Related Areas

Seward & Kissel’s Derivatives and Structured Products Group is internationally recognized for its depth of expertise and broad market coverage. Our attorneys advise some of the world’s largest asset managers and hedge funds, as well as other end-users such as funds of funds and mutual funds, emerging managers, institutional investors and corporates with respect to complex derivatives and structured products transactions, derivatives regulation and compliance and trading relationship documentation (such ISDA Master Agreements and prime brokerage arrangements).

Our derivatives and structured products practice is comprised of a broad-based group of market-leading professionals focusing on the derivatives, investment management, structured finance and asset securitization practice (including CLOs) areas. Together, we comprise an integrated group of more than 55 lawyers specializing in advising financial institutions, whose collective experience and thorough understanding of the financial markets allows us to provide the best solutions for our clients. Our team is well-equipped to assist clients with structuring and establishing the most complex and innovative transactions.

We advise our clients in connection with the structuring, negotiation and documentation of an array of over-the-counter derivative instruments, structured products and repo facilities. Our attorneys draft and review complex derivatives such as credit default swaps and total return swaps that provide synthetic or leveraged exposure to underlying assets of all types, that provide regulatory capital relief to swap dealers and financial institutions (including VAR or liquidity coverage ratio trades), that serve as credit enhancement or other support for structured finance programs, or that otherwise constitute an alternative to direct investments in the securities, commodities or other assets referenced in such derivatives.

Primary areas of expertise in derivatives and structured products include:

  • Benchmarking of key terms against the market
  • Asset repack transactions – both swap (TRS) and repo form
  • Bond options
  • Bond total return swaps
  • Collateral structures and credit risk mitigation arrangements
  • Commodity derivatives
  • Compliance matrix creation and maintenance
  • Credit default swaps
  • Cryptocurrency, blockchain and DLT products and platforms
  • Derivative warrants and equity linked notes
  • Equity total return swaps
  • Equity variance and volatility swaps Hybrid derivative instruments
  • FX swaps
  • Interest rate swaps
  • Loan total return swaps
  • OTC derivatives prime brokerage intermediation
  • OTC options on securities and commodities
  • Repo financing arrangements connected with regulatory risk retention requirements
  • Structured credit products
  • Term repo financing and repo facilities on portfolios of securities, loans or commodities
  • Term sheets and templates for ISDA, prime brokerage, clearing, repo and forward trading arrangements
  • VAR and LCR risk-transfer transactions