Allen & Overy (A&O) has bulked up its German arm with the hire of a banking regulation and investment funds team from Norton Rose led by partner Frank Herring.

Herring is set to join A&O in Frankfurt on 1 April from Norton Rose along with three associates. He currently heads Norton Rose's Frankfurt banking regulation and investment funds practice.

Herring, who has been a partner at Norton Rose since 2001 when he joined from Linklaters, will make the move to A&O alongside senior associates Valeska Karcher, Detmar Loff and Marco Zingler. At A&O he will sit within the broader international capital markets practice, where he will take Frankfurt partner count to four.

Herring told Legal Week: "Norton Rose has a very good practice internationally and in Germany, but the international network is not as strong as I would like it to be on the regulatory side.

"A&O, however, has a very strong platform in the region and has got a much larger footprint in corporate and banking here, so I felt my practice would be more enhanced and my clients have all expressed that they are very happy with the move."

A&O Germany senior partner Neil Weiand said: "This hire is all part of our growth strategy in Germany. It is hard to find experienced funds lawyers in Germany, so when this opportunity came up we were very pleased to capture it."

In a statement, Norton Rose said: "Norton Rose confirms that Frankfurt partner Frank Herring will be retiring from the legal practice. The date of his departure has not yet been confirmed. We will continue to build our strong and highly respected Frankfurt financial services practice, which is headed by Caroline Herkstroeter and Martin Krause. A new hire, partner Ludger Verfuerth, will be joining the financial services team shortly, and will be complemented by our new office in Hamburg."

Norton Rose announced plans last month to launch an office in Hamburg after hiring eight new partners from DLA Piper including Hamburg managing partner Klaus von Gierke.