Benjamin Downie, partner at Jones Day
Jones Day has hired partner Benjamin Downie at the firm’s Sydney office to strengthen its financial markets practice in Australia and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.
Downie has joined the firm from Allens, where he served as a partner for 10 years. Prior to his tenure at Allens, he spent five years as special counsel at Gilbert + Tobin. With 24 years of experience, Downie focuses his practice on the raising of domestic and international credit and private capital across the securitisation, structured finance and debt capital markets.
In his previous role at Allens, he led the team in advising Australian government-owned company Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) on its role as a mezzanine lender to Australian auto finance company Metro’s green securitisation warehouse. This financing arrangement supported Metro’s initiative to offer a 1% discount on its standard loan rate for eligible customers, split evenly between a 0.5% discount backed by CEFC and a 0.5% discount provided by Metro.
The transaction helped CEFC expand support for small-to-medium-sized businesses, enabling them to access discounted loans aimed at improving energy efficiency and reducing emissions.
