European law firm Fieldfisher has announced the appointment of Annalie Croney as a banking partner in its Financial Markets and Products (FMP) group in London. Her primary focus will be on Real Estate Finance (REF) acting for privately owned business and family offices, in addition to augmenting the existing general banking practice.

Annalie, who joins from PwC, has over 18 years of transactional banking experience, as well as advising on corporate restructuring and reorganisations. She is joining with some of her PwC team as part of the transition of her entire borrower-focused business over to Fieldfisher following PwC's exit from the transactional banking legal market. She joins other prominent hires from PwC at the firm.

Commenting on the appointment, Philip Abbott, Co-head of FMP and Head of the Banking Group, said: We are delighted to welcome Annalie to the team. She is a REF and Private Wealth lending heavyweight and brings a wealth of experience and contacts within the private business and family office world, an important sector which we have been looking to develop in line with our strategic goals.  Annalie will work closely with our Corporate, Real Estate and Private Client teams developing this business.

Annalie is the fourth consecutive female partner hire (after Emma Dwyer , Laetitia Costa and Shanthi Vignasen) into the firm's FMP practice in the last 12 months. She previously headed PwC UK’s legal Banking and Finance practice, where she ran a team of transactional banking and corporate structuring lawyers, a team that she built from scratch. The first woman to go from trainee to partner in PwC Legal’s history, Annalie played a key part in its growth and was heavily involved in the PwC Legal training programme and numerous D&I initiatives. This is something that she is passionate about and seeks to champion more broadly in the real estate industry.

Annalie Croney said: Clearly, the property industry has faced challenges over the last 12-18 months given the macro-economic environment, including high interest rates and inflation, refinancing challenges and the high cost of development activity. However, it is expected that deal and financing activity will pick up substantially in 2025 as confidence builds, there is greater political stability domestically and internationally and as interest rates decline. Clients will be looking for experienced counsel to guide them through their refinancings and restructurings and this represents a transformational opportunity for firms like Fieldfisher to help clients navigate these interesting times. I am really delighted to have joined this great team.

Fieldfisher's highly successful FMP practice focuses on banking and real estate finance, derivatives, structured finance, financial regulation and funds with over 40 partners across Europe, advising clients on cross-border deals across the world, including in emerging markets.

This news story was originally published on the firm’s website.