Daniel Franks > Norton Rose Fulbright > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Ashurst is highly regarded for both its derivatives and structured products expertise, and clients praise the depth of its bench in London, which includes eight transactional partners and five regulatory specialists. The combination of skills enables the firm to provide end-to-end advice on structured finance matters, as well as taking on huge projects, such as Santander’s entire bank LIBOR transition programme. The firm counts top-tier investment banks as clients, among them BNP Paribas and Morgan Stanley, and it has one of the busiest repackaging practices in the City. Head of global markets Michael Logie, who one client believes is ‘the pre-eminent structured products lawyer in London‘, oversees the work of the derivatives and structured products teams. He is a key adviser to Goldman Sachs on its global structured products business under English law. Standout partner James Coiley is ‘highly pragmatic, very client-focused, and willing to think outside the box to provide solutions for complex issues‘. Structured finance expert Daniel Franks assisted the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) with amendments to its Global Master Securities Lending Agreement for use with digital assets. Jonathan Haines, who advises financial institutions on securities financing and derivatives, ‘has distinct expertise and knowledge in respect to prime brokerage services and his ability to find solutions to technical legal issues is invaluable‘. Structured products expert Jasmine Tiw, OTC fixed income derivatives specialist James Knight, and commodity and corporate equity derivatives partner Kerion Ball are all leaders in their fields.

Acting for global banking and financial services clients as well as fintech start-ups and disruptors, Ashurst‘s fintech practice is especially active in matters relating to digital assets, digital money – such as central bank digital currencies – and the creation of digital platforms. A small number of partners jointly chair the practice: Etay Katz, known for guiding major banks through technological transformations; David Futter, whose fintech practice extends to the development of digital platform based payment projects; Jonathan Cohen, particularly active in the UK neo-bank sector; Tara Waters, a technology specialist with notable experience of work involving distributed ledgers and cryptoassets; and Bradley Rice, who is handling a growing volume of mandates related to the emergence of new forms of digital money. Jacob Gold and Daniel Franks are further key contacts.