Practices

Kalyan (“Kal”) Das is the head of the Global Bank and Institutional Finance & Restructuring Practice Group at Seward & Kissel. He maintains offices in New York City and London, England, although he spends most of his time in the Firm’s New York office.

Kal focuses primarily in the areas of structured finance, asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities transactions, asset based lending, fintech financing, supply chain and trade financing, whole loan financing, leveraged loan financing, domestic and international banking transactions, project finance, capital markets, distressed debt trading, second lien financing, institutional finance, private placements and private equity. He represents numerous domestic and international banks, private equity, hedge funds, investors, trustees, servicers and other institutions in all types of domestic and cross-border financing transactions, including structured financing, CLOs, supply chain and trade financing, asset based lending, fintech lending and structuring of transactions, ADR/GDR and corporate trust transactions.

Kal is a member of the Board of Directors and Vice President of the New York University Law School Alumni Association (“LAA”) and chairs the Nominating Committee of the LAA. Kal is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 2022, The Kal Das Biomedical Research Suite was inaugurated in the Center for Integrated Sciences at Skidmore College. Kal is also on the Board of Governors of ISH (London). In addition, Kal is the President of FISH (London) Inc., a not-for-profit organization that works with SOAS, London University and ISH (London) with respect to awarding grants for higher education to deserving students.

Kal is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the New York Bar Association and The Honorable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, London, England. He has served as a co-chair of the Annual Meeting of the American College of Investment Counsel (“ACIC”), and as a panel member for The American Securitization Forum (ASF), and American Bankers Association (ABA) and Strategic Research Institute (SRI) conferences and the Practicing Law Institute (PLI) Seminar. He is a Fellow of the ACIC and was on the Board of Trustees of ACIC until 2007. He has also conducted numerous in-house training seminars for banks and financial institutions.

Kal is admitted to practice law in New York, the United Kingdom (England & Wales), Australia and India. He received a Barrister-at-Law degree from The Lincoln’s Inn in 1979, an LL.M. from New York University School of Law in 1989 and OPM from Harvard Business School in 2021.

Representative Experience

Kal focuses primarily in the areas of structured finance, asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities transactions, domestic and international banking transactions, project finance, capital markets, distressed debt trading, second lien financing, institutional finance and private placements. He represents numerous domestic and international banks and other institutions in all types of domestic and cross-border financing transactions. Such transactions have involved:

  • structured financing,
  • asset securitization financing (involving asset-backed securities (“ABS”),
  • commercial mortgage-backed securities (“CMBS”) and residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”),
  • secured and unsecured loan financing,
  • senior and subordinate loan financing,
  • second lien financing,
  • market place lending,
  • structurings and financings with respect to fintech companies,
  • supply chain/trade financing,
  • commercial paper financing,
  • equipment financing,
  • aircraft and ship financing,
  • ADRs and GDRs,
  • legal issues relating to custody and distressed debt trading.

He has recently been working on various matters involving:

  • CLO/CBO transactions (both originations and distressed deals),
  • Fintech transactions,
  • Private Equity transactions,
  • Supply chain/trade financing transactions,
  • RMBS/CMBS transactions (including enforcement actions, mortgage loan repurchases by originators/sponsors and servicer breaches),
  • domestic and cross-border securitizations (involving ABS, RMBS and CMBS transactions),
  • domestic and cross-border project finance transactions,
  • domestic and cross-border transportation finance,
  • distressed debt trading, sub-prime mortgage industry, and out-of-court restructurings relating to Venezuela, Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, Asia and Canada.

Kal and his team worked in coming up with a unique structure in the RMBS area regarding enforcement of repurchases of loans by originators/sponsors. They are currently representing numerous financial institutions in connection with servicer breaches and repurchases of loans including litigation relating thereto. In addition, they are working on numerous CLOs, Crowdfunding and international broker-dealer joint ventures relating thereto, Peer-to-Peer securitizations and aircraft lease securitizations.

Kal’s practice also involves representing trustees, administrative agents, servicers and master servicers, trust administrators, collateral agents, hedge fund administrators and other service providers in asset-backed and mortgage-backed transactions, corporate finance transactions, project finance transactions and municipal finance transactions.

In addition, he represents trustees, servicers, administrative agents, custodians, and bondholders in restructuring/workouts involving asset-backed and mortgage-backed transactions and corporate bankruptcies. He and his team have worked or are currently working on most of the major workouts to date including:

  • Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
  • Endo International plc
  • GMAC/ResCap
  • Energy Future Holdings Corp. (formerly known as TXU Corporation)
  • MF Global Holdings Ltd.
  • Caesars Entertainment Operating Company Inc.
  • Arch Coal, Inc., Firstenergy Solutions Corp.
  • Nine West Holdings, Inc., Proserv Global Inc.
  • ACIS CLO restructuring
  • Ditech Holding Corporation
  • PDVSA/Venezuelan debt
  • Comcar
  • Ruby’s Diner, Inc.
  • Altegrity Inc.
  • Stabfund (USA) Inc.
  • Syncora Guarantee Inc.
  • FGIC
  • CIT
  • Capmark
  • General Growth Properties, Inc.
  • LyondellBasell Industries AF S.C.A.
  • Fontainebleau Las Vegas, LLC
  • Northern Rock plc
  • National Century Financial Enterprises
  • IndyMac
  • Tudor Homes
  • American Home Mortgage Corporation
  • HomeBanc
  • Aegis
  • Oakwood Home
  • Commercial Financial Services
  • Enron
  • Prime
    Epic
  • NAL
  • restructurings involving aircraft lease securitizations
  • Spiegel Master Credit Card Trust
  • First Consumers Master Credit Card Trust
  • Travelers Receivables Finance
  • Ryland Mortgage
  • Auto Tech

and numerous Asian and Latin American workouts such as:

  • Guangdong Enterprises Group
  • Asia Pulp and Paper
  • Venezuelan oil industry and corporate restructurings in Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Mongolia.
Recognition

Kal is listed in the New York Super Lawyers 2006 – 2010, 2012-2022 editions as one of the top banking attorneys in New York. He is also listed in Marquis Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the East, Who’s Who in Finance and Industry, Who’s Who in the World and Who’s Who of Emerging Leaders in America. Kal is also the recipient of Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

Kal and his Group have garnered many national and international awards and are frequently ranked by the world’s leading legal publications. Recently, Kal and his team were chosen as

(i) Law360’s 2021 Banking and FinTech Editorial Advisory Boards,

(ii) Law360’s 2022 Banking Editorial Advisory Board,

(iii) Banking & Finance Law Firm of the Year in New York for 2016 and 2017 by Global Law Expert,

(iv) the Large Tier winner of the Corporate International Legal Award for Project Finance Law Firm of the Year 2013 and 2014,

(v) 2018 Lawyer International Legal 100 Structured Finance Law Firm of the Year in New York,

(vi) Corporate International Global Awards Winner

(a) 2017 Banking & Finance Law Firm of the Year in New York, and

(b) 2018 Structured Finance Law Firm of the Year in New York,

(vii) 2016 Global Law Experts Banking & Finance Law Firm of the Year in New York,

(viii) 2017 Global Law Experts Structured Finance Law Firm of the Year in New York,

(ix) Lawyers World Structured Finance Law Firm of the Year in USA,

(x) 2014 Finance Monthly Deal Maker of the Year Award, and

(xi) 2013 Best Structured Finance Law Firm of the Year in USA, by InterContinental Finance Magazine’s 2013 Global Awards.

In addition, Kal and his Group are regularly recognized by Super Lawyers and by Legal 500.