Despite the recent upheavals in the financial markets—and the regulatory responses they have provoked—the changes in our Derivatives group have been more about the shifting landscape than about our core capabilities. We are still a “go-to” firm for hedge funds, investment banks, and other entities that seek comprehensive advice on derivative transactions and the often-complex facilities that attend them.
We still regularly execute the full range of structured transactions, from the “plain vanilla” to the esoteric. Our deep and specialized experience in the financial industry—including long-standing relationships with all its key players—gives us a firm understanding of the business needs underlying each transaction, while our intimate knowledge of complex derivative concepts makes us unusually adept at creating custom “bespoke” swaps to effectively fill those needs.
The current constrained economic environment has brought about changes in those business needs, as well as in the mechanisms used to address them. Regulatory reform accounts for some of these changes. At the same time, the failures of major counterparties—and the significant losses that have accompanied them—have forced re-examination and, where necessary, renegotiation of many facility provisions, with an eye towards mitigating counterparty credit risk. Our broad experience with the many derivative types, with the related facilities, and with parties on both sides of the transactions gives us both latitude and credibility in helping clients respond to these and other changes in the marketplace.
Derivatives transactions often call for the participation of other legal disciplines, and we regularly draw on the skills and experience of the firm’s banking, capital markets, bankruptcy, tax, benefits, and litigation groups—among others—in a multi-disciplinary approach to a wide variety of derivatives-related issues.
Our services include:
- Representing clients in all types of derivatives transactions and facilities, ranging from simple equity, foreign exchange and credit derivatives to highly-customized structured derivatives, including structured total return swap facilities and fund-linked equity swaps
- Advising derivatives clients on issues relating to bankruptcy proceedings, potential credit events, succession events, and settlement questions regarding credit default swaps
- Advice regarding derivatives trading infrastructure, regulatory, and litigation matters