Lawrence Stephens

Lawrence Stephens has appointed Indre Johnston as a senior associate in its real estate finance and banking team.

Since becoming qualified as a real estate finance and banking solicitor in 2016, Indre has advised both domestic and international lenders and borrowers on a broad range of banking and property finance transactions, including real estate development, investment and acquisition finance.

In addition, she has experience in dealing with the full spectrum of corporate and residential real estate assets, including hotels, offices, student accommodation, HMOs and affordable housing.

Indre joins the commercial law firm from Howard Kennedy, where she was a solicitor in the real estate finance department.

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“I am delighted to take the next step in my legal career in Lawrence Stephens’ renowned real estate finance and banking team,” said Indre.  

“In the coming months, I hope to use my experience and expertise to add to its continued success, in addition to delivering exceptional results for its valued clients.”

Steven Bernstein, senior director at Lawrence Stephens, added: “We are very pleased to have Indre joining us during an exciting period of growth for Lawrence Stephens. 

“Her wealth of experience in acting for a wide variety of banks, lenders and borrowers will undoubtedly be a significant asset to our real estate finance and banking team as we continue to expand and develop.”

DF Capital

DF Capital has promoted Tomas Oliveira da Silva to chief risk officer, subject to regulatory approval, replacing Desmond McNamara, who retired in February.

In his role as CRO, Tomas will lead the bank’s second line of defence function, reporting to CEO Carl D’Ammassa.

He will have overall responsibility for implementing, continuously developing and overseeing adherence to the firm’s risk management framework.  

He will also become a member of the executive committee.

The compliance and risk teams, led by Tomas, provide technical advice on risk and regulatory matters across the firm.  

Tomas joined DF Capital in 2019 as head of enterprise and prudential risk. 

Before joining the lender, he spent almost six years in banking supervision at the Bank of England.

Prior to that, he worked as an economist at IHS Markit and the Portuguese Ministry of Economy, and as a consultant for Deloitte in Portugal.

Tomas said: “It’s a privilege to be asked to fill this position.  

“It’s an exciting time for DF Capital and I look forward to playing my part in helping the bank to deliver on its strategic plans in my new role.”  

Carl added: “I am delighted that we are able to promote such an experienced and talented individual from within our own business to take on this critically important role.  

“Tomas has a well-established broad experience across risk disciplines.  

“He has been an integral part of the business since he joined in 2019 and we look forward to him contributing to our strategic ambitions.”