About

Number of years practice: 17

Principal practice areas: Capital Markets

Bar admissions: New York, Massachusetts

Languages spoken: English

Jacob Farquharson is a corporate and securities partner and focuses primarily on international and domestic capital markets transactions, mergers and acquisitions and other corporate finance and general corporate transactions.

Farquharson has represented both issuers and investment banks in initial public offerings, follow-on equity and debt offerings, pre-IPO/144A offerings and other private placements for companies in various industries including: FIBRAs and REITs, infrastructure and energy, hospitality and gaming, healthcare, real estate, aviation and specialty finance involving mortgages, online consumer loans and corporate middle market loans.

Farquharson has advised on numerous US and cross-border financings, including several recent landmark deals: the IPO and follow-on offerings of the first-ever Mexican REIT (Fibra Uno), including its US$2.5bn offering that was named “Follow-On Equity Deal of the Year” by LatinFinance; the US$890m IPO of CFE FIBRA E, sponsored by Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission (CFE); the transaction was the first global IPO by a FIBRA E and awarded “2018 Equities Deal of the Year – Americas” by The Banker; the IPO and follow-on offering for the first-ever lodging REIT in Mexico (FibraHotel); the IPO of Fibra Danhos; the IPO of Fibra Resorts; and the acquisition by a Mexican company of a US$600m+ loan portfolio.

What differentiates your Mexico-facing practice from those of your US competitors and peers?
Our clients. They are top-tier organisations who are market leaders or have the potential to be outright leaders in the coming years. Their creative and ambitious growth plans provide opportunities for us to partner with them on the most interesting and complex, strategic transactions.

Another differentiating factor is that, in addition to my practice in Mexico, I represent a number of public and private companies, sponsors, investment banks and investors in the United States and other jurisdictions. My understanding of legal structures, governance practices, compensation arrangements, investor preferences and regulatory developments in the United States, and elsewhere, has allowed me to bring important structural insights and solutions to a range of complicated and novel transactions in Mexico. My experience in the Mexican market has also allowed me to bring Mexican market approaches back to our US and other international clients. The ability to see how issues arise and are tackled in other jurisdictions, and to transfer solutions across jurisdictions, can be extremely valuable to clients in reaching commercially optimal outcomes.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of advising Mexico-based clients from an office in the United States?
I don’t see a disadvantage to being based in New York. As mentioned above, I represent a number of public and private companies, sponsors, investment banks and investors in the United States and other jurisdictions. My understanding of legal structures, governance practices, investor preferences, compensation arrangements and regulatory developments in the United States and elsewhere has allowed me to bring important structural insights and solutions to a range of complicated and novel transactions in Mexico. My visibility into the Mexican market has also allowed me to bring Mexican market approaches back to our US and other international clients.

What changes in the commercial and/or legal market do you anticipate in the 12 months ahead in Mexico?
The perception that an economic slowdown may be on the horizon, and other factors, will impact the way in which capital is deployed. Sponsors, investors, banks and advisors will need to get creative in order to consummate transactions. For those that are able to do so, I expect there will be massive opportunities

What influence will legal technology have on US/Mexico working practices in the future?
At Clifford Chance, we are already preparing for what the future of legal technology will bring to US-Mexico working practices. We are highly invested in technology training for lawyers, integrated platforms to optimise transactional practices, and applying AI technologies to high expense legal activities such as e-discovery and due diligence. We believe these burgeoning approaches will soon become commonplace, and the firm is already preparing for the next wave of technological innovation.

In the near term, online platforms for managing transactions from end-to-end, with all parties engaged, will be the new way of doing business. From managing the drafting and negotiation process, to digital signing and execution of contracts, a lot of administrative friction will be removed.

A bit further down the road, we will see data flowing more seamlessly and connected in a richer way. This is informed by the Mexican Fintech Law, which requires financial entities and FTIs to establish APIs to certain financial data systems. The law will also provide oversight for transactions involving cryptocurrency. This foundation for virtual assets and data connectivity will allow for the adoption of smart contracts on blockchain networks, with self-executing provisions to diminish the risk and overhead of dispute resolution.

Advancements in translation intelligence are also improving rapidly. At some point technical legalese will be translated accurately and instantaneously, breaking down language barriers, and creating efficiencies within the cross-border transaction lifecycle.

What is your perception of in-house counsel’s priorities in terms of client service when working with US-based law firms?
My view is that the main priorities of in-house counsel are trust and reliability. Trust in your judgment; that you can help them navigate through tricky and complex issues facing the organisation without taking on undue risk; that you can be a source of creative ideas and opportunities; and that you can consistently deliver service in a coordinated and efficient manner.