Richard Levy

Richard is a senior capital markets partner who advises major corporates and financial institutions on complex international capital markets transactions, including investment and sub-investment grade debt offerings, issues of regulatory capital instruments, liability management transactions and restructurings. He has been actively involved advising issuers in the fall-out from the global financial crisis.

Richard established and led the firm’s Amsterdam office, where he was managing partner between 2003 and 2007, as well as helping to set up that office’s capital markets practice. He headed the Equity and Debt Markets group in the firm’s London office between 2012 and 2016.

Richard is part of the team involved in assessing potential lateral partner hires into the firm. 

Work highlights

Richard has led on many significant debt capital markets deals.  Highlights include advising:

• Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on many of its capital raising and funding activities, including its £25.5bn recapitalisation by the UK government, various liability management exercises, the transfer of a substantial part of the business activities of RBS N.V. to RBS plc (involving more than €300bn of assets and liabilities), the sale of the IPED business to BNP Paribas, ringfencing, the various senior and subordinated issuances that have taken place in recent years (including its Additional Tier 1 issues), the Williams & Glyn pre-IPO bond, intra-group funding arrangements, and the establishment of the Ulster Bank Euro Medium Term Note (EMTN) programme
• the underwriters on the capital raising activities of Standard Chartered, including its AT1 issues
• Swedbank on its US$15bn Medium Term Note programme and on its issue of US$500m AT1 securities
• United Trust Bank on its debut AT1 issue
• Novo Banco (the “good bank” created as part of the resolution of Banco Espírito Santo (BES) in Portugal) on the restructuring of its debt
• African Bank in South Africa on its resolution. The curatorship of African Bank was South Africa's only experience of a bank curatorship in recent history
• the underwriters on Nordea’s debut AT1 issue
• Julius Baer on its issue of CHF250m Tier1 bonds 
• the underwriters on issues of hybrid capital securities by SSE and Enel
• the underwriters on the debut US$4bn bond offering by the Republic of Kenya
• Arcelik on its issue of EUR350m Notes and consent solicitations in respect of its EUR and USD bonds
• the underwriters on the €550m bond issue by Bulgarian Energy Holding, an electricity and gas supplier wholly owned by the Bulgarian state
• the issuer or underwriters of bond issues by various issuers, including Rio Tinto, National Express, John Lewis, William Hill, Kennedy Wilson Europe, ASR in The Netherlands, Belfius Bank in Belgium, Petrol in Slovenia, BUPA, Wellcome Trust, Tullett Prebon and Provident Financial 

Richard was a member of the UK Debt Market Forum, a group of experts set up by the Financial Conduct Authority to recommend practical measures to improve the effectiveness of UK primary listed debt markets.

Richard studied law at Trinity Hall, Cambridge.