Profile
Fernando Azofra is a partner in the Madrid office of Uría Menéndez. He was admitted to the Madrid Bar in 1992 and joined the firm in 1993. He set up and headed the firm’s Lisbon office from 1998 to 2001.
He advises domestic and foreign companies on real estate and banking matters, asset finance and M&A with an underlying real estate component. He has broad expertise in structuring and implementing property investments, divestments and financings. He has assisted in corporate and real estate deals involving an aggregate consideration of over EUR 42 billion. In relation to his financing expertise, he has outlined mortgage-backed financings, project finance, structured financings and “plain vanilla” financings for over EUR 19 billion (some of which were the first deals of their kind in Spain, as is the case of the deals structured over floating mortgages, blanket mortgages, conditional mortgages or express conditions subsequent).
He was one of the seven members of the Expert Committee that the Ministry of Justice appointed to reform the Spanish pre-insolvency and insolvency legislation in 2022, which transposed the EU Restructuring Directive into domestic law.
He is regarded as a Leading Lawyer and a Hall of Famer by the main international legal directories such as Chambers & Partners, International Who’s Who of Lawyers and Legal 500.
Education
- Law Degree (with Honours), Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE), 1992
- Business Administration Degree, Universidad Pontificia Comillas (ICADE), 1993
- Ph.D. in Law, summa cum laude, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 2014
- Special prize to the best doctorate student, 2015
Professional associations
- Until January 2024, he co-chaired the banking and financial law committee of the International Bar Association and is currently a member of its Advisory Board.
- Member of the Editorial Board of the “Revista General de Insolvencias & Reestructuraciones (I&R)”
- Madrid Bar Association
Teaching activity
He lectures on property, M&A and banking in law schools, legal and business institutes and organisations.
