Ingrid York > White & Case LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

White & Case LLP has ‘excellent technical expertise and is very responsive and efficient‘. The firm works on derivatives for both investment and hedging purposes, covering all asset classes, and is highly regarded for synthetic securitisation and Islamic derivatives. Practice head Ingrid York is ‘the best at structured products and complex derivatives‘, according to one client, and another notes that she has ‘great commercial awareness and market insight‘. Anthony Colegrave, who joined from Allen & Overy LLP in 2022 and is is dual-qualified in England & Wales and South Africa, focuses primarily on equity derivatives and hedging solutions, and frequently handles South African financial regulatory work including exchange control, derivatives and securities lending. Counsel Nathaniel Crowley is ‘a good technical lawyer with a practical and commercial approach‘. Crowley and ‘very responsive and organised‘ associate Phillan Amin worked with York to assist The Ministry of Finance of Montenegro with a suite of ISDA Master Agreements entered into with a select group of international banks in connection with FX and Interest rate derivative transactions. Debashis Dey advises banks, corporates and governments on structured finance.

Benefitting from a ‘depth of experience and knowledge in Islamic finance’ gained from its London, Middle East and Asia offices, White & Case LLP is a ‘trusted partner’ for a varied client base including lenders, corporates, funds and sovereign governments engaged in complex multi-jurisdictional transactions. Splitting his time between London and Dubai, Debashis Dey is global head of the practice and ‘provides a lot of helpful technical and market practice advice’, particularly in the context of Sharia-compliant capital markets transactions for both issuers and underwriters. Ingrid York is also an integral member of the team, who as part of her overarching structured finance and derivatives experience regularly handles Sharia-compliant work for banks, sponsors and corporates requiring trading and hedging documentation.

White & Case LLP has deep practices in debt finance, capital markets, mining and metals, and project finance, all of which combine to bring in large trade finance mandates. Clients praise its ‘good work overall in getting support on issues related to trade finance‘ and note that key partner Christopher Czarnocki has ‘impressive commercial knowledge, is responsive to request and issues, and always comes across really well‘. The firm has a prominent role in high-end structured trade and commodity finance transactions, frequently acting for bank creditors, traders and offtakers, exporters and sellers, sovereigns, and state-owned entities such as national oil companies. Czarnocki advises Ghana’s Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Energy in a project to monetise royalties payable to the state by companies operating in the gold commodity sector. Emerging markets debt finance partner James Hardy and leading derivatives specialist Ingrid York also play pivotal roles in the practice.