Practice Areas & Industries: Greenberg Traurig, P.A.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

The structured finance markets have experienced tremendous growth in issuance volumes over the past several years, thanks to continual innovation, product diversification and globalization. Asset-backed securities are one of the most rapidly expanding segments of the market today. More complex structured finance techniques – such as the use of senior and mezzanine structures with elements of high yield debt and bond programs – are also becoming more commonplace. Changes are cropping up on the regulatory side, as well.

Greenberg Traurig’s structured finance and derivatives attorneys participate in securitized and structured products encompassing almost every asset class in the mortgage, asset-backed, municipal and structured products markets. Through our representation of virtually every type of market participant – from major financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies to specialty finance companies – we have a breadth of experience to offer our clients.

Services Available

Our structured finance and derivatives attorneys utilize GT’s far-reaching U.S. and international locations to provide clients with global services. We have experience in a wide array of U.S. and international transactions and represent clients in U.S.-based transactions, offshore offerings, and cross-border securitizations. While we have developed complex securitization techniques and structured derivatives products for new asset classes, we also regularly handle routine transactions where efficiency, accessibility and cost minimization are essential.

Legal Services

• Represent investors, issuers, underwriters, placement agents, lenders, servicers, trustees, custodians and providers of derivative products
   
• Structure and negotiate a wide range of mortgage-backed, asset-backed, tax-exempt, bond-backed securities, as well as derivatives, structured products and structured investment vehicles
   
• Advise on securities, commodities, banking, tax, ERISA and bankruptcy laws and regulations affecting capital markets transactions
   
• Assist with governmental and regulatory authority filings, compliance and audits
   
• Represent financial institutions and investors in structured derivatives, swaps and related derivative products
   
• Advise on regulatory issues affecting structured finance market participants
   
• Represent both institutional lenders and borrowers in facilities secured by a variety of collateral

Experience with a Wide Range of Structures

• Commercial paper and other conduit structures
• Owner trust and master trust structures
• REMIC transactions
• Whole loan trades
• Debt-for-tax transactions
• On balance sheet and off balance sheet structures
• Senior/subordinate structures
• “Wrap” deals with monoline insurers
• Hybrid structures with swaps, caps, guaranties, overcollateralization, excess spread or reserve funds

Representative Structured Products and Derivatives Experience

• Total return swaps, credit default swaps, first to default swaps and accreting basket swaps
• Puts, calls, knock-in and knock-out options, and variance swaps
• Warrants
• Prepaid forwards and other forward delivery contracts and futures contracts
• Synthetic CDOs and securities
• Structured investment conduits
• Structured equity derivative products
• Structured credit derivative products
• Principal protected derivative products
• Highly leveraged derivative products
• “Plain vanilla” repo, swap and derivative transactions

Representative Asset Class Experience

• Single-family prime, subprime and Alt-A residential mortgage loans
• Commercial and multifamily mortgage loans
• Aircraft leases
• Auto leases and loans
• Boat and recreational vehicle loans
• Cash value receivables of insurance policies
• Credit cards
• Equipment leases and loans
• Receivables (truck lease, trade, merchant voucher, telecom)
• FHA/VA insured mortgage loans
• Future flow receivables
• Franchise loans
• GSE-backed loans
• Home equity lines of credit
• Home equity loans
• High LTV junior lien loans (“125s”)
• Intellectual property royalties
• Letters of credit
• Life settlements
• Loan participations
• Nonperforming mortgage loans and REO properties
• Manufactured housing contracts
• Net interest margin transactions
• Resecuritized mortgage-backed securities
• Securitization of whole companies
• Securitized legal fees from litigation settlements (tobacco settlements)
• Stranded costs and other utility assets
• Student loans
• Tax liens
• Tobacco bonds
• Venture capital receivables
• 12b-1 fees