Legal Business

Revolving doors: Brown Rudnick hires in UK, Hogan Lovells bolsters Madrid, Ashurst adds to Paris, HSF boosts Moscow

In a series of banking, finance and tax appointments across the globe, international firms are hiring to boost their financial capacities.

In London, Brown Rudnick has appointed partner Benjamin Klinger from Sidley Austin to expand its bankruptcy and corporate restructuring team. 

Klinger’s practice focuses on cross-border and domestic reorganisation, recovery and turnaround matters representing debtors, creditors and practitioners.

Brown Rudnick’s European bankruptcy and corporate restructuring head Louise Verrill said that Klinger’s hire ‘will add significant depth and breadth to our team, and enhance our ability to provide clients with creative ideas and analysis, and advice that is truly multi-jurisdictional’.

Hogan Lovells has hired DLA Piper’s Alfredo Barona as a banking partner to its Madrid finance practice. He has been a partner at DLA since 2012.

Barona’s practice focuses on advising lenders and borrowers on a wide variety of deals. He is already connected with a number of Hogan Lovells’ existing banking clients. Barona knows the firm well, ‘having been on the opposite side of the table’ to the firm in previous deals.

Hogan Lovells recently secured a 15 partner tie-up in Boston with life sciences and litigation firm Collora.

In Paris, Ashurst has appointed Emmanuelle Pontnau-Faure as a partner in its French tax group. She joined from PwC where she was a director since 2016, having practised as a lawyer at White & Case for 14 years.

Pontnau-Faure advises on a broad range of issues relating to corporate, finance, real estate, litigation and restructuring tax. In February, a five partner Ashurst tax team exited in Paris to Freshfields.

Ashurst’s Paris managing partner, Philippe None, said that Pontnau-Faure will work very closely with the Paris, EMEA and US tax teams.

In Moscow, HSF hired finance and banking partner Dmitry Gubarev from Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, where he was head of the Russian banking and finance practice.

Gubarev specialises in syndicated loans, real estate and infrastructure financings, pre-export financings and structured products. He is also experienced in securitisation transactions and debt restructuring in the Russian market.

His key credentials include acting for Sberbank of Russia and Bank VTB, including recently acting for Sberbank of Russia on RUB31.5 billion sale of distressed debt of a major Russian metals and mining conglomerate to Gazprombank.

HSF’s Moscow managing partner Alexei Roudiak, said the hire ‘builds on our success in the Russian market and the notable expertise Dmitry brings will significantly strengthen and expand the banking and finance capability and brand in Moscow and internationally’.