Norton Rose boosts ranks of banking lawyers

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Norton Rose Fulbright LLP announced this week that in addition to snagging former Blakes partner and veteran banking lawyer John Teolis, the firm has now also added to its ranks John Jason, the former chief compliance officer of BMO Financial Group, boosting its offering to the banking sector.

Mr. Teolis, a long-established banking lawyer who has helped foreign financial institutions navigate Canada's regulations, says the move is designed to enhance his new firm's offerings to financial institutions worldwide who may be looking to do business in Canada.

"The firm on a worldwide basis has confirmed the importance of financial services ... and they simply wanted to beef it up here in Toronto," Mr. Teolis said in an interview. "Canada already has a large number of international [financial] players ... There are also a lot who are not here yet. Hopefully we can be part of bringing them to Canada."

Mr. Jason, whose work at BMO and later as a consultant has included advice on complying with anti-money-laundering rules, said more moves by global financial players into Canada aren't a sure thing, but any global law firm needs to have a strong presence in Canada's financial capital.

"We can't predict what the clients may or may not do. But clearly, the observation of the firm is that the financial services business is a global business today and Toronto is one of the financial centres of the world," he said. "So if you are an international firm, you want to make sure you have the right bench strength in all of the major jurisdictions."