"Latham & Watkins' Moscow capital markets team has a strong record on advising on IPOs and other equity offerings, as well as Eurobonds and depositary."
The Legal 500 EMEA 2011

Moscow

Since 1992, the Moscow office has assisted Russian companies with capital markets and domestic and cross border private/public M&A transactions, and foreign investors with business interests in Russia and the CIS.

With 20 lawyers qualified to practice Russian, US and English law, Latham’s Moscow team advises clients doing business in the country on a wide range of transactional matters across all industry sectors. Clients turn to the Moscow office for its experienced counsel on capital markets, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and finance. The office also has wide experience beyond Russia, and has acted on transactions throughout the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

Key Practice Areas

The Moscow office has a leading capital markets team regularly advising issuers, investment banks and other Russian capital markets participants on international and domestic securities offerings.

The firm’s M&A team in Moscow advises Russian and international financial and strategic investors on the structuring, financing and implementation of single country and cross-border inbound and outbound mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, strategic investments, spin-offs, and corporate governance and regulatory/antitrust matters.

The finance team in Moscow advises on all types of financing transactions, from regular bilateral loan to complex syndicated financings with extensive security packages. The team also has significant experience acting on financial restructuring transactions in Russia and the CIS.

Latham’s Russian team is ideally placed to assist international and local clients with all aspects of their day-to-day operations in Russia. The team can advise on set-up of local presence through branches or subsidiaries, assist with obtaining relevant licences and approvals, advise on commercial contracts, real estate matters, currency control and other aspects of local regulatory environment.

Awards & Rankings

Latham won praise in the Financial Times' European Innovative Lawyers 2011 report, and was “Highly Commended” in the report’s Corporate Law category for the firm’s work advising New York-listed client MTS on its merger with London-listed Comstar and parallel voluntary tender offer. The Financial Times also honored the firm for “combining Russian law mechanisms for the first time, and synchronizing Russian, UK and US aspects of the deal."

Latham & Watkins' Moscow office provides pro bono assistance to a variety of local and international non-profit and charitable organizations, including:

  • AIDS Foundation East-West (AFEW)
  • Dobroe Delo
  • Dobrynya Club
  • Moscow Union Chernobyl
  • NGO Volunteers to Help Orphans

The office regularly participates in the Public Interest Law Institute’s Moscow Pro Bono Clearinghouse, and sponsors Moscow’s annual United Way Christmas Bazaar.

In 2012, the Moscow office began working with the Centre for Development of Legal Clinics (CDLC), a non-profit organization established in 2011 by legal clinics of such well-known Russian law schools as Moscow State University, Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, Moscow State Academy of Law and others. CDLC is focused on the formation and development of legal clinics in Russia.

As part of the firm's collaboration with CDLC, Latham's Moscow-based lawyers are conducting a series of trainings and presentations for students on legal clinics in jurisdictions outside of Russia, basic principles of legal ethics and on representing, interviewing and advising clients.
Survey of Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities

A multi-office team of nearly 100 Latham & Watkins lawyers and professional staff from across the firm’s offices globally conducted extensive research to prepare the 2012 edition of the “Survey of Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities” report. Conducted in conjunction with the Pro Bono Institute (PBI), the unique report is an essential resource for local practitioners, in-house teams and non-profits on pro bono practices around the world.