The derivatives and structured products group at Linklaters LLP has ‘deep technical knowledge allied to commercial understanding and acumen’. The firm has deep experience across the board, but is a market-leader in key aspects of the market, among them synthetic securitisations and strategic equity derivatives. The firm is also a primary adviser to key industry body ISDA. ‘Whenever you speak with them, they give you their full attention and never give the impression that they’re pushed for time’, say clients of the group led by Deepak Sitlani. That group contains some of the leading names in the market, among them Matthew Monahan, Toby Gray and David Phillips, who handle OTC and securitised derivatives, and provide ‘ensure timely and high-quality service’; Doug Shaw focuses on OTC derivatives and regulatory change; derivatives specialists Simon Firth and Pauline Ashall, who are key advisers to ISDA; and Mark Brown, who previously worked in the Tokyo office and led the Asian structured finance practice, now leads the Firm’s Islamic derivatives practice from London, advising on murabaha, mudaraba and wakala structures. The firm has some of the most experienced partners in their respective fields, including Vinay Samani, who has ‘supreme experience of repack capability’, and Michael Voisin, who is is widely acknowledged to be an authority on financial markets law and practice. Mark Drury left the team in 2024.
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‘The team led by Vinay Samani has deep technical knowledge allied to commercial understanding and acumen.’
‘Vinay Samani - supreme experience of repack capability.’
‘They have a huge depth of knowledge and experience and provide sensible, commercial advice. The team are incredibly responsive and always make themselves available at short notice.’
‘Individual members of the team are empathetic and friendly. They must have a large number of active matters going on any given day, but whenever you speak with them, they give you their full attention and never give the impression that they're pushed for time.’
‘Linklaters has a very broad and deep understanding of both technical and practical issues that face the market, and their role as counsel to ISDA on many derivatives matters gives them invaluable insight.’
‘Deepak Sitlani is an excellent leader of the Linklaters team, not only being an excellent technical lawyer and practical adviser, but also in the way he runs his team and treats his associates.’
‘Extremely strong practice with A1 industry knowledge and experience. The team has worked on many innovative "first to market" products and have a proactive, best foot forward attitude. In particular I am impressed with the calibre of the junior associates in comparison to peer firms.’
‘I regularly work with David Philips, Leanne Banfield and James Joseph. They are a key partner to our business, having a deep understanding of the products and commercial challenges. The team really goes the extra mile to deliver best in class service and legal product.’
‘Top-tier service - responsive, reliable and commercial advice, pragmatic solutions, friendly and easy to deal with. Streamlined processes for flow business lines.’
‘In my experience, Vinay Samani has an awareness of market trends that is unrivalled. He is pragmatic with his solutions to complex structuring of deals. Unlike many other partners, Vinay is very hands-on in all aspects of transactions and as a client, I feel assured that we are receiving accurate and holistic advice.'
‘The Linklaters team is the most technically excellent, efficient and commercial of the law firms in this space.’
‘Both the partners and the lawyers in the team are excellent. They are responsive, understand the concepts and commercial drivers and are willing to take a view even in the face of some uncertainty. Deepak Sitlani (for OTC derivatives) and Vinay Samani and Michael Solaimani (for structured products) are particularly strong.’
‘As ISDA's main counsel they are very familiar with latest industry developments, and how they will and are being addressed through ISDA documentation.’
‘Suzanna Brunton - very technical. Phoebe Coutts - excellent on IBOR reform, very responsive’.
Advised the International Securities Lending Association (ISLA) on the drafting of their The Future of the Securities Lending Market: On the Cusp of Transformation White Paper, the third in the series. This paper considered how technological change, in the form of digitalisation and common data representations, may provide an opportunity and framework to standardise and streamline inefficiencies in legacy pro-cesses and practices.
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The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Simon specialises in the structuring of derivative products, the provision of derivatives advice and litigation. He regularly advises participants in the financial markets about the interpretation of standard form documentation and the legal implications of key developments.
Deepak is a Partner in the derivatves and structured products group. He is a specialist in structuring and documenting documenting of derivative transactions across the full spectrum of asset classes, including OTC equity derivatives, credit derivatives, interest rate and commodity derivatives. Deepak acts for a wide range of entities, including investment banks, corporates, investment managers, share scheme trustees and pension fund trustees. He has also acted for ISDA on Brexit, the EU Benchmark Regulation, the development of fallbacks to IBOR, the posting of Japanese collateral as initial margin, the 2011 Equity Derivatives Definitions and a template emerging markets equity option confirmation. He is a regular speaker on a wide range of derivatives topics as well as at ISDA sponsored conferences.
Michael is Global Head of Capital Markets and a partner in the Derivatives and Structured Products Group in London. Michael specialises in sophisticated financial products, including securitised, exchange traded and OTC derivatives, repackagings, investment fund products and financing, CDOs, and note and warrant programmes . Recent experience includes derivatives clearing, regulation and regulatory capital treatment (including the FIA CCP Risk Review), benchmarks , longevity derivatives, acting for the UK administrators of Lehman Brothers, ISDA on the drafting of the 2011 Equity Derivatives Definitions and Brexit and Eurozone matters.
Leading individuals
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Deepak Sitlani