Ever-expanding White & Case has bulked up its London financial services team, taking on BNY Mellon’s EMEA regulatory head.
James Greig is also a member of the bank’s European operating committee and sat on a various senior risk and regulatory committees for BNY Mellon (International), the company’s London-based UK bank and The Bank of New York Mellon, the firm’s Brussels-based European bank.
Prior to his time at BNY Mellon, Greig was a partner in PwC’s financial services regulatory group in London. Greig made the move to PwC from New York where he was a partner at WilmerHale servicing clients on both buy-side and sell side.
White & Case head of global financial institutions advisory practice Kevin Petrasic described Greig as an ‘experienced and highly-regarded senior lawyer’ who would ‘help anchor our EMEA practice’ in the wake of the Brexit vote.
He added: ‘The volume and pace of regulatory change since the financial crash remains substantial, and we continue to experience strong and growing client demand for regulatory advice in the UK and EU across all areas of our practice, including capital markets, corporate, private equity, banking, M&A and restructuring matters.’
White & Case has expanded heavily in recent months with the firm taking on a ten-partner project finance team from Herbert Smith Freehills in Australia, launching two offices in Melbourne and Sydney.
The US firm also added to its global tax practice last month with the addition of London-based Michael Wistow as co-head of the firm’s tax practice in EMEA from Berwin Leighton Paisner. His practice is focused on corporate, finance and real estate industry-based transactions and clients.
White & Case has been aggressive in the City, aiming to have more than 500 lawyers in London in four years as part of its 2020 strategy. By revenue it inched ahead of Latham & Watkins last year in 2015, with around £2m more in revenues. White & Case posted London revenue of £185m while Latham was behind at £183m.
madeleine.farman@legalease.co.uk