Jonathan Solomon has been promoted to the role of senior partner at law firm Denton Wilde Sapte (DWS).

Solomon, who has been with DWS for almost 15 years, became a partner in 2006.

He has extensive experience advising both soft and hard commodity financings, including pre-export, pre-payment, limited recourse and countertrade financings.

Recently, Solomon advised Deutsche Bank as arranger on a US$230mn syndicated facility to Ukrainian iron ore exporting group Ferrexpo, which won a GTR Best Deal in Trade Finance 2009.

He also recently advised Standard Bank Asia on a US$30mn pre-payment facility for Mongolia’s Energy Resources, which was also a GTR award winner.

GTR speaks to Solomon about his promotion: “My remit will be to keep on doing the transactional work but at the same time to create even stronger relationships with our existing clients. Another of my priorities will be to establish links with other potential clients in the trade finance market who are either new to trade finance or are looking at new jurisdictions or sectors for finance opportunities – we’ve got the expertise to assist them.

“I’ve been working in the DWS trade and export finance group since it was established by (trade finance practice head at DWS) Geoff Wynne in 1997 and we have thankfully had a lot of success and continue to be rated as the best in the market at what we do. We have a fantastic team here and my contribution to the consistent growth of the practice over the years led to the firm believing I should get a senior position.”

Solomon also highlights the critical role clients play in his success: “It goes without saying that the promotion would not have happened without the clients who had continued to put their faith in me and have kept selecting us as their legal advisors – it’s been really nice that a lot of my clients have been very pleased for me when they found out about the news.

“My view has always been that doing deals well and providing an excellent service on a consistent basis is the best way of forging very strong links with clients, it also helps that I love doing the deals. It’s such a niche market and there are so many personalities within it that clients want lawyers that they know and can trust, and we work hard at building this relationship. So far this year we have been documenting quite a few new-money deals in a variety of jurisdictions and this is very encouraging and pleasing.”

Having DWS’s work recognised through awards, such as GTR’s Best Deals of 2009, plays a significant role in securing the law firm’s prominent position in the industry, as Solomon explains: “It is important in the market that we do the deals that are recognised as award winning, as it shows that we have the experience and knowledge to advise on the most difficult and innovative deals. Awards like GTR’s are tremendously important.”

Geoffrey Wynne adds: “Jonathan has developed a broad and very active practice taking in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, South America and Sub-Saharan African, and was instrumental in setting up our Singaporean office, which is focused on trade finance work.

“His appointment is well-earned and provides an important addition to the senior ranks of the market’s leading trade and export finance team.”