Latham To Add Two Market-Leading Structured Finance Partners in London
Latham & Watkins is pleased to announce that Franz Ranero and James Smallwood will join the London office as partners in the Structured Finance Practice. Highly regarded in their field, Ranero and Smallwood regularly advise investment funds, financial institutions, and asset managers on a variety of complex, cross-border structured finance and structured products transactions, with a particular focus on collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and bespoke funding solutions.
“Franz and James are market-leading practitioners with a wealth of experience advising on sophisticated transactions that are the hallmark of our practice,” said Ed Barnett, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins’ London office. “Their arrival will further strengthen our capabilities and will solidify our position in the market as the premier firm for cutting-edge structured finance transactions.”
Ranero and Smallwood are recognized leaders in the CLO market, with decades of experience advising arrangers and managers across the full spectrum of transactions, including public CLO transactions, warehouse financings, fund financings, and asset-backed loan transactions. They also advise on balance sheet management and regulatory capital matters and Ranero is a prominent advisor in the social finance and impact investing sphere, including external non-executive positions and counselling wholesale participants on market infrastructure.
“Franz’s and James’s extensive technical knowledge and reputation in the structured finance arena, particularly in CLOs and fund finance, will add significant firepower to our already strong global team,” said Jeremiah Wagner, Global Co-Chair of Latham’s Structured Finance Practice and Global Co-Chair of the firm’s Fund Finance Group. “Expanding our capabilities in Europe and the US is a key priority for the firm, and Franz and James will be instrumental in helping us achieve our ambitious goals for the practice.”
“Latham’s purpose-built finance platform gives clients an unrivalled 360˚ view and unmatched depth across the entire finance landscape — in London, across Europe, and globally,” said Jennifer Brennan, Global Vice Chair of Latham’s Finance Department. “Franz and James are innovative, entrepreneurial, and collaborative practitioners with decades of experience advising at the forefront of this dynamic market. Their experience complements our existing top-tier capabilities in private capital, leveraged finance, capital markets, restructuring, and real estate, among other areas, and we will be delighted to welcome them to the firm.”
Ranero is listed as a leading structured finance lawyer (Band 1) in Chambers, rated as Highly Regarded in IFLR 1000, and listed in the Hall of Fame as a leading securitization lawyer in Legal 500, where he is referred to as “the Grand Master” of the CLO market, underscoring his unparalleled expertise and leadership in the field.
Ranero and Smallwood join Latham from A&O Shearman. Ranero received his Bachelor of Business and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Technology, Sydney, and his Master of Laws from the University of Tasmania. Smallwood holds an LLB from the College of Law Moorgate and a BA from the University of York.