Sidley Austin LLP
Client SatisfactionSidley Austin LLP has a deep bench of securitisation lawyers handling complex and innovative deals. The firm has a long pedigree in the market and continues to adapt to clients’ needs, currently focusing on bilateral securitisations across many asset classes, as well as maintaining an active CLO practice. Head of the global finance group Rupert Wall is a key adviser to some of the biggest CLO managers in the world, though he also acts for collateral managers, arrangers and investors. His pure securitisation work includes a €500m direct lending deal for a global investment bank. Emerging talent Emilie Stewart is highly active in real estate-backed and NPL transactions. In the junior ranks, Azeem Sulemanji is tipped for a bright future, having been heavily involved in CLOs, large auto securitisations and significant NPL deals. Nick Brittain retired from practice.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'I work with Rupert Wall regularly on cross-border securitisation matters. Rupert is an exceptionally talented individual in the securitisation space, which is generally full of talented and smart individuals. He has the ability to understand issues quickly and deal with them thoroughly. If securitisation were a country, Rupert would be the president.''Sidley have acted on various of our CLO transactions – a key difference we see is additional partner involvement and senior associate involvement compared to other market players.'
- 'Rupert maintains involvement and is always aware of latest issues on any transaction, so always accessible to speak on the issue. He is also a great technical lawyer, and will always go to bat for points that are important to us.'
- 'Azeem Sulemanji leads well, coordinates the junior team effectively and has wide experience on which to draw from in providing pragmatic advice.'
- 'Sidley has been assisting us with derivative documentation for many years now and has been very helpful to our organisation. They are well-versed in market standards in this niche area of the law; an area in which many law firms do not specialise. When the Sidley team feels strongly about making changes versus precedent documentation, they clearly and concisely explain the logic/law so that we can then communicate to our trading counterparties. This is helpful in reducing the timeline to onboard and put ISDAs in place. They are reliable in delivering in the timeframe requested with a full analysis and areas for potential changes, which is a value-add for us.'
Key clients
- Spire Partners
- CVC Credit
- Permira Credit
- Polar Asset Management
- Tresidor Asset Management
- Barclays Bank PLC
- Jaja Finance
- MSIM
- Zenith
- LahiTapiola
Work highlights
- Advised Apollo on a Cypriot NPL securitisation.
- Advised CVC Credit as collateral manager counsel on around €800m in issuance of public European CLOs in the review period, including the €400m Cordatus 25-A and €396m Cordatus 27.
- Advised Barclays Bank on three securitisation matters in the review period: the establishment of a new asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) securitisation conduit; the establishment and amendment/upsizing of a securitisation of SME/direct lending loans managed by Apollo; and the establishment and amendment/upsizing of a securitisation of SME/direct lending loans managed by Barings.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Rupert Wall