Derivatives
We have one of the largest international Capital Markets and Derivatives teams of any law firm headquartered in the United States. The U.S. National Law Journal has dubbed us the “go-to law firm for Financial America” because of our Capital Markets and Derivatives group, which is consistently ranked as a leading practice by multiple publications. It includes former regulators and enforcement attorneys, compliance officers, general counsel, and longstanding private practitioners.
Derivatives trade in markets throughout the world and require a global legal platform. This is especially true in light of current international reform efforts and the prevalence of cross-border transactions. By leveraging the experience of our global offices, we add value and provide a competitive advantage based on our familiarity with cross-border structures and the market regulations of various jurisdictions. Our experience representing buy-side firms, dealers, and trading platforms demonstrates the breadth and depth of our capital markets and derivatives practice.
Diverse Practice Coverage and Diverse Market Participants
We are highly experienced with a full range of regulatory and market issues faced by participants in the global derivatives markets. Our team counsels a diverse range of clients, including hedge funds, private equity funds, mutual funds, pension plans, institutional investment advisers, swap dealers, financial institutions, trading platforms, commodity end-users, agricultural producers and manufacturers, energy companies, corporate end-users, trade associations, and cryptocurrency and fintech companies.
Regulatory Advocacy and Compliance
We regularly appear before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and other regulators to advocate and provide comments on rule proposals. We deploy our business, operational, and government experience to the implementation of regulations in the United States, EU, Australia, and other markets, including the trading, registration, clearing, and other compliance obligations of the Dodd-Frank Act, European Market Infrastructure Regulation, and other global regulatory reforms.
Our lawyers are experienced in navigating the complex regulations related to options, futures, and other exchange-traded products.
Derivatives Products and Transactions
We regularly advise clients on the full range of cleared and over-the-counter derivatives, including credit, equity, interest rate, currency, energy, and commodities swaps, options, futures, forwards, repos, and synthetic investments. We also represent a large number of asset managers and other end-users in drafting, negotiating, renegotiating, and interpreting a large number of repurchase, reverse repurchase, and securities lending agreements, as well as master securities forward transaction agreements.
In addition, we advise issuers, investors, servicers, and other market participants with respect to a wide range of securitization transactions and asset classes. We advise financial institutions throughout the world in respect of a wide range of structured products that do not cleanly fall within the realm of pure derivatives or pure securitization.
Internal Investigations and Enforcement Actions
Derivatives market participants operate in an aggressive enforcement environment with established expectations of self-reporting and cooperation. We assist clients when conduct is discovered internally or when an investigative request is received from regulators. Due to our experience working with regulators including the CFTC and the Department of Justice, we can provide a focused and rapid review of conduct, as well as perform internal investigations to assess and mitigate risk. We also have the know-how to assemble an integrated team when conduct crosses borders or involves multiple agencies.
