Our proven track record instils confidence in our clients, who trust us to achieve the best outcomes for their corporate trustee work. A one team, one firm approach means we partner with our clients across jurisdictions and throughout the entire lifecycle of their transactions.
As well as providing integrated guidance on domestic and cross-border transactions, defaults, and restructuring and insolvency, we offer continuing legal education sessions for your team on documentation issues, market and legal developments, regulation, shifting liability, and more.
An efficient and cost-effective service in routine transactions is the foundation of our corporate trust and agency approach. However, our market knowledge and experience set us apart in our ability to handle the most complex and sophisticated transactions.
From advising on new issues to handling post-closing matters such as defaults, downgrades, restructurings, security enforcement, consent solicitations, waivers, modifications, and the exercise of trustee powers and discretions, we deliver excellence at every step.
Broadly, the assistance we provide to our clients covers three main fields.
- Transactions: We advise corporate trustees, agents, and related counterparties from the proposal for a new issuance through to the negotiation and execution of transaction documents and beyond. We have extensive experience advising on the exercise of trustee powers and discretions, of restructurings and security enforcements and regularly assist with bondholder meetings, exchange offers, tender offers, schemes of arrangement, pre- and post-default and wider transactional issues.
- Restructuring and insolvency: We advise on all types of domestic and cross-border restructurings and insolvencies, including those involving multi-jurisdictional bonds, loans, project finance transactions, asset-backed securities, bond insurance, and derivatives.
- Litigation: If a matter becomes contentious, our cross-border team is on hand to represent clients to help resolve any issues, where our knowledge spans disputes in the banking, financial markets, funds, and regulatory fields. Globally, we have represented clients in corporate trust litigation involving insolvency and restructuring issues, derivatives and structured products, and asset-backed securities.
Extensive Experience
Almost every major financial institution acting as a corporate trustee or agent has sought our advice. Specifically, our experience stretches across:
- Capital markets debt: We regularly advise clients as trustee and agent in all capacities in corporate finance, domestic and global secured and unsecured debt transactions, structured finance transactions, derivative transactions, domestic and global project finance, Islamic finance (including Sukuks), Trust Indenture Act and exempt transactions, trust preferred transactions, consent solicitations, tender offers, and exchange offers.
- Structured finance: We regularly advise major corporate trustees and agency service providers in connection with collateralized debt obligations, repackaging's, significant risk transfer transactions, forward flows, and the securitization of a wide variety of assets, including commercial and residential mortgages, consumer loans, commercial loans, future flow credit card and export receivables, trade receivables, automobile loans, equipment leases, utility and infrastructure cash flows, and whole businesses.
- Loan agency: We represent many of the major agency service providers in their roles as administrative agent, collateral agent, security trustee, security agent, facility agent, intercreditor agent and all other agency-related roles in connection with both secured and unsecured domestic and global credit facilities for all sectors of the global economy, including health care, pharmaceuticals, energy, gaming, financial services, media and entertainment, and many others. We also regularly represent such organizations in connection with domestic, global and multijurisdictional restructurings, bankruptcies and insolvencies, debtor-in-possession financings, and the resignation and assignment of these roles.
- Settlement trusts: We represent corporate trust and agency groups of major financial institutions, acting as trustee for some of the largest and most complex bankruptcy and other settlement trusts.
- Municipal finance: We regularly represent major corporate trustees and agents in municipal bond financings and municipal project financings. We advise clients on new bond issues and structured investments, including float contracts for escrow securities, forward-delivery agreements for debt service funds and debt service reserve funds, and collateralized investment agreements and repurchase agreements for construction funds.
- Strategic transactions: We regularly advise the corporate trust and agency groups of major financial institutions in the acquisition or disposition of corporate trust and custody platforms, as well as “lift out” transactions related to corporate trust and agency services. We work with these clients in ground-breaking deals, including entrance to new markets, major market repositioning, and other high-stakes business strategies. We have extensive experience designing and implementing due diligence projects that require an understanding of corporate trust and agency business lines.
Comprehensive Legal Support
The depth and breadth of our team’s experience means we are well positioned to advise on:
- Bond issues, high yield transactions, green/sustainability linked transactions, liability management transactions, secured and unsecured loans, project finance and structured finance, including securitizations, covered bonds, collateralized loan obligations, repackaging transactions, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) bonds, sustainability bonds, Islamic finance and index/commodity linked products.
- Exercise by trustees of their powers and discretions in relation to modifications and generally, and bondholder meetings.
- Distressed transactions, including pre-default advice, defaults, consent solicitations, exchange offers, tender offers, out-of-court and in-court restructurings, bankruptcy, insolvency, and all related litigation support.
- Corporate trust disputes, including high-profile, multi-jurisdictional litigation.
- Strategic business support, including advising on standardized guidelines and documentation, and domestic and cross-border regulatory developments affecting all corporate trust and agency services and custody platforms.
We constantly monitor the changes in the regulatory and legal landscape in different markets to ensure that clients are aware of and ready to respond to changes affecting their business.
