994
Barrister (England & Wales) 2007

Robert began his legal career as an Attorney in South Africa (1990) and Solicitor in England (1994), before transferring to the Bar in 2007. From April 2003, Robert was Chief Counsel, Insurance and Prudential Policy at the Financial Services Authority, the UK body then responsible for the licensing, oversight and regulation of almost all financial services business in the UK. Since commencing practice at the Bar, Robert has acted for financial services firms, regulators (including the FCA, the PRA, the FSCS and the GFSC) and individuals seeking advice and representation on a wide range of regulatory issues. Robert is ranked in Financial Services Band 1 in Chambers & Partners 2021 and as a Leading Junior (Financial Services Regulation) by the UK Legal 500 for 2021.

Practice Area

Insurance & Reinsurance

Panel

Contributing Author

Experience

Sonnenberg Hoffman Galombik (Cape Town) (1988 - 1990)
Holman Fenwick Willan (1990 - 1995)
University of Cambridge (1995 - 1999)
Financial Services Authority (1999 - 2007)
3 Verulam Buildings (2007 - Present)

Membership

Middle Temple
British Insurance Law Association
COMBAR

Qualifications

Bachelor of Arts (Cape Town) (1984)
Bachelor of Laws (Cape Town) (1986)
Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) (Financial Management) (Cape Town) (1990)
Master of Laws (Cambridge) (1988)
Doctor of Philosophy (Cambridge) (2000)

Education

University of Cape Town (1984, 1986, 1990)
University of Cambridge (1988, 2000)

1 Contributions by Robert Purves

PRACTICE NOTES

Contracts of insurance: common law classification and the UK FSMA/RAO perimeter; PERG 6 guidance, territorial scope/non-admitted cover, financial promotion, and consequences of unauthorised business

This Practice Note explores how to identify contracts of insurance in English law. It looks at what amounts to a contract of insurance from the viewpoints of UK legislation and the common law, and the regulatory consequences of falling within that category. The problem The task of pinpointing which commercial arrangements ought properly to be treated as ‘contracts of insurance’ in English law is longstanding. Successive lawmakers have sought to regulate insurance and insurers, in one form or another, since Elizabethan times. Owing to the pragmatic bent of the English legal tradition, there is still no settled legal definition of a contract of insurance in English law, even though, in 2023, the UK was estimated to possess the world’s third‑largest insurance sector, with total gross written premiums of £300Bn. The European interlude From the UK’s entry into the European Common Market in 1972 until IP Completion Day at 11pm on 31 December 2020, the statutory and common law strands of the UK insurance regulatory regime fulfilled the UK’s obligations under the EU Treaties by implementing successive EU Directives governing the conduct of insurance business. The most recent of...

Insurance & Reinsurance

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