Global law firm Ashurst in New York has appointed partner Andrés Arnaldos Montaner, who joins from Allen & Overy in the same week as Betty Cerini, a global project finance market specialist, also joins the firm.

Landmark hire

Ashurst called the appointment of Ms Cerini "a landmark hire." She joins as co-chair, alongside Andy Fraiser, of Ashurst's infrastructure team covering the Americas, with a mandate to help drive forward the delivery of the projects/project finance strategy in the US, Latin America and globally. Mr Fraiser, global head of project finance and managing partner of Ashurst in the US, said "Projects and project finance sits at the heart of Ashurst's global strategy. Truly a leading figure in project finance, Betty joins us to help us deliver on our ambition to be the world's leading firm in this arena. Betty's appointment is a real game changer hire for Ashurst's global finance group. She is an outstanding lawyer and her experience and reputation in the US and LatAm project finance markets is first class and second to none. We are serious about our intention to be one of the world's leading projects firms and, across the globe, we have hired 10 lateral partners focused on this area in the last year. Betty is a critical part of that ambition." Based in the US since 2008, Mr Montaner is experienced in financing of infrastructure and energy projects in Latin America and the US. Prior to Allen & Overy, he also worked at Milbank and Davis Polk & Wardwell. Originally from Spain, he began his career at Spanish firm Cuatrecasas. Mr Frasier said, Mr Montaner :will work seamlessly with our Madrid office to allow clients to use Madrid as a gateway to Latin America and deliver on what the market has been demanding for some time - a much better value approach to the provision of legal services supporting international investment in Latin America.”

Milestone

Mr Fraiser added that together with the appointment of Betty Cerini, the appointments represent “a milestone in both the development of our Latin American and US offering and our aim of  becoming one of the world's leading projects firms.” Mr Montaner commented, “Joining Ashurst is an extremely exciting opportunity given the firm's credentials in projects and finance and its prospects and ambitions globally and particularly for Latin America. I look forward to working with my colleagues in New York and Madrid and together with them continuing to drive forward the firm's LatAm practice, offering clients the best legal advice in a unique and extremely efficient manner.” Ms Cerini said, "Ashurst has an exceptional reputation and platform in the global project finance market. Being part of a team with such serious ambitions and helping to further extend its market-leading position is a fantastic opportunity."