Kristiina Lehvilä

As senior counsel and head of our Banking and Finance Group in Finland, I specialise in banking and finance transactions, banking and finance regulation, payments, securities market issues and corporate law.

I advise leading Finnish and international clients acting as lender or borrower in domestic and cross-border financial transactions. My expertise covers a wide range of financing transactions including acquisition financing, real estate financing, asset based financing, distressed financing, security structuring and intercreditor agreements as well as securities market transactions.

I advise clients on a wide range of regulatory questions relating to domestic and EU banking, securities markets and payments regulation. Additionally I advise on general corporate law matters. My clients come from a variety of sectors including banks, investment banks, private equity firms, funds and companies listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki.

I have over 20 years of experience within the financing sector. Before joining Bird & Bird I worked as in-house counsel for one of the largest banks in Finland and two smaller banks, one focusing on investment services and lending and the other on payments. I also worked as legal counsel for another leading Finnish law firm where my work focused on financing and insolvency matters. My experience in different roles in the finance sector enables me to understand the clients view point and to address their needs.