Aimen Mir, former US treasury deputy assistant secretary and leading authority on US national security review, has joined Freshfields’ global regulatory practice. Charles Hayes will take up his post as joint leader of the GFI group globally from 1 May 2019 alongside Markus Paul, who be replaced in December. 

‘Significant hire’

Mr Mir, who for nearly a decade led the interagency committee on foreign investment in the US (CFIUS), will join the firm as a partner in its expanding Washington DC office as the leader of its CFIUS practice. As CFIUS staff chair, and then as deputy assistant secretary for investment security at the US Department of the Treasury, Mr Aimen served as the most senior US government career official responsible for conducting US national security reviews of foreign investment, managing the disposition of over 1,000 transactions. He also played a pivotal role in shaping and/or implementing the last two major overhauls of the CFIUS review process. In addition, Mr Aimen served as the principal US liaison to other foreign investment regulators. Peter D Lyons, US managing partner, said ‘Aimen is the most significant hire to come out of CFIUS, and we are proud to call him our partner.’ Edward Braham, the global chair at Freshfields, added ‘CFIUS is increasingly important to our clients, and Aimen’s insights into the CFIUS process will be invaluable.’

GFI leadership changes

Charles Hayes takes joint leadership of the GFI group alongside Markus Paul, who in turn will be succeeded in December by Arend von Riegen. Mr Paul’s term ends after six years in the role.  The firm says the appointment of Mr Hayes, who is based in London, and Mr Arend, based in Frankfurt, ‘reflects the international footprint of the group and will enable the firm to take its exceptional service to its financial sponsor clients to the next level.’ The Global Financial Investors group brings together the firm’s expertise acting for private equity firms, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, infrastructure funds, alternative capital providers and real estate funds.  The group combines M&A and leveraged finance execution capability with its understanding of the regulatory environments in which businesses operate. Stephan Eilers, the firm’s global managing partner, said ‘Freshfields has a longstanding reputation for executing the market’s most complex deals, the deals other firms cannot do, and I know that this is the right team to ensure that our financial sponsor clients continue to get the best support from our teams across the globe.’