Simmons lands rare Slaughter and May lateral

Simmons & Simmons has pulled off a rare lateral hire from Slaughter and May, adding senior structured finance and derivatives partner Oliver Wicker in a move that significantly strengthens its City finance bench.

Wicker, who was head of derivatives at Slaughters and made partner in 2016, will join Simmons on 2 January.

His exit was confirmed in August and immediately made headlines in the market, given how infrequently partners leave Slaughter and May’s famously tight-knit partnership. The last comparable departure is understood to have been three years ago, when insurance M&A specialist Robert Chaplin moved to Skadden.

A coup for Simmons

The hire is a notable win for Simmons & Simmons, which has long been regarded as a strong player in structured finance and derivatives, particularly on the buy side for hedge funds and insurance clients.

At Slaughters, Wicker built a reputation advising on structured finance, derivatives and securitisation matters, including cross-border financings for investment banks and regulatory capital relief transactions. At Simmons, he will join the firm’s structured finance and derivatives group, working with partners across the UK and internationally.

What they said

Michael Lorraine, who heads Simmons’ UK structured finance and derivatives group, said Wicker’s arrival was "a huge boost" for the practice, pointing to his track record on "some of the most technically demanding transactions in the market".

Wicker said Simmons had "established itself as a go-to firm for sophisticated structured finance and derivatives work," pointing to its strong client base across investment banks, insurers and funds.

He added that the firm’s focus on complex, high-value transactions and its international platform made it "an outstanding place to develop my practice," describing the move as an opportunity to work with "a team with real depth and ambition" on challenging mandates.