SRZ has a market-leading practice in the derivatives area. Our extensive practice covers both transactional and regulatory work and we have one of the largest groups of derivatives attorneys of any law firm.
Our derivatives team represents a large and diverse client base, including investment funds (both registered investment companies and private investment partnerships), corporations, collateral managers, institutional purchasers, pension plans, investment banks, commercial banks (including institutions based outside of the United States), high-net worth individuals, monoline insurance companies, trustees and structured finance vehicles, with respect to a wide variety of derivatives transactions. The team is active in structuring over-the-counter derivatives products, including complex credit-based derivatives, fund-linked derivatives, commodity-based derivatives, equity derivatives, debt derivatives, interest rate derivatives, foreign exchange derivatives, currency derivatives, weather derivatives, total return swaps, forward and option agreements, repurchase agreements, securities lending agreements, prime brokerage agreements and master netting agreements. The group also negotiates ISDA master agreements and other customized forms that govern derivatives transactions, and documents and negotiates credit relationships, such as guarantees and collateral agreements (including the ISDA credit support annex), related to these transactions.
SRZ recognized early on that integrating our derivatives and structured products practices was necessary to serve the complex needs of our clients. Recognizing the close relationship between structured transactions and derivatives from an economic, business and documentation standpoint, we organized our practice accordingly. Coordinating these areas has enabled us to be a strong presence in the market for legal services related to, for example, “synthetic” collateralized loan obligations and credit derivatives product companies. We work closely with investment and commercial banks in structuring transactions that are dependent on the proper treatment of instruments under banks’ regulatory capital guidelines. We have also been retained for a variety of unusual and specialized derivatives projects, including acquisitions of derivatives dealers and futures commission merchants, documenting credit derivatives product companies, coordinating transfers of derivatives transactions resulting from changes in corporate structure, and advising the liquidators of insolvent hedge funds and other structured vehicles, such as SIVs.
In addition, SRZ has long appreciated the trend toward the integration of structured finance, derivatives and hedge funds, as evidenced by the development of fund-linked derivatives and structured finance products and the growing number of hedge funds that use complex derivatives and structured finance products. Accordingly, we have organized our various groups to seamlessly serve our clients' needs in these areas—and to address the constantly evolving roster of players, asset classes and business goals. We work closely with hedge fund clients in structuring derivatives to achieve the most efficient tax treatment and to mitigate against risks such as counterparty exposure, early termination and valuation conflicts.
The expertise of the structured products & derivatives group encompasses the full spectrum of financial products and specialties that are linked to or routinely used by hedge funds, including:
- Fund-linked derivatives
- Fund-linked notes
- Collateralized fund obligations
- Credit derivatives, equity derivatives, interest rate derivatives, currency derivatives, weather derivatives and other OTC derivatives
- Credit-linked notes, equity-linked notes and other structured notes
- Repackaging programs (including tax-exempt TOB programs)
- Loan and ABS collateralized debt obligations (cashflow, market value and synthetic)
- Public and private securitizations of auto loans, leases, credit card receivables, residential mortgage loans, commercial mortgage loans and other assets
- Taxation of financial products
- Bankruptcy and creditors' rights
- Financial products litigation
- Governmental investigation assistance
At SRZ, we understand how market pressure points and regulatory challenges, often appearing without warning, such as the contagion of market disruptions caused by the U.S. subprime loan crisis, can affect our clients' businesses, and we have unparalleled experience in structuring solutions in the face of such conditions. In doing so, we utilize our firm's multi-disciplinary expertise, drawing on the experience of attorneys in areas such as securities, bank regulatory, broker-dealer, tax, insolvency and ERISA. But while our attorneys' collective experience is diverse, our focus is singular: to effectively and efficiently help our clients achieve their financing and risk-transfer needs, especially in times of market and regulatory turbulence.