Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has made a major move in the capital markets space with the hire of former Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton US corporate partner Ash Qureshi (pictured).

Qureshi became a partner at Cleary in 1998 before joining Moscow-based Renaissance Group in 2010 where he was executive vice chairman and CEO of Renaissance Asset Managers.

US-qualified Qureshi will join the London-based corporate team, covering the UK, Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East. 

His clients have included governments, corporations and major financial institutions across a wide range of industries and jurisdictions.

More recently, he joined Hanson Assset Management as a director and was one of the founders of Naya Capital Management.

Commenting on the appointment, Julian Long, head of London corporate, said: "Ash has an outstanding reputation and entrepreneurial approach, which will even further strengthen our top ranked London and international capital markets practice. He is a great fit with our existing partner group and will enable us to offer a US securities capability unrivalled in the London market."

Sarah Murphy, co-head of the firm's international capital markets practice and head of the US corporate group in Europe and Asia, added: "Capital markets solutions have become increasingly important to our clients and access to the US markets is often critical to achieving their goals. Ash will enhance the excellent reputation of our existing team, and I am looking forward to working with him over the coming years to further build the practice."

Qureshi said: "Freshfields offers clients an international platform of the highest quality and has a culture that appeals to me. While based in London, I will continue to serve clients across the world, and am excited by what we can achieve together."