Damyan Leshev

Practice Areas

Damyan is a leading banking and capital markets professional, focusing both on ECM and DCM transactions and bank lending deals.

Damyan is a Partner at Eversheds Sutherland in Bulgaria where he co-heads the Financial Services Law Practice together with Nikolay Bebov. Damyan is also the Head of the FinTech practice of Eversheds Sutherland in Bulgaria.

Damyan has been involved in banking and local and international capital markets transactions for the past 17 years, during which period he obtained significant practical knowledge in all areas of securities and banking regulation.

Before joining the Bulgarian law firm in 2015, Damyan worked with various institutions, including in a senior in-house role with one of Bulgaria’s major banks. During this period, Damyan provided legal assistance in many projects relevant to the external interbank funding granted to the bank by international and domestic creditors and IFIs, such as European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Financial Corporation, Bulgarian Development Bank, as well as has been instrumental in many capital markets projects.

Damyan has been involved in many capital markets transactions, advising multinational issuers and underwriters on matters related to the issuance of corporate bonds, hybrid instruments and regulatory bonds, IPOs, secondary offerings, tender offers, and other capital markets projects. On his account stand some of the most recent IPOs and fixed income transactions on the local capital market and international deals flowing from Bulgaria.

Damyan has been also instrumental in a number of bank lending transactions to corporates and other institutions, advising both lenders and borrowers. Some of his recent work includes advising a major Southeast Asian bank in relation to a contemplated granting of infrastructure financing to one of the biggest Bulgarian utility providers, a firm’s client on hybrid venture capital and banking facility granted by the European Investment Bank and acting as lender side counsel on the granting of upstream guarantee by Bulgarian subsidiary of CEE borrower as security under a revolving credit facility.

Damyan also helps the firm’s clients in meeting the regulatory requirements related to investment services, asset management services, payment services, FinTech and other financial sector related services, including on the requirements of MiFID II/MiFIR, EMIR, UCITS IV, PSD2 et cetera.

Damyan has been regularly involved in legislative drafting projects in Bulgaria and in the Republic of North Macedonia, such as the EBRD funded project for assistance of the Bulgarian Ministry of Finance on the drafting of the new Bulgarian covered bonds legislation transposing the Covered Bonds Directive, and the EU funded project for harmonizing of the securities legislation of the Republic of North Macedonia with the EU acquis.

In his spare time, Damyan enjoys biking and skiing.

Education