Speaker Profile

Michael Foundethakis is an English and French qualified partner based in the Paris office of Baker McKenzie. He acted as the Global Chair of Baker McKenzie's Banking & Finance Practice between May 2017 and July 2020. Michael currently heads Banking & Finance in Paris and is also Global Head of Trade & Export Finance for the firm and also Chair of the Firm's Africa Strategy Steering Committee. Michael has broad experience acting for both lenders and borrowers in a wide range of international finance transactions. He is primarily involved in cross- border project finance (including vendor financing), structured trade finance (including ECA-backed export finance), acquisition finance, FI Lending, financial restructurings and the trading of distressed loans in the secondary debt market. Much of this work entails dealing with export credit agencies, multilateral development banks and other governmental institutions. His main focus is on emerging markets and predominantly on transactions across the African continent.