Kirsten Lapham

Kirsten is a partner in the Regulatory and Investment Funds practice and brings more than 18 years of experience acting for financial institutions and asset managers on regulatory compliance and sustainability issues. 

Kirsten is a leading expert on financial services regulation, investment funds, sustainable finance and ESG legal initiatives. She specialises in all regulatory aspects of fund formation and distribution and provides regulatory advice for fund sponsors on a range of issues including firm authorisations, appointed representative arrangements and change in control. Kirsten also advises in relation to financial crime risk management including sanctions, AML and CTF.

Kirsten has represented some of the largest and most well-known alternative investment managers and credit institutions including TPG, PIMCO, UBS, Citi Private Bank, JP Morgan, Pathway Capital, Pacific Equity Partners, Blackrock, Deerpath Capital and a number of US and UK boutique firms.

Background and experience

Kirsten's practice focuses on asset management financial services regulation and sustainability related requirements. 

Before joining Ogier,  Kirsten was a partner at an elite US law firm where she focused on matters arising under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) and Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) as well as relevant ESG regulations in the UK and EU, including the SFDR, Taxonomy Regulation and the UK FCA SDR.

Kirsten has also held the position of head of asset management for one of the Big Four firms, driving service offerings to the investment and wealth sector across New Zealand and APAC.

Admitted in:
2024 - New Zealand
2011 - New York 
2025 - Cayman