Advising commodity corporates, financial institutions, and trading houses, Linklaters LLP handles a broad mix of complex transactions, contentious matters, and regulatory mandates. The team is led Deepak Sitlani, who heads the Derivatives and Financial Markets group, and David Phillips, an experienced capital markets partner with decades of experience advising on structured derivatives and capital markets transactions. Simon Firth advises on OTC derivatives and securities financing transactions spanning a broad range of asset classes. Regulatory capital issuances, emerging market loan syndications through SPVs, and large exchange-traded product platforms are among the areas of expertise for Vinay Samani. Synthetic securitisations, significant risk transfer transactions, and wider risk transfer structures across multiple formats are core to Leanne Banfield‘s practice. Michael Voisin retired from the team in spring 2026.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- Sarah Willis, Richard Hay, and the team are very responsive and manage group customer discussions on rulebooks, etc., in an impressive way.
- Real depth of experience across a diverse range of structured products.
- Leanne Banfield and her team are proactive, commercial, and exceptional at managing transactions in the SRT space with keenness and rigor. They are extremely accessible, helpful, and enjoyable to work with.
- Comprehensive coverage of a wide array of derivatives topics; no one else even comes close.
- James Joseph is phenomenal - highly responsive, technically excellent, and gets even the most complex commercial points immediately. He sets the standard and is a delight to work with. David Phillips is a leader in the field and runs the best derivatives and structured finance practice in the City.
- Linklaters has particular strength in complex derivatives and structured finance. It has the deepest bench of lawyers for this work in the market, and we are consistently impressed by its performance on transactions.
- Sarah Willis has deep knowledge and expertise across clearing and quickly applies commercial direction or internal requirements to the instruction. Richard Hay is among the few experts for digital matters. Michael Kent is pragmatic and calm, moving things forward in a way that appears effortless.
- Deepak Sitlani (Partner) - technically strong, commercially astute, and with an excellent understanding of ISDA documentation widely used across the industry to document OTC derivative trades. Suzanna Brunton (Counsel) - extremely technical and responsive.
- Leanne Banfield is a standout adviser in the derivatives and structured products space and someone you quickly come to rely on for complex, time-critical matters. She combines deep technical expertise with sharp commercial judgment, delivering advice that is clear, pragmatic, and focused on execution. She is widely regarded as an industry leader in capital relief, synthetic securitizations, and carbon-linked products. Leanne Banfield is simply a firecracker! —energetic, creative, and always across the detail. She cuts through complexity with ease, anticipates issues early, and brings a calm, solution-driven approach even in the most demanding situations. The wider team supporting her is equally strong (including Jenn Chan)—responsive, well-coordinated, and technically excellent—making for a seamless client experience.
- Linklaters’ Derivatives and Structured Products practice is consistently among the strongest in the market. The team combines outstanding technical expertise with a deep understanding of client priorities, delivering advice that is both highly sophisticated and commercially practical. A key differentiator is their genuine partnership approach. It always feels like a true partnership when working with Linklaters; they invest time in understanding us as an institution—our priorities, internal processes, and commercial objectives—which materially enhances the quality and relevance of their advice.
Key clients
- International Swaps and Derivatives Association Inc. (ISDA)
- World Gold Council
- RWE Supply & Trading GmbH
Work highlights
Acting for ISDA on the evolution of its standard terms for the spot, forward, and option trading of verified carbon credits via the ISDA Verified Carbon Credit Transactions Definitions.
Advised the World Gold Council on a wholesale digital ecosystem for the Loco London gold market.
Advised RWE Supply & Trading GmbH (RWE), a global energy trading house, on the execution of an anchor 20-year definitive offtake agreement for the delivery of approximately 1 million tonnes per year (MTPA) of LNG from Glenfarne Group’s Texas LNG project in the United States.
Lawyers
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Leading partners
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Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
Deepak Sitlani; David Phillips
Other key lawyers
Simon Firth; Vinay Samani; Leanne Banfield