Featured in our GC Spotlight Series this month is Tom Hambrett who is a Partner at Revolut and the group’s General Counsel. He is the longest service executive in the leadership team. Tom defines and executes the group’s legal and corporate strategic priorities worldwide. This includes forging key strategic commercial partnerships, leading on the structuring of all financings and navigating complex regulatory environments around the world. Tom also works closely with domestic and international policymakers and governments to facilitate and promote innovation and competition in financial services. Before joining Revolut, Tom was at Herbert Smith Freehills, where he advised clients on a wide range of corporate and securities law matters.
1. Hi Tom, can you tell us a little about your role and journey into law? What excites you outside of work?
I am the General Counsel / Chief Legal Officer at Revolut. I define and execute the group’s global legal and corporate strategy alongside my fellow key executives. To frame my “current role” it is important to remember that Revolut is multi-product & multi-country – we’re truly global – a one-stop shop for all of your finances. Send, spend & hold your money in 160+ currencies, invest in equities, trade cryptocurrencies or commodities in real time, manage your family finances with joint and under 18 accounts and if you run a business your entire financial ecosystem can be managed by us. We are in 38 countries, across 5 continents with 45 million customers and over 10,000 very dedicated team members. The reason this is really important for my role is that it sets the scene – our success, to date, and into the future, is operating in a very complex and highly regulated environment, globally. We have over 60 “live” licenses to operate (and quite a few applications under consideration).
I studied a double degree in Bachelor of Business Administration majoring in Economics and Finance and a Bachelor of Laws in Sydney, Australia. I then worked for a Supreme Court judge for a year before joining the law firm Herbert Smith Freehills, settling in their Corporate team, specialising in equity capital markets and public and private mergers and acquisitions. I decided to move in-house after my wife and I elected to relocate from Sydney to London. At the time I thought this was a good opportunity to try something “new”, but I never thought I would stay in-house for as long as I have. I have thoroughly enjoyed every day of the last eight years at Revolut – although, it’s safe to say, some days more than others!
Whilst work is all encompassing and as a General Counsel you can’t really ‘switch off’ or be ‘offline’, when things are calm or I’ve made the time available, I try to ensure I spend as much time with my son and get outside and explore either nature with hikes and other activities, such as runs and cycles. I also think living in a city like London you need to get stuck into everything on offer, be it the theatres, exhibitions, restaurants and sport events.
2. As a GC, what are some of the challenges that keep you up at night? How are you addressing them?
You need to build a machine that is capable of operating, at pace, on incredibly challenging and complex issues. The secret to this machine is ensuring you’ve got the right talent to not only “maintain it” but actually to constantly strive to make it better – the thing that keeps me up at night is complacency. Once that sets into your organisation, then it’s over.
3. What do you think about the use of LegalTech, data analytics and process optimisation to improve your legal department’s value?
I think this is a fantastic opportunity for in-house teams to remain lean, agile, relevant, and continue to provide genuine business value-adds. We’ve built a number of proprietary LegalTech that’s enabled us to continue to provide first-class service and counsel to a business that has scaled at an impressive pace. Data is everything and lawyers must learn to be data native. This is fundamental for counsels in technology and product-first organisations.
4. What trends do you expect to see in the legal services industry in the next 5 years?
Consolidation of legal services (we’re seeing this with recent mergers and also at the top-end of the market with best of the best advisers very clearly ‘ring-fencing’ what they advise on and how). Obviously an increase in AI for low-value/high-volume work. The creation of legal databases (innovative companies such as Nomio – full disclosure: I am an early investor) and other groundbreaking post-execution product tools will be the second-wave in legal technology – there’s been a lot of focus on pre-execution, but that’s only half the fun!
5. Where do you see NewLaw/ALSP fitting in the matrix of your legal department?
Within the Revolut Legal team this mentality is a fundamental principle under which we operate and service our stakeholders. Regarding how we use advisors, there is always the space/open-mindedness for this approach.
6. Your favourite tune? And why?
My wife and I recently saw Shania Twain in Hyde Park, so I’m going to have to say: You’re Still The One!
KorumLegal is a boutique legal consultancy committed to providing value innovation in legal service delivery. The legal services industry is continuing to change with ‘NewLaw’ – and clients are seeking more innovative and cost-effective solutions without compromise on experience and quality
