Chris O'Brien

Practice Areas

Chris is an established banking and financial services expert with significant public law experience. He advises banks, major corporates, trustee companies, and Crown departments/entities on corporate finance transactions, regulatory and governance issues, and financing and restructuring matters.

Recognised in leading legal directories for his banking and finance expertise, Chris specialises in financing transactions, including syndicated, project finance, acquisition and working capital facilities, and retail debt offers. He advises and assists major corporates with the introduction of new corporate lenders and has acted on the establishment of, and transactional matters for, a number of funds.

Chris has advised on a number of securitisation structures, including for banks, non-deposit taking lenders, impact investors, and trustees. He has also advised on numerous lease and concession transactions involving a wide range of asset classes and infrastructure projects, including cross-border leveraged leases and Public Private Partnerships and involving central and local government entities as the counterparty.

Adept at working on large scale, multi-disciplinary projects, Chris regularly leads teams on significant banking transactions. In recent years, he has been the lead adviser to the New Zealand Government on several complex and high-profile transactions including the restructure and liquidation of Solid Energy and matters arising from the New Zealand Government’s commitment to rebuilding Christchurch’s three waters infrastructure and building the civic Anchor Projects.

Chris has developed a deep understanding of what matters to organisations that exist solely for the benefit of their customers. He appreciates the public sector regulatory context and the Government perspectives relevant to the governance and management of Crown entities and state-owned enterprises. He has a proven ability to assist his clients to identify the key issues and develop alternatives that consider the key drivers for counterparties. Known for his commercial focus and responsiveness to clients’ commercial imperatives, Chris offers creative solutions to complex problems and works with the client team as a true team player.