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 advises domestic and international credit institutions, investment firms, payment/e-money institutions, asset managers, funds and other institutions on all aspects of Irish and EU financial services regulation.
Niall’s experience includes advising on regulatory perimeter, licensing, prudential and conduct of business requirements. He also has significant commodities regulatory experience.
He is part of the team that advises global financial services groups on establishing regulated entities in Ireland to manage the impact of Brexit. He is also a member of our FinTech Group.
He has also helped clients facing Central Bank of Ireland or European Central Bank regulatory authority inspections, themed reviews, risk mitigation programmes and administrative sanctions procedures.
Niall’s experience includes advising on regulatory perimeter, licensing, prudential and conduct of business requirements. He also has significant commodities regulatory experience.
He is part of the team that advises global financial services groups on establishing regulated entities in Ireland to manage the impact of Brexit. He is also a member of our FinTech Group.
Niall advises on:
- implementing regulatory change projects and remediation exercises
- financial institution and utility company mergers and acquisitions
- regulated asset (e.g. loan book) sale transactions
- winding down regulated business.
He has also helped clients facing Central Bank of Ireland or European Central Bank regulatory authority inspections, themed reviews, risk mitigation programmes and administrative sanctions procedures.
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.
Experience and recent work
Before joining Walkers, Niall worked as an associate at Arthur Cox, Dublin. Including an apprenticeship he was based there for nine years and was a member of the Financial Regulatory and Energy Regulatory Groups.
Qualifications
Admitted in:
- Ireland
Education:
- LLB, Trinity College, Dublin
Niall is a member of the Association of Compliance Officers in Ireland (ACOI) and the Incorporated Law Society of Ireland.
Niall is a member of the multijurisdictional Walkers Global FinTech group.
Niall is a member of the multijurisdictional Walkers Global FinTech group.
2026 - Legal 500 - Fintech - Next Generation Partners: "Niall Esler has a deep knowledge of the regulatory landscape and applies a superb commercial and practical focus."
2025 - Chambers Europe - Financial Services Regulatory - Band 3:
"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."
2024 - Legal 500 - Next Generation Partner, Fintech - "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."
Rising Star in Euromoney's Expert Guides 2017
Team Members
