Project finance partner Margarita Oliva joins Baker McKenzie

Baker McKenzie announced that Margarita Oliva Sainz de Aja has joined the firm as a partner in its North America banking, finance and major projects practice group. 

Oliva is based in New York and is tasked with developing the firm´s Latin American finance practice group as its new chair.

Margarita Oliva received her Diploma in International and European Law from the University of Bologna, her JD from the University of Granada and her LLM from Harvard Law School. She is also an alumna of IESE Business School, where she received the Women in Business Scholarship for the Senior Executive Program in 2013.

Oliva has extensive experience in project finance matters, representing major multilateral agencies, commercial financial institutions, sponsors and export credit agencies to structure and negotiate complex, multi-jurisdictional infrastructure and energy transactions. She also advises clients on a variety of cross-border, general bank finance, capital markets and corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate restructurings and outsourcing.

“Margarita has been trained as a lawyer under a civil law system and a common law system and is admitted to practice law in Spain and New York, a key differentiating factor to assist clients on New York law-governed deals in Latin America,” said José Morán, Chair of Baker & McKenzie’s North American Banking, Finance & Major Projects Practice. “Margarita brings a tremendous amount of experience and familiarity with the region, and she will further enhance the Firm’s footprint for international project finance matters.”

Oliva, who is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, joins the firm from Chadbourne & Parke, where she was a partner for four years. She began her career as an associate at Clifford Chance in Spain and then spent over 16 years developing her Latin America-focused finance practice at Allen & Overy.

“Baker McKenzie’s outstanding reputation and network of local law offices in Latin America provides an excellent platform for me to grow my practice and bolster the services I offer my clients,” Margarita said. “I am thrilled to join the firm’s growing team in New York, and accept the challenge of solidifying the Latin Finance practice at Baker.”

Global law firm Baker McKenzie has an extensive footprint in Latin America, with 850 lawyers across 15 offices in seven countries.