Victoria Sander is a partner in the London office of Latham & Watkins. She has focused on the insurance sector for over 25 years and has been involved in some of the largest and most complex transactions in the insurance industry. She specializes in all types of corporate insurance transactional work including public and private M&A, portfolio transfers, complex reinsurance arrangements, and distribution arrangements. Ms. Sander advises insurance companies and pension schemes in relation to a full range of buy-in, buy-out, and longevity risk transactions and provides technical insurance regulatory advice with respect to structured products, including credit risk reinsurance.

She is a member of the insurance committee of the City of London Law Society and the insurance sub-committee of the Financial Market Law Reform Committee, both of which aim to identify areas of law that are uncertain and need clarification.

Ms. Sander’s experience includes advising:

  • Rothesay Life Plc (Rothesay) on the landmark Court of Appeal decision overturning the High Court’s refusal to sanction the transfer of around 370,000 annuity policies (comprising total policyholder liabilities of approximately £11.2 billion) from The Prudential Assurance Company Limited (PAC) to Rothesay
  • CVC on its acquisition of a 90.01% stake in Ethniki Insurance, a Greece-based insurance company 
  • Warburg Pincus on the establishment of Oona Insurance, a digital general insurance platform in Southeast Asia, and Oona’s initial acquisitions of two general insurance assets in the region
  • Royal London on its acquisition and portfolio transfer of protection policies from Aegon
  • A consortium comprising TPG, SingLife, Sumitomo Life Insurance Company, and others on a SGD2.7 billion transaction to combine SingLife with Aviva Singapore
  • A consortium of investors including Intact Financial Corporation and Tryg on its C$3.2 billion acquisition of RSA Insurance Group, a UK-based provider of personal and commercial insurance
  • British Columbia on its acquisition of BSM, a UK-based insurance brokerage firm
  • Friends Life on its takeover by Aviva and the subsequent transfer of the insurance businesses of Friends Life Limited and Friends Life & Pensions Limited by way of Part VII Transfer*
  • RSA on the sale of its Italian branch business to ITAS Mutua*
  • Royal London on the acquisition of the Co-operative Insurance Society and on the acquisition and transfer under the Friendly Societies Act of the Royal Liver Friendly Society*

Ms. Sander has been at the forefront of the developing pension and de-risking sector and has advised insurers, investment banks, and pension scheme trustees on all aspects of de-risking work. Her recent experience includes advising:

  • Aviva Life & Pensions UK Ltd on the completion of a £875 million bulk annuity buy-in transaction with the Aviva Staff Pension Scheme
  • Just Group Plc, an insurance group specializing in annuity products, on the increase of its reinsurance coverage on tranches of existing and new business, and the expected implementation of a new mortality basis, in its longevity reinsurance arrangements with two reinsurers (SCOR SE and General Reinsurance)
  • Scor SE on a framework longevity arrangement with a large UK annuity company
  • A large UK insurer company on its framework-funded longevity reinsurance agreement with Athene
  • The Trustees of MMC Pension scheme on the transfer of approximately £3 billion of longevity risk*
  • The Trustees of the Marks & Spencer Pension scheme on buy-ins totaling £1.5 billion with Aviva and Phoenix*

*Matter handled prior to joining Latham 

Bar Qualification

  • England and Wales (Solicitor)

Education

  • LPC (Distinction), College of Law, 1995
  • LLM (Hons), Cambridge University, 1994
  • Law, Cambridge University, 1993
    First Class

Languages Spoken

  • English