Niall Esler
Partner
Ireland
Niall is head of our Regulatory & Risk Advisory Practice Group in Walkers' Ireland office and specialises in Irish and EU financial services regulation.
Niall specialises in Irish and EU financial services regulation and joined Walkers in 2018.
Niall advises domestic and international credit institutions, investment firms, asset managers, FinTechs (including payment/e-money institutions and crypto-asset service providers) and other financial institutions on all aspects of Irish and EU financial services regulation.
Niall’s work includes helping clients in relation to:
- applying the regulatory perimeter including cross-border issues
- licensing applications
- prudential requirements
- conduct of business requirements (particularly in relation to investment services, consumer and corporate lending, payments, crypto-assets, credit servicing and banking services)
- anti-money laundering and sanctions
- outsourcing and operational resilience
- fitness and probity and individual accountability
- inspections, investigations and regulatory audits, including administrative sanctions procedures
- remediation, including addressing risk mitigation programmes
- compliance frameworks and training
- regulatory aspects of transactional documentation
- mergers and acquisitions in the financial sector and transfers of regulated assets
- new products
Niall regularly advises in the FinTech sector, including assisting innovative firms with the requirements to establish and operate in Ireland and/or serve Irish customers, as well as traditional finance firms integrating innovative solutions.
Experience and recent work
Prior to joining Walkers, Niall worked as an associate in a large domestic Irish law firm where he was based for nine years, including apprenticeship, as a member of the Financial Regulatory and Energy Groups.
Qualifications
Admitted in:
- Ireland
Education:
- LLB, Trinity College, Dublin
- Admitted to the Roll of Solicitors, Ireland
Niall is an active member of industry working groups and boards, currently including:
- Blockchain Ireland - Legal & Regulatory Working Group
- Irish MiFID Industry Association - Management Company working group
- Irish Funds - "Investment Firm" working group
2026 - Chambers Europe - Financial Services Regulatory:
"Niall builds strong relationships, understands his clients' business priorities and delivers clear, actionable advice that they can rely on."
"Niall is a real pleasure to work with. He is commercial, confident and quick to respond."
2026 - Chambers FinTech Legal Ireland: "Niall Esler has a very good understanding of the business. He's proactive and asks the right questions, gets in contact with you and is always available to support you."
2026 - Legal 500 - Fintech - Next Generation Partner:
"Niall Esler was able to understand the very core of our technical offering and explain how it fits in the regulatory landscape. He is a problem solver and picks up technical concepts very quickly."
"We deal with Niall Esler. We find Niall very responsive and helpful. He will always give good advice, including on the operational aspects of regulatory compliance."
2025 - Chambers Europe - Financial Services Regulatory:
"Niall is very technically literate with a very good understanding of the wider financial regulatory space."
"Niall Esler is a superb lawyer."
"He is a consummate professional distinguished by his sound judgement and robust advice. His approach is always measured and thoughtful, making collaboration with him a thoroughly enjoyable experience."
2025 - Chambers FinTech Legal Ireland:
"Niall Esler was excellent to deal with throughout our engagement and I have since recommended him to many other firms."
"Niall provides quick, clear and insightful responses. He's commercially strong where it comes to delivering against requests. The guidance received from Niall is both pragmatic and strategic."
2025 - Legal 500 - Fintech - Next Generation Partner: "Niall Esler has a deep knowledge of the regulatory landscape and applies a superb commercial and practical focus."
2024 - Legal 500 - Fintech - Next Generation Partner: "Niall Esler is excellent, technically proficient, and thinks in terms of the client's needs on a practical basis when advising them on legal matters."
2024 - IFLR1000 - Financial Services Regulatory: "Niall has a strong ability to listen to us as a client before providing clever, bespoke, strategic solutions that enable us to address the concern we might have raised."
2022 - IFLR 1000: "Very engaged and responsive, listens carefully to client requests and delivers well-considered, detailed legal advice. Strong industry and regulatory knowledge which is applied very effectively in advice."
Team Members
