Laughlan Waterston is the Head of Energy Finance (EMEA), in the Structured Finance Department at SMBC in London and Deputy Head of the department. He was previously based in SMBC’s Dubai office between 2020-2023 covering the bank’s corporate & structured finance business across the Middle East region. Laughlan has more than 20 years’ experience of corporate and structured finance. He has experience on a wide variety of projects and corporates in the energy and infrastructure sectors including power, renewable energy and oil& gas, petrochemicals, waste to energy/ wastewater, utilities, social infrastructure and transportation. He worked on some of the first UK merchant power plants in the 1990’s, when merchant power was being developed and had a focus on CCGT and power acquisition finance. More recently he has been supporting the development of the sustainable/ESG finance sector for renewables and clean energy as well as developing the bank’s strategy towards hydrogen/carbon capture and new energies. His roles and product areas include corporate & structured finance MLA lending, financial advisory, corporate finance, acquisition finance, in addition to cross selling capital markets products. Laughlan joined SMBC in 2002. Prior to this he worked for 4½ years in the project finance team at Bankgesellschaft Berlin (London branch), where he was involved with both lead arranging and advisory work in project finance in the UK and internationally. Before joining Bankgesellschaft Berlin he worked in project finance syndications at Industrial Bank of Japan and in structured finance at NatWest Bank, which he joined on a graduate induction programme from Southampton University in 1994. He has a degree in politics and a degree in financial services and is an associate of the UK chartered institute of bankers (ACIB). He is a registered certified staff member for MIFID products with the PRA, material risk taker (MRT) and held the CF30 corporate finance advisory license from the UK FCA.