Gus Black > Dechert LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Dechert LLP provides ‘clear and direct guidance to clients’ including multi-billion dollar managers and smaller industry players. The practice is well versed in advising hedge funds on cross-border operations, advising on the start-up of new funds and related seed funding deals, while supporting existing funds with regulatory, tax and corporate matters. Leading the team is Gus Black, head of the firm’s financial services group. Abigail Bell advises both hedge and hybrid fund structures on investing in a range of asset classes, assisting with a range of corporate documentation, seed funding transactions and regulatory compliance. Craig Borthwick specialises in large-scale fund launches, with particular expertise in managed accounts and co-investment agreements, while Mikhaelle Schiappacasse, head of the firm’s European ESG group, assists hedge funds across a variety of domiciles on complying with sustainability regimes, including Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

Dechert LLP is a prominent adviser to fund managers on derivatives, though it also acts for investment banks, commercial banks, private equity funds and credit funds on transactional matters, brokerage and regulatory matters. Gus Black, co-chair of the firm’s global financial services group and a fund formation specialist, oversees the derivatives group in London, in which John McGrath and Karen Stretch are the standout partners. Stretch, whose work encompasses transactional derivatives and advice on regulatory compliance, ‘has a unique capability to synthesise complex issues into salient solutions‘. McGrath, whose work spans both transactional matters and advice on disputes concerning derivatives, continues to advise Fondazione Enasarco on the closeout of derivatives positions following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Senior associate Richard Chapman, who joined from AB Derivatives Advisors Limited, handles prime brokerage, derivatives, trading documentation and associated regulatory issues.

Led by Gus Black, the team at Dechert LLP has demonstrable experience advising asset managers on buy-side financial regulatory matters and is well-placed to leverage the firm’s US-law capabilities to handle transatlantic issues. Karen Anderberg advises asset managers on all aspects of US financial services regulatory issues and Katie Carter focuses on the EU and UK regulatory disclosure regimes relating to green financial products, while Colin Sharpsmith joined from Kirkland & Ellis International LLP in September 2022. Other key contacts in the team include Richard Frase and Karen Stretch.

Dechert LLP‘s funds team is recommended for its handling of first-time private equity fund launches and its cross-jurisdictional capability, in close cooperation between the London practice and the firm’s Luxembourg and Ireland teams. Practice head Gus Black is an expert in private equity, private credit and private real estate fund formation and secondaries. Black is supported by ‘great legal mind’ Christopher Gardner, the experienced Thiha Tun and Marianna Tothova, who is dual qualified in England and Wales, and Luxembourg. The firm recently expanded its practice with the addition of Sam Kay, a private equity funds specialist who joined the team from Travers Smith LLP in July 2023.