Gide Loyrette Nouel LLP

Based in Gide's London office, Samir advises international financial institutions, investment funds and corporations on their structured finance and securitisation transactions. His expertise covers the structuring of domestic and international transactions across many different asset classes (including SME loans, trade receivables, lease receivables, syndicated loans, whole business securitisations and project bonds), sectors (such as financial institutions, oil & gas, agribusiness, manufacturing, real estate) and jurisdictions, including in emerging markets. Samir has been involved in many innovative and high-profile structured finance transactions in Europe over recent years, such as one of the largest trade receivables securitisation programmes in Europe, the first rated car fleet securitisation in Belgium and the setting up of a major French project bonds transaction. Samir also regularly acts for clients on various other finance matters, such as loans portfolio sales, the setting up of debt funds, complex debt financings, debt trading and risk transfer transactions.

Admitted to the New York Bar in 2010 and Paris Bar in 2018, Saadia Bhatty is a partner within Gide's Dispute Resolution practice group in London. She has more than 13 years' experience (including in Paris and New York) as counsel to private and state entities in cross-border disputes, in particular in international arbitration proceedings (commercial and investment), governed by the rules of various institutions (including ICC, ICSID, LCIA, PCA, SCC, HKIAC, VIAC, CAS and OHADA rules), as well as in ad hoc arbitrations (UNCITRAL), subject to the laws of both civil and common law jurisdictions. Fields of expertise include the energy, oil and gas, and construction sectors, particularly in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Saadia also advises governments in the drafting/reform of their investment treaties and national legislation. She is a graduate from Harvard Law School, the Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University in Paris, and the Ecole Normale Supérieure Saadia regularly writes articles, lectures in top universities, trains private practitioners and government officials, and speaks at conferences in international arbitration across the world.

Dimitrios Logizidis

Dimitrios Logizidis is a Partner in Gide's "Banking and Finance team" in London. He specialises in structured finance. He advises financial institutions, private equity funds and corporations on a wide range of asset-backed finance, securitisation and covered bond transactions. In particular, Dimitrios has advised arrangers, private equity funds and originators on major Whole Business Securitisation transactions of up to €3 billion. He advised the arrangers on the Whole Business Hertz/Fraikin, Europcar/Eurazéo and ALD Automotive/Société Générale securitisations. Dimitrios also advised BNP Paribas as arranger on one of the largest pan-European trade receivables securitisation transactions for the Teva Group, involving eight different jurisdictions. Dimitrios is Solicitor in England and Avocat à la Cour in France. He advises on both French and English law.

Rupert is an English Barrister and an Avocat à la Cour. He is head of the Firm's dispute resolution team in London. He specialises in international arbitration relating to construction, joint ventures, aerospace and international commerce. Having started his career as a Barrister in London in 1992, Rupert joined Gide Loyrette Nouel in Paris in 1995 and became a partner in 2001. He relocated to the Gide office in London in 2012. Rupert acts as counsel in arbitration proceedings in English and/or French, most frequently under the ICC or LCIA rules. He has also appeared before tribunals under a variety of institutional rules in Asia, the Middle East and Central Europe. He is "an excellent advocate who masters technical details of complex projects". Rupert is regularly appointed as an arbitrator. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.