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December 12, 2022
New London partner is a market leader on ESG strategy, policies and transactions.
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP today announced the addition of ESG finance and investment partner Sukhvir Basran in the firm’s London office.
Basran joins Cadwalader from Hogan Lovells, where she co-established and co-led the firm’s Global Sustainable Finance and Investment Group. Combining her substantial experience as a banking and finance lawyer and in sustainable finance and investment, Basran advises a range of clients on ESG strategies, policies, frameworks, disclosure and reporting, ESG-related transactions and products, and the integration and alignment of ESG across investment processes.
“In today’s environment, every law firm client will be impacted by the drive towards a sustainable future,” said Cadwalader Managing Partner Pat Quinn. “Virtually all our private credit and financial institution clients now seek specialist advice on ESG, and we have been very active in establishing a world-class ESG offering, spanning these and other practice areas. Sukhvir expands that team with exceptional credentials in sustainable finance and deep experience in London. She is a true market leader in this space and will strengthen the London office’s service to our clients across funds finance, private credit, securitization, CLOs and real estate finance.”
“Now more than ever, clients require specialist ESG counsel across a range of transactions and other special situations in different jurisdictions,” Sukhvir Basran said. “Every aspect of business and finance is being affected by multiple, interrelated factors, including stakeholder pressure, law and regulation, and investor expectations. Market participants are having to navigate the rapid evolution of this market and to create efficient, effective and innovative financial and investment solutions. I look forward to engaging closely with Cadwalader’s clients and expanding relationships with my existing clients in addressing the challenges they face and delivering on these important priorities.”
Added ESG Practice Leader Jason Halper, “The question of ‘how’ to integrate ESG within investment processes and financial structures is challenging and requires in-depth understanding of each aspect of E, S and G and how they interrelate. Climate change and biodiversity loss is an especially pertinent legal issue, and changing regulations require global companies to address climate change disclosure, governance, risk assessment, and more. Sukhvir brings to our ESG practice and to our firm the necessary expertise and experience to provide such critical guidance to clients.”
Added London Managing Partner Greg Petrick, “Sukhvir is another outstanding addition to our expanding London office and will bring her world-class ESG expertise to all our practice areas in the market. Most transactions we work on in London already have some elements of ESG, and companies increasingly look to create ESG-compliant funds and securitizations. Sukhvir will play a critical role in helping our clients navigate ever-changing UK and EU regulations in connection with ESG. She is very well known and highly respected throughout London, Europe and globally as a leader in sustainable finance and will be integral to the continued ESG services we are able to provide to our clients.”
In addition to her client work, Basran works closely with trade associations and industry bodies, standard setters, and data providers to deliver an end-to-end service for clients. She is involved with several organizations and financial institutions in the Gender Lens and diversity investing space to develop products and deepen engagement to promote gender equality outcomes. She is a member of the Loan Market Association’s ESG committee, is Independent Chair of the 2X Global’s inaugural board, is on the Steering Committee of GenderSmart JEDI, is a member of the Global Alliance of Impact Lawyers’ Board and is working on a UN-led Taskforce on the creation of an ESG Board Certification. She also launched “Aurora: The Gender Lens Project” with the 2X Collaborative and GenderSmart.
Basran’s arrival is another important addition to Cadwalader’s London team. Cadwalader recently added financial regulatory partner Alix Prentice and expanded its private credit and special situations capabilities through the addition of partners Bevis Metcalfe and Matthew Smith. More broadly across the firm, in the last 18 months, Cadwalader has also added partners Kenneth Breen and Phara Guberman (White Collar Defense), Angela Batterson (Finance), Jon Brose (Tax), Kiran Kadekar (Corporate), Helen Maher (Global Litigation) and Mike Rupe (Financial Restructuring) in New York and Michael Bergmann (Corporate), Peter Malyshev (Financial Services) and Mercedes Tunstall (Financial Services) in Washington, D.C.
