New York Trade Finance Associate Attorney

Clifford Chance advises on landmark digitally native note issuance for Standard Chartered. 21 august 2026. Global law firm Clifford Chance has advised Standard Chartered Bank on its issuance of US$200 million floating rate digitally native notes due 2029 through Euroclear's digital financial market infrastructure (D-FMI) platform. The transaction marks a significant milestone for the UK debt capital markets as the first Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB) and the first UK Issuer to issue on Euroclear's D-FMI platform. It demonstrates the increasing maturity of digital securities infrastructure and the ability of established capital markets participants to bring distributed ledger technology into mainstream issuance, settlement and post-trade processes. The notes have been issued as digitally native notes on Euroclear's D-FMI platform, Euroclear's distributed ledger technology-based infrastructure for digital securities issuance, and application has been made to list the notes on the International Securities Market of the London Stock Exchange. The transaction showcases how digital market infrastructure can support the issuance and settlement of international debt securities while preserving access to established market infrastructure and familiar investor-facing processes. The issuance represents an important step in the development of the UK digital securities market. It follows a series of international digital bond transactions and highlights the growing role of English law, English issuers and UK market participants in the evolution of digital capital markets. Matteo Sbraga, Partner at Clifford Chance, said: "This is precisely the kind of transaction that moves digital bonds from innovation lab to live capital markets infrastructure. It shows that an English company can issue a native digital bond using established legal techniques, established market participants and next-generation settlement technology." Clifford Chance advised Standard Chartered Bank on the legal structuring, documentation and execution of the transaction, drawing on its market-leading experience in digital bonds and international debt capital markets. The cross-border Clifford Chance team was led by London debt capital markets partner Matteo Sbraga, supported by counsel Alex Tollast and associates Simina Sovi and Chantal Olavesen. The wider team included specialists from the London financial regulation team, partners Diego Ballon Ossio and Caroline Dawson and senior associate Meera Ragha, the UK tax team, partner Cameron Dwyer and associate Stefaniya Yakubova, and the US tax team, partner Avrohom Gelber and associate Milica Pavlovic.

Clifford Chance expands US Arbitration capabilities with addition of counsel Ricardo Chirinos. August 19, 2026. Global law firm Clifford Chance has hired counsel Ricardo Chirinos in Washington, DC, strengthening its international arbitration offering. Chirinos' practice focuses on international commercial and investment arbitration and public international law. He has experience representing clients in high-takes disputes relating to investments across different industry sectors and is trained in both civil and common-law. Global Head of Disputes Robert Houck said "Ricardo's arrival reflects our continued investment in helping clients navigate complex cross-border disputes across the US and Latin America. His deep sector experience, combined with his strengths in commercial and investment arbitration, will further enhance our ability to advise clients on their most significant challenges. We are delighted to welcome Ricardo to the team." Chirinos said, "I am excited to join Clifford Chance and work alongside teammates whose experience spans the jurisdictions, industries, and issues that matter most to our clients. I look forward to helping clients navigate complex disputes across the US, Latin America, and other key markets." Joining Chirinos are Camilo Clavijo and Diego Velasquez Lavin, further strengthening the firm's expanding disputes and arbitration offering and building on the arrivals of Laurens Wilkes and Caitlin Gernert in Houston. With more than 450 attorneys across New York, Washington, DC, Houston and São Paulo, the firm combines deep local market knowledge with the reach of a fully integrated global partnership. The Americas team advises clients on complex US, Latin America and cross-border transactional, regulatory and disputes matters across key sectors including private capital and financial services, healthcare and life science, technology, infrastructure, and energy.