| White & Case | Standout | Restructuring the Kazakhstani bank sector | 8 | 8 | 7 | 23 | Acting for the state wealth fund, and later for two banks, the firm constructed a new legal framework for the Kazakhstani banking system. Previously, troubled banks had simply been liquidated |
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| Shearman & Sterling | Standout | Establishing the London Stock Exchange’s second clearing house | 8 | 6 | 8 | 22 | Setting up SIS x-clear helped bring competition to the LSE, enabling trading costs to fall dramatically. The firm played a leading role in achieving interoperability between the new and incumbent clearing houses |
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| Allen & Overy | Standout | “Big bang” protocol for credit default swaps | 7 | 6 | 8 | 21 | A hardwired set of conventions for CDS is a vital element of the new financial environment. The conventions streamline CDS disputes, removing the risk and uncertainty around these products |
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| Berwin Leighton Paisner | Standout | New regulatory guidance on market abuse | 6 | 8 | 7 | 21 | The Financial Services Auhtority has introduced strict new rules but without concrete advice on implementation. BLP developed practical industry-wide advice via the Futures and Options Association |
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| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | Highly commended | Deutsche Börse hybrid bond | 6 | 7 | 7 | 20 | The firm established a new variant on the hybrid bond featuring the “replacement capital covenant”, an elegant solution to the shifting ratings rules. Now adopted as the industry standard by Standard & Poor’s |
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| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | Highly commended | Transferring Lehman businesses to Nomura | 5 | 7 | 8 | 20 | Freshfields was responsible for the delicate and complex process of transferring Lehman Brothers’ European, Middle East and Asian employees and systems under immense time pressure |
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| Mayer Brown | Highly commended | Transparency and disclosure advice for the securitisation sector | 6 | 6 | 8 | 20 | Helping the European Securitisation Forum, the firm developed new principles now signed up to by 14 big banks. Commended by the Treasury, they are being examined by the European Commission as a crucial part of future regulations |
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| Allen & Overy | Highly commended | First multi-jurisdictional public sector covered bond programme | 6 | 6 | 7 | 19 | The firm created a structure that would enable BNP Paribas to access funds following inaccessible capital markets. Difficulty was setting up a French covered bond programme to operate across multiple jurisdictions |
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| Bredin Prat | Highly commended | French Banking Network Merger | 7 | 6 | 6 | 19 | A sizeable merger between Banque Fédérale des Banques Populaires and Caisse Nationale des Caisses d’Epargne required new legislation that the firm helped to draft |
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| Clifford Chance | Highly commended | World Economic Forum report on new financial architecture | 6 | 7 | 6 | 19 | As the only law firm to work with the WEF on their most high-profile report to date, Clifford Chance advised on the regulatory aspects of the new financial era |
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| Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira | Highly commended | Saving Barcelona's Metro Line 9 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 19 | Private-public finance has become harder to locate in the downturn. The firm’s deft footwork in drafting tender documents ensured Catalan authorities took on the refinancing risk themselves |
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| Shearman & Sterling | Highly commended | UK's first new derivatives house for over 100 years | 7 | 6 | 6 | 19 | Skilled multi-party negotiations enabled the firm to establish ICE-Clear Europe. “Open offer” clearing allows contracts to be completed instantaneously |
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| Slaughter and May | Highly commended | Splitting the Bradford & Bingley pension scheme | 6 | 7 | 6 | 19 | To transfer the retail deposit books of B&B to Abbey the firm had to split the pension scheme into two sections, sharing trustees but with separate assets and liabilities. This minimised Abbey’s pension exposure without damaging scheme members’ interests |
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| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | Commended | BAA’s refinancing of its UK airports | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | The firm achieved an extremely large and complicated refinancing by creating a bond exchange mechanism and escrow arrangements for existing holders |
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| Garrigues | Commended | First multi-asset security collateralised loan obligation | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | First securitisation in Spain to operate with different assets and in different jurisdictions – extremely challenging under Spanish law |
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| TLT Solicitors | Commended | Global substitution order for mortgage claims | 6 | 7 | 5 | 18 | TLT standardised the intricate process of transferring mortgage debt books, allowing batches to be exchanged without having to make court applications for each one. This reduces risk and costs |
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| Eversheds | Commended | JPMorgan Chase obtaining Northern Rock’s highest quality mortgages | 4 | 7 | 6 | 17 | More than 10,000 individual mortgage packets were reviewed by Eversheds’ legal services group in an effective balance of process driven work and high-end advice |
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| Schönherr | Commended | First Austrian collateralised bond obligation | 5 | 6 | 5 | 16 | The firm helped client RZB access European Central Bank funds in the liquidity crisis through a combination of commercial nous and negotiating skill |
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| Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii | Commended | Reshaping of Erste’s Romanian asset management company | 5 | 6 | 5 | 16 | Strategic end-to-end advice on an unusual restructuring effectively neutralised an unwieldy small shareholder base |
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