LendInvest, the leading online lender for short-term property finance, has appointed its first in-house legal counsel to the company’s expanding team. Ruth Pearson joins LendInvest from Simmons & Simmons where she was a Managing Associate in the Banking team. Pearson joined Simmons & Simmons as a trainee in 2007 and qualified in 2009. During her eight years in private practice, Pearson advised a wide range of financial institutions and borrowers on various banking and real estate finance transactions; she also spent nine months on secondment to the Real Estate Restructuring team at RBS.
“Bringing Ruth into our team of industry specialists comes at an important time for the company which is growing quickly in a rapidly-evolving market,” commented Christian Faes, Co-Founder & CEO at LendInvest. “A thorough, in-house understanding of regulatory changes and legal provisions will make sure we are always best placed to help borrowers and investors alike to receive the highest quality service from our platform. As a lawyer myself, who often gets lumped with legal issues, I’m very excited to bring Ruth on board as part of our team!”
At LendInvest, Pearson will work closely with the company’s Heads of Compliance and Credit to create the most streamlined and efficient legal processes for the fast-growing company, also lending her transactional expertise to borrowers and brokers, assisting with their legal queries to make the LendInvest customer experience as seamless as possible. LendInvest, which opened for business in May 2013, reported last week that it has now originated over £500 million of loans for borrowers seeking finance deals lasting up to three years. The company’s team grew rapidly in 2015 from fewer than 30 employees to over 70 full-time staff by year-end.