Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft's London finance practice has lost a partner to Latham & Watkins but taken another from Norton Rose Fulbright.

Latham has resumed its City hiring push with the addition of Jeremiah Wagner, who had joined Cadwalader's London capital markets practice in 2013 from Mayer Brown.

Wagner's practice covers a range of structured finance, securitisation and derivative transactions and asset classes.

His hire is the first lateral pick-up for Latham in London this year, after it made several acquisitive moves in the City in 2018.

Latham structured finance and securitisation global co-chair Sanjev Warna-kula-suriya said: "Jeremiah has established an exceptionally strong market reputation, particularly in relation to cutting-edge fintech and asset-backed financings, where he is seen as one of the leading lights in structured finance.

"He will play a key role in the continued development of our European and global practice."

Meanwhile, Cadwalader has hired Norton Rose London real estate finance head Duncan Hubbard in a boost for its City office, which saw several departures last year.

Hubbard focuses on advising financial institutions, investment funds and alternative lenders on real estate and structured finance transactions.

Cadwalader finance group co-chair William McInerney said: "There are a number of developments driving increased activity in the London and European real estate finance markets, including a notable increase in activity in the European CMBS market. We see important synergies between Duncan's platform and our London and US securitisation/CMBS practice."

Cadwalader has refocused its strategy since 2016, focusing on a core client base of Wall Street banks, funds and corporations.

It closed offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Houston during 2017, which contributed to a rise in profits during the last financial year.

Wagner's exit follows several departures from its City base in recent years, though moves have slowed in recent months.

At the start of 2018 the firm lost a high-profile restructuring team led by star partner Yushan Ng, who left alongside three partners to US rival Milbank Tweed and McCloy.