Latham & Watkins has moved swiftly to rebuild its Moscow practice with the hire of respected LeBoeuf Lamb Greene & MacRae capital markets partner Mark Banovich, Legal Week can reveal.

Banovich, who had been with LeBoeuf since 1995, becomes Latham's sole Moscow-based partner, following the departure of previous Moscow managing partner Anya Goldin.

Goldin moved last month to an in-house role with long-standing client Sistema, which is expected to maintain its relationship with Latham. In 2004, Latham advised the Russian conglomerate on its $1bn (£494m) float, with Goldin spearheading the team.

LeBoeuf, which is currently in the headlines thanks to its merger bid with New York rival Dewey Ballantine, confirmed today (7 September) that Banovich had resigned. A Latham spokeswoman refused to comment.

The move to draft in a local securities heavyweight also follows the recent loss of Latham capital markets Moscow partner Varun Gupta, who joined Allen & Overy's local office in April.

Restocking its Moscow arm will be regarded as an important move for the US-based Latham given the recent flow of big-ticket deals from Russian corporates and the current strength of the country's energy markets.

Recruiting an established partner from LeBoeuf, one of America's leading energy advisers, will also be viewed as a boost for the top 10 US law firm's Russian profile.

Other notable deals in the region for Latham include earlier this year advising JSC VTB Bank, Russia's second largest bank on its float. London capital markets partners Lene Malthasen and Ian Clark led the Latham team.

Aside from its Russian practice, Latham is this year moving to build up its much-touted Spanish practice after late last year recruiting a senior lawyer from local leader Cuatrecasas to launch the practice.