Securities & Capital Markets and Fintech Leader Joins Paul Hastings

February 14, 2022 New York — Paul Hastings LLP, a premier global law firm advising financial institutions and public companies, announced today that top capital markets and corporate lawyer, Chris DeCresce, has joined the firm’s New York office as the Vice Chair of the firms Securities and Capital Markets practice. DeCresce was previously a partner at Covington & Burling, where he was co-head of the Securities and Capital Markets practice.

“Chris is an exceptional lawyer with a strong track record of practice building focused on serving his financial sector clients on complicated transactional and regulatory issues,” said Seth Zachary, Chairman of Paul Hastings. “Chris’ impressive ability to develop the practice and lead and strengthen teams complements our investments in New York, and is another important strategic advancement to further strengthen our successful global Capital Markets, M&A and Fintech practices,” he added.

“The strength and scope of the Paul Hastings platform, in particular the firm’s expansive bank regulatory, fintech and SEC enforcement capabilities, drew me to Paul Hastings, where my clients will benefit from these highly sought-after areas of expertise,” said DeCresce. “Paul Hastings’ impressive financial performance and the firm’s strength as a global brand were also very attractive to me. I look forward to working with my new partners to continue to grow the Paul Hastings Securities and Capital Markets practice across all sectors,” he added.

DeCresce focuses on securities and capital markets, mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures, governance, securities law reporting and compliance. He has significant experience representing issuers in capital market transactions, including public and private offerings, and mergers and acquisitions, with a focus on clients in the financial services industry. DeCresce’s prior experience also includes serving as a senior investment banker at a leading investment banking firm focused on the financial services sector.

The global Capital Markets practice at Paul Hastings advised on more than 130 completed deals over the past year, with an aggregate value of approximately $62 billion across a [broad array] of transactions, including IPOs and secondary equity offerings, investment-grade and high-yield bond offerings, and offerings of convertible securities. The practice is highly ranked for global/U.S. IPOs, U.S. equity offerings, high-yield bonds and leveraged finance in Bloomberg’s published capital markets law firm league tables in FY 2021. Paul Hastings is one of only four firms to be ranked in the top 10 for global IPOs, global and U.S. SPACs, and U.S. equity and equity-linked offerings for 2021.

Dedicated to helping the world’s leading Wall Street and global investment banks, asset managers and corporations achieve their business and legal goals, Paul Hastings is a premier global finance law firm with elite teams in finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and litigation. We are one of only a handful of law firms ranked across multiple core finance areas including: structured credit, leveraged finance, private credit, capital markets and real estate finance.

Our unmatched client service has helped us become one of the legal profession’s most admired firms, known for a diverse and highly collaborative culture that delivers innovative solutions.