The global law firm Jones Day has announced that Hannah Ward has joined the Firm's Financial Markets Practice as of counsel in the London Office.
Ms. Ward comes to Jones Day from General Electric, where she was the Executive Counsel for GE Capital International Capital Markets. She has extensive cross-sector experience advising at all stages of business deals—from new transactions and restructurings to defaults and litigation—across a broad range of products, services, compliance, and regulatory issues. She is especially skilled at complex, multijurisdictional transactions in global financial markets.
At Jones Day, Ms. Ward will work with financial institutions, investment funds, and corporations. She will focus on advising clients on real estate finance, structured finance, special situations, and restructuring. She also will work with clients on the interpretation of new regulatory frameworks, negotiations with regulators, the creation of novel investment structures, optimizing distressed transactions, and designing policies and procedures to support good corporate governance.
"Hannah is well-regarded as an experienced lawyer who has led teams responsible for executing complex transactions that have been transformational for the companies involved," said Alban Caillemer du Ferrage, chair of Jones Day's Financial Markets Practice for the EMEA and APAC regions. "Her experience on both the corporate and law firm sides of the legal profession also offer a distinctive perspective on how outside counsel can prove to be most valuable to the clients that engage their services. Hannah is an excellent addition to our practice and we look forward to her contributions at Jones Day."
Before joining General Electric, Ms. Ward was a Senior Legal Counsel at Deutsche Bank. Prior to that, she was a Senior Associate in the London office of a global law firm, which included secondments to The Royal Bank of Scotland and that firm's Milan office. Before starting her legal career, she completed a stage at the European Commission.
"Hannah has deep ties to the UK finance and banking community, and has cultivated a strong track record of getting to the heart of strategic business opportunities for her clients," said John Phillips, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's London Office. "The presence of a lawyer of her talents adds to the depth of our Financial Markets team here in the London Office. We are delighted to welcome her to the Firm."
Ms. Ward earned her law degree from the University of Cambridge and a postgraduate diploma in legal practice from the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice. She also earned an MBA from the Open University Business School and completed the Fintech Programme at the University of Oxford's Said Business School.