Simmons & Simmons has bolstered its fledgling Amsterdam office with the hire of NautaDutilh banking partner Arend van der Lely, the office's second partner hire in as many months.

Van der Lely, who became a partner at Nauta last year, focuses on banking and securities work and becomes the eighth partner in the City firm's Amsterdam office.

Simmons' Amsterdam arm houses the firm's Dutch financial markets group which, with the addition of van der Lely, now has 23 lawyers, notaries and tax advisers.

The hire comes just one month after the arrival of capital markets partner Daphne Brinkhuis, who joined Simmons from local independent Houthoff Buruma, where she headed the banking practice.

The UK firm, which has had a presence in Rotterdam – the Netherlands' secondary legal market – since 2002, made its long-awaited Amsterdam launch in January.

The Amsterdam office was originally staffed by the firm's existing 13-lawyer Dutch financial markets practice, which was parachuted in from Rotterdam.

The top 20 UK firm's financial markets group consists of more than 70 partners and 230 lawyers across Europe, the Middle East and Asia and is led by London partner Jeremy Hoyland.

Simmons' Dutch finance head Gerhard Gispen said: "[Van der Lely's] expertise covers high-end structured, tax-driven, products, banking, payment systems and clearing and settlement, which are important for our clients in the financial markets sector."