I advise clients on impact financing and investment, across asset classes and geographies. I aim to provide bespoke, innovative and commercially-minded solutions to clients that are seeking to have a positive effect on societies, environments and economies.
My emerging markets practice involves advising state-owned Development Finance Institutions, charitable foundations, impact funds and commercial lenders that are investing in frontier and emerging economies. My UK practice includes advising on social finance transactions, wholesale and structured lending and bespoke financing for both lenders and borrowers. Although the main focus of my work is debt finance, I have a deep understanding of the wider context and the broad range of legal issues that arise when engaging in impact-oriented transactions, including subsidy and State aid matters, public law, international law, financial sanctions and other barriers to trade. I am creative in my approach, whilst being alive to the specific challenges of the market.
Prior to joining Bates Wells, I worked as a Senior Legal Counsel at the British Business Bank, the UK Government’s development finance bank, where I advised on financing, securitisation and guarantee transactions designed to support the UK’s economic growth and improve access to finance for smaller businesses. This included advising on the COVID loan guarantee schemes and their successors, as well as structured guarantees and regulatory capital financings (with delivery partners including Thincats, LendInvest, DF Capital, Cambridge & Counties Bank, Secure Trust Bank, Shawbrook Bank, Cynergy Bank, Oxbury Bank and Allica Bank). I previously spent four years working in the London and Washington DC offices of the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton. At Cleary, I advised on complex financial transactions for sovereign governments, multilateral development institutions and corporates (mostly in emerging markets), including the landmark debt restructuring for the Government of Barbados to enhance the country’s resilience to natural disasters.
The thread throughout my career has been a deep interest in how financing techniques and products can be used to facilitate economic development and reduce inequalities (whether on an international or local scale), and in how the financial services sector can most effectively further the common good alongside achieving financial returns.
- Advising FMO, Proparco and JICA (the development finance institutions of the Dutch, French and Japanese governments) on a multi-currency syndicated senior unsecured facility of approximately USD 160 million for Şekerbank, to support SMEs and micro-enterprises in rural areas, sustainable agriculture and women’s banking in Turkey.
- Advising a charitable foundation on various debt investments in East Africa, including a complex syndicated facility for an e-mobility business.
- Advising Fair4All Finance on various debt financing and portfolio guarantee arrangements with credit unions and community development finance institutions.
- Advising on a retail securities offering for a UK-based community renewable energy project.
- I am the legal expert to the impact investing panel of CFA UK (the leading finance certification provider), and helped develop the CFA’s Impact Investing qualification.