Norton Rose has strengthened its London structured finance and capital markets practice with the hire of former Allen & Overy (A&O) partner David Shearer.

Shearer, who spent nine years as a partner in A&O's structured finance group before leaving the firm in January this year, is dual-qualified in New Zealand and England and Wales.

He joins an existing team of three securitisation partners in Norton Rose's London office – Farmida Bi, Laurence Garside and team head Sandrine Sauvel (pictured).

Norton Rose said the hire had come in response to growing demand for structured finance and capital markets work in the wake of the firm's recent expansion into Australia, Canada and South Africa.

Sauvel commented: "Our practice has been a great success in recent years, despite a difficult operating environment. Having David as part of the team will give us added strength and enhance our ability to take advantage of the growth opportunities in structured finance."

Recent work the firm has handled includes acting on two securitisations arranged by the National Bank of Greece worth a total of €2.35bn (£1.95bn) and advising the Republic of Indonesia on a $1bn (£621m) international sukuk issuance.

Norton Rose Group is on the panel of around 50 financial institutions including Barclays, AXA, Societe Generale, National Australia Bank, Prudential and Standard Chartered Bank.