Equity derivatives tax specialist Elena Romanova joins Latham & Watkins in New York
Latham & Watkins has announced that Elena Romanova has joined the firm in New York as a partner in the Tax Department and Financial Institutions Group.
Romanova’s practice includes a broad range of issues relating to financial products and derivatives. She has deep understanding of the tax issues that arise in equity derivative transactions, such as structured notes, convertible debt securities, swaps and forward contracts. She also has substantial experience in securitization transactions. Romanova has extensive knowledge of the financial industry and unique tax issues faced by broker-dealers and banks in both institutional and retail businesses, including excise and transfer tax matters, as well as global tax transparency challenges.
Romanova joins Latham from Citigroup in New York, where she most recently served as a Managing Director and Global Head of the Business Tax Advisory supporting the Institutional Clients Group and the Consumer Bank. In this role, Romanova led the team of lawyers responsible for providing comprehensive tax support to all Citi businesses, with a particular focus on the US federal income tax aspects of financial products and corporate transactions, as well as on cross-border tax planning, withholding tax and information reporting matters, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) and the OECD Common Reporting Standard. In addition, Romanova played an important role in Citi global tax transparency initiatives. Prior to joining Citi, she was an associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP from 2003 to 2010 and served as a Tax Policy Fellow at the US Treasury Department, Office of Tax Policy in the fall of 2002. During her tenure at Citi, Romanova also served on the Board of Directors of the Wall Street Tax Association.
“Elena is highly regarded for her deep understanding of the tax issues surrounding complex financial instruments, and we are very pleased to welcome her to the firm,” said Michèle Penzer, Office Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins in New York. “She will be a go-to resource for our global financial institution clients and other market participants engaging in sophisticated financial products transactions, mainly derivatives and structured finance transactions.”
Jiyeon Lee-Lim, Global Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Tax Department, said: “Elena is a terrific addition to the team. She has deep ties to the tax community on Wall Street and is an authority on the tax rules governing cutting-edge equity and other derivative transactions, including swap, currency and commodity deals. Her experience is highly complementary to our Capital Markets, Banking and Securitization practices, as well as our global Financial Institutions Group.”
Witold Balaban, Global Co-Chair of Latham’s Financial Institutions Group, said: “Elena’s arrival further demonstrates our commitment to being the leading firm advising on complex, cross-border deals. She will be an integral part of the firm’s globally integrated financial institutions practice that brings together unrivalled transactional, regulatory and litigation capabilities in key markets around the globe. Elena’s years of in-house experience and robust knowledge of tax law and specialized financial products gives her a unique skill set in the market, and she will be a tremendous asset to our clients.”
“Latham has a market leading platform with resources in every major financial center, and the firm has an outstanding reputation for executing some of the most complicated, high-profile deals in the industry,” Romanova said. “I look forward to joining the firm’s talented team and bringing my unique financial industry in-house experience to add to the growth of the practice.”
Romanova received her JD in 2002, followed by an LLM in Taxation in 2003, both from New York University School of Law. She received her BBA in Accounting from the University of Houston in 1996 and her MPA in Taxation from The Indiana University Kelley School of Business in Bloomington in 1999.