Norton Rose Fulbright gets new global heads of banking and corporate

Norton Rose Fulbright gets new global heads of banking and corporate

The in-house promotions see Partners Ayse Yuksel Mahfoud and Nick Grandage taking charge of the firm's corporate and banking practices respectively

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has named new heads of its corporate and banking practices. While Ayse Yuksel Mahfoud has now been designated as the global head of corporate, M&A and securities, Nick Grandage will the baking and finance practices.

The duo will split the work previously done by global head of business Martin McCann who moves to lead the firm's emerging markets and mining practices.

The appointments are the latest moves to come down from NRF's global chief executive Gerry Pecht, who stepped into the role earlier this year taking over from 20-year veteran Peter Martyr as part of a wider leadership overhaul.

Pecht commented that the appointments emphasised the firm prioritising both corporate and our banking and finance practices globally. "Ayse and Nick will continue to grow these groups and enhance our offerings, ensuring our clients have a seamless and superior experience throughout the world," Garry Pecht said in a statement released by the firm.

Yuksel Mahfoud, who splits her time between Istanbul and New York, specialises in M&A, private equity, privatisations, joint ventures, strategic alliances, capital markets and SPAC deals.

Following NRF's 2017 merger with smaller New York outfit Chadbourne & Parke, Yuksel Mahfoud became partner-in-charge of its associated Turkish firm — now known as Inal Unver Attorney Partnership.

Grandage, who has experience of acting on international structured finance transactions with an emphasis on the financing of international trade flows and transactions in the commodity sector. He has been associated with the firm since 2010 after spending 21 years at Dentons.

"With more than 800 lawyers across the world's financial centers, our banking and finance practice is ideally positioned to offer innovative solutions to financial institutions and other clients," Grandage said in a statement, adding that the NRF's global team will be at the forefront of providing client support through the changes ahead considering the rapidly transforming banking and finance sectors.

NRF had recently undertaken a restructuring. Its EMEA arm had axed 132 employees including 19 associates and counsel under the plan to restructure its business services operation to boost efficiency and cut costs in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.