Luke Wells

Luke is an experienced banking and finance lawyer. He has extensive international and in-house transactional and advisory experience gained in the United Kingdom, the Middle East, Russia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Luke acts for New Zealand’s major trading banks, other local and international banks, investment banks, financial institutions, sponsors, major companies, and borrowers.

He assists his clients with both their transactional banking, corporate/commercial, and advisory matters. Luke advises on bank financings, debt capital markets transactions, acquisition and leveraged finance, syndicated finance, and other debt financings. He also has experience in mergers & acquisitions (M&A), joint ventures, and corporate/ commercial law.

Luke specialises in advising financial institutions on financial regulation, regulatory compliance and risk issues. With his experience in the regulatory space, Luke supports his clients both with managing regulatory change and regulatory projects.

Luke began his career at MinterEllisonRuddWatts before gaining overseas experience with Herbert Smith Freehills in London and in various in-house legal roles, including for Arab Banking Corporation (B.S.C.) in the Middle East. His subsequent in-house experience includes legal counsel roles at Bank of New Zealand, nib New Zealand, Waste Management New Zealand, and Rabobank.

Drawing on his broad in-house experience, Luke delivers practical solutions for his clients. Luke appreciates the environment in which banks, financial institutions and corporates operate. He has supported business teams across a range of corporate and commercial matters, including corporate governance. This wide-reaching experience, alongside his specific industry knowledge, enables Luke to provide tailored, commercial, and workable solutions for his clients.