William Glaister

William was previously a partner at the international law firm Clifford Chance LLP (1991-2023), specialising in aviation and asset finance. William worked in their offices in London, Singapore and Hong Kong. He led their Tier-1 ranked global asset finance group from 2009, advising on major deals for General Electric (including on the merger of GECAS and AerCap), Avolon, Airbus, Deutsche Bank AG, UKEF (including COVID related funding for British Airways). He is a recognised legal expert on limited recourse and lessor portfolio financings, and worked extensively with PK AirFinance after its acquisition by GE in 2000 and subsequent sale to Apollo, and advised the KKR sponsored platform AV AirFinance on its set-up and inaugural transactions.

After leaving Clifford Chance, William acted as a consultant to various entities, including Hamburg Commercial Bank, where he advised on the growth of their aviation loan portfolio, as well as its subsequent sale to Deutsche Bank AG.

William has contributed to many industry associations, in particular the Aviation Working Group, where he led work on the industry reaction to the imposition of sanctions against Russia in 2022. He is co-editor of the 6th edition of the Aircraft Financing textbook published by Bloomsbury Professional.

William has a B.A. Hons in History from University College London and a MA in Early Modern History from King’s College London.

William is also a trustee of Orbis UK, a leading eyesight charity with a mission to prevent avoidable blindness and support eye care globally.