We are delighted to announce that David Thomas, a renowned expert in financial markets and banking, the former Chairman of the British Polish Chamber of Commerce and CEO in many financial institutions in London and Warsaw, i.a. HSBC Polska, has joined Kochański & Partners as Head of International Finance.

David has over 35 years of experience in leading debt and equity projects, in both the public and private placement markets, in Poland, Europe and the Unites States. David has led a wide range of cross-border M&A and worked on projects funded by the World Bank, EBRD, the African Development Bank and various government funds. He has advised both government departments and commercial clients, including on the privatisations and initial public offerings of Elektrim, Exbud, Żywiec, Telekomunikacja Polska (currently: Orange), PKO BP, and PGNiG. David Thomas has also carried out his own business projects in the FinTech sector, and has previously worked with Kochański & Partners as UK market analysis advisor on projects to list Polish companies on the London Stock Exchange.

We will also be expanding our Banking and Finance department with the appointment of Konrad Werner as a new Partner and Head of practice. An attorney at law with nearly 15 years of professional experience gained in leading international law firms, our new practice head has advised on significant transactions in the banking sector, including bank acquisitions and mergers and regulatory issues, working on the first cross-border merger involving Polish bank and also having advised on real estate and infrastructure finance transactions, including as lead counsel coordinating international transactions.

Delivering the highest quality of services to our Clients has always been our goal, so I am delighted that such experienced and recognized experts are joining the Kochański & Partners team. We work on challenging FinTech projects, where their expertise and experience in both international finance and regulatory aspects will be invaluable. Their arrival will significantly strengthen our team in terms of providing legal services to banks and advising on the financing of energy and infrastructure projects – summarised Piotr Kochański, Managing Partner at Kochański & Partners.

The strengthening of teams dealing with the financial sector and new technologies reflects the strategic direction of the Kochański & Partners development. For many years, we have provided regulatory and technological services to the largest entities in the banking sector. Our experts have recently been involved, among others, in the development of the PolishCloud 2.0 Standard, i.e. a standard for the implementation of public and hybrid cloud computing services. The document was developed by a working group established by the Banking Technology Forum and the Electronic Banking Council of the Polish Bank Association. For more information, please see our communication. Currently, our experts are involved in projects including the so-called Decentralized Finance (DeFi) – an area of solutions offering services equivalent to traditional financial products and services, dedicated to blockchain and related assets such as cryptocurrencies and tokens (e.g. NFT). Our Web 3.0 team assist Clients in aspects including choosing the right licensing model and designing the IT architecture of DeFi solutions from a legal perspective.

24 February 2022

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