Clare Titcomb
Senior Associate, Kyiv (Ukraine)

Education
University College London,
LLM International Law (Merit), 2011
Legal Practice Course - Nottingham Law School (Distinction), 2001
LLB Law and Spanish – Cardiff University (First Class Honours), 1999

77A Chervonoarmiyska Str.
Kyiv, 03150, Ukraine
T: +380 44 490 9575
F: +380 44 490 9577
D: +380 44 490 9545
clare.titcomb@dlapiper.com

Summary Profile

Clare is a Senior Associate in the Corporate group of the Kyiv office, with experience in both corporate and banking law. Previously Clare spent three years working for the Tbilisi office of DLA Piper where she worked on a number of high profile private equity, project finance and capital markets transactions, including acting for the Government of Georgia on its debut sovereign bond issue.    Before joining DLA Piper she spent 4 years with CMS Cameron McKenna LLP, working both in their London office and with its corporate and banking departments in Central and Eastern Europe. In London, Clare specialised in banking law and has worked on real estate finance, acquisition finance and cross–border finance transactions, acting for both bank and borrower clients. She spent 6 months on secondment to the corporate banking division of Lloyds TSB in the City of London. Clare has considerable overseas transactional experience, also having spent time on secondment to the corporate and banking department of CMS Derks Star Busmann in Amsterdam.

Clare is an England and Wales trained and educated solicitor and is licensed to practise with the Law Society of England and Wales.
Clare is fluent in English and Spanish with intermediate Russian.

Areas of Practice
Corporate Law, Banking Law

Professional experience
January 2012 - Corporate group - Senior Associate, DLA Piper Ukraine LLC (Kyiv, Ukraine);
September 2008 to October 2010 - International Legal Policy Adviser for Europe & CIS, The Law Society of England & Wales, (London, UK);
March 2006 to September 2008 - Associate and Senior Associate, DLA Piper Georgia LP (Tbilisi, Georgia);
September 2005 to March 2006 - CEE & CIS - Solicitor, CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (London, UK);
March 2004 to August 2005 - Solicitor, Corporate & Leveraged Finance, CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (London, UK);
March 2004 to September 2004 - Solicitor, Secondment to Lloyds TSB Bank plc: Capital Markets Department (London, UK);
February 2002 to February 2004 - Trainee Solicitor, CMS Cameron McKenna (London, UK)

Major Transactions & Clients

• Lead lawyer from local counsel team advising the Government of Georgia on its USD $500m debut sovereign Eurobond offering and listing on the London Stock Exchange;
• Senior lawyer acting for EBRD in its USD 28 million senior loan for the construction and operation of a steel mini-mill in Georgia;
• Lead lawyer working on JSC Bank of Georgia's USD 100m rights issue and listing on the London Stock Exchange;
• Lead lawyer working on JSC Bank of Georgia's USD 160m IPO and listing on the London Stock Exchange;
• Leading associate advising JSC Bank of Georgia on its USD 200m Eurobond issue and listing on the London Stock Exchange;
• Senior associate acting for Georgian Reconstruction and Development Company on its USD 105m equity private placement with EBRD and institutional investors and USD 90m debt financing by IFC and EBRD;
• Lead associate representing the EBRD in its acquisition of a 10% equity stake in JSC Bank  Republic along with a 60% equity stake acquired by Société Générale and provision of USD $8 million unsecured mortgage loan facility;
• Acted for a local internet services provider in investment negotiations to finance a fibre optic cable under the Black Sea to provide high speed internet to Georgia for the first time;
• Lead associate in pre-bid due diligence and negotiation for a major international banking group in its bid for a Romanian consumer finance company and a Romanian mortgage company;
• Advising the borrower on a development finance facility with Hypo Real International A.G. for a retail park in Moscow Oblast, Moscow;
• Advising Eurohypo AG on its first deal in Russia in 2005, a USD $ 130 million financing of "Pushkino" logistics park;
• Advising leading U.K. lenders including; The Royal Bank of Scotland plc, Lloyds TSB Bank plc and HSBC Bank plc;
• Acting for major U.K. borrowers including; Value Retail plc, Chaucer Holdings plc and Deutsche Property Investment Funds;
• Experience gained in: international reinsurance litigation, corporate and leveraged finance, corporate and banking secondment to Amsterdam office, telecommunications secondment to Hutchison 3G In-House Legal Team and commercial real estate.

Publications

• IFLR 1000 – Recent Developments in the Georgian Financial Services Sector – March 2008;
• Law Society – Legal Services Sector Report on Ukraine – February 2009;
• Advocates 4 International Development – Analysis of the UK Joint Parliamentary Committee Report on Business and Human Rights – January 2010;
• Law Society International Risk and Compliance Newsletter – Business & Human Rights the Ruggie Mandate – December 2010;
• Law Society “Lawyers at Risk” Report - July 2009.

Professional Projects

• Led international advocacy effort resulting in reform of Bulgarian Bar Act;
• Provided expert input on the draft law on advocates submitted to the Ukrainian Parliament;
• Delivered presentations and training courses to foreign bar delegations and Ministry of Justice officials from jurisdictions across Europe & CIS on legal services sector reform;
• Participated as an EU expert, under the TAIEX programme, on a project to amend the Georgian Law on the Bar and the structure and governance of the Georgian Bar Association;
• Participated as an EU expert, under the TAIEX programme, on a rule of law project in Serbia;
• Organised and participated in a training programme on criminal law, human rights and the rule of law with Russian human rights lawyers from the Southern Federal District;
• Worked with OSCE Centre in Astana and Legal Policy Research Centre a Kazakh NGO on a project to strengthen the independence of the legal profession and the rights of criminal defence lawyers in Kazakhstan.

PRO BONO Projects

• Supervisory Board Member of a Georgian microfinance enterprise: JSC Crystal (April 2008 - ongoing)
• Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (June 2011 - December 2011);
• Legal Response Initiative (LRI), Oxfam GB and WWF-UK project

(November 2010 - December 2010);

• Stop the Traffik – Finance Against Trafficking Project (September 2010 - ongoing);
• Legal Adviser to Oxfam on Enterprise Development Programme (February 2010 - ongoing);
• Member of the International Advisory Committee of a Georgian mobile finance consultancy (JSC Mobile Finance Eurasia) (April 2009 - ongoing);
• Guest lecturer on International Economic Law course at Bournemouth University (November 2010);

Advocates for International Development Training Course Law and Development (September 2009 – June 2010);