Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Davis Polk is a global law firm with a distinguished history of 175 years, offering comprehensive legal services to leading companies and financial institutions worldwide. The firm operates strategically across key financial centres and political capitals, providing sophisticated advice, practical solutions, and seamless collaboration across practice groups and geographies. Its legal expertise spans antitrust and competition, capital markets, civil litigation, corporate governance, data privacy and cybersecurity, derivatives and structured products, environmental law, executive compensation, finance, financial institutions, investment management, intellectual property litigation and commercial transactions, liability management, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, private wealth, public company advisory, real estate, restructuring, sponsor finance, tax, and white-collar defense and investigations.

Davis Polk operates under various entities internationally: in London as Davis Polk & Wardwell London LLP, in Hong Kong as Davis Polk & Wardwell, Hong Kong Solicitors, in Brussels as Davis Polk & Wardwell Brussels LLP, and in Brazil as Davis Polk & Wardwell, Consultores em Direito Estrangeiro/Norte-Americano e Inglês.

The London office comprises over 60 English- and US-qualified lawyers advising corporate, private equity, and investment banking clients across Europe. The team provides strategic counsel on capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, finance, restructuring, tax, executive compensation, financial regulatory, and antitrust and competition matters. Its lawyers also handle corporate governance, activism preparedness, sensitive internal investigations, and regulatory issues.

The capital markets group advises on a wide range of debt, equity, and structured product transactions, supporting issuers and underwriters across industries and jurisdictions, including Europe, the New York Stock Exchange, and Nasdaq. The team has extensive experience with regulatory aspects, including EU financial services regulation, the UK sponsor regime, US securities regulation, and the JOBS Act.

The mergers and acquisitions practice manages complex, cross-border transactions for strategic and financial buyers and sellers, including joint ventures and multibillion-dollar mergers. The team has significant experience with the UK Takeover Code, Listing Rules, and equity financings, working closely with tax, finance, antitrust, and regulatory lawyers.

The finance practice advises banks, financial institutions, credit funds, and borrowers on corporate loans, leveraged and investment-grade acquisitions, bridge loans, high-yield bonds, structured financings, derivatives, recapitalisations, and debt restructurings, including leveraged finance and complex syndications.

The tax team collaborates with transactional lawyers to address corporate tax matters in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, spinoffs, reorganisations, debt and bond financing, and equity capital raisings, ensuring compliance with both UK and US tax rules.

The executive compensation practice provides guidance on compensation and benefits, including management incentive plans and long-term incentive arrangements for public and private companies, and advises boards and senior management on corporate governance matters.

The financial regulatory team advises banks, investment firms, insurance companies, and asset managers on authorisations, corporate governance, remuneration, market conduct, and regulatory investigations, including anti-money laundering, anti-bribery, and fraud matters.

The antitrust and competition team provides guidance on cross-border merger reviews, regulatory investigations, foreign direct investment and national security screening, and emerging regulatory regimes such as the EU Digital Markets Act and Foreign Subsidies Regulation.

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