One of Allen & Overy’s (A&O’s) top
London finance partners is to relocate to the firm’s troubled
Milan office as the City giant moves to boost its
UK banking capability in the region.
Paul Flanagan — one of the magic circle law firm’s biggest billers — will join the Milan office at the beginning of September and has committed to stay for a period of no less than five years.
The move follows the high-profile loss of Milan banking partners Davide Mencacci and Giancarlo Castorino, who joined Linklaters and Italian outfit Marena Bonvicini & Ludergnani respectively earlier this year.
Flanagan, whose clients include Barclays, ABN Amro, Citi, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, has a wide securitisation and structured finance practice. He will also do some private equity work alongside the junior Milan corporate partners.
He will join two UK associates and work alongside US capital markets partner Max Aaron and UK and Canadian-qualified international capital markets partner Craig Byrne.
Milan head Massimiliano Danusso told Legal Week: “Foreign banks often believe that having an integrated team in one location is the best solution. We want to rebuild our banking capability and felt that a UK component was needed — Paul was identified as the right candidate.”
Meanwhile, one of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s rising star corporate partners, Claire Wills, is being transferred from London to Hong Kong for the rest of the summer to bolster office numbers while people are away on sabbatical. Wills, who became a partner in 2001, previously spent two years at Freshfields’ Hong Kong office and is admitted to the Hong Kong Bar.
Wills is known for advising major client Tesco on a number of issues in the past, including its proposed bid for Safeway and its joint venture with Esso Petroleum. She also advised Powergen on its bid by E.ON and Pearson on its disposal of the Tussauds Group.
The move comes after Freshfields made up five new partners internally across its Asian offices this May. The firm also transferred corporate partners James Woods and Ed Cole from London to Tokyo. Wills brings the office to 10 partners.
Additional reporting by Charlotte Edmond.
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