In December 2023, the England & Wales Court of Appeal unanimously overturned the high-profile ruling handed down by the Commercial Court in October 2022 in the case of Banca Intesa Sanpaolo and Dexia v Comune di Venezia. In...more
The High Court’s decision in relation to an ISDA Master Agreement will likely guide interpretation of other English law-governed financing documentation. Prior to entering into administration, Lehman Brothers...more
There are many types of swaps: commodity swaps, foreign exchange swaps, but of primary interest to real estate lawyers are interest rate swaps. Interest rate swaps are colloquially thought of as contracts by which a naturally...more
Counterparties to swap and repurchase transactions have come under pressure following the financial dislocations caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic in 2020 (“COVID-19”). Falling and illiquid markets may result in margin...more
The endorsement of Europe's largest asset management association should promote use of the new 2002 ISDA Master Agreement (French law) on the European OTC derivatives market....more
The Court of Appeal dismissed an Italian local authority’s challenge to the English court’s jurisdiction over declarations sought by a bank pursuant to an English law governed swaps contract. In this important decision...more
Central Bank publishes twenty-third edition of UCITS Q&A - The Central Bank published the 23rd Edition of the Central Bank UCITS Q&A on 5 July 2018. A new question, ID 1002, in relation to UCITS investing in non-UCITS...more
The terms of an ISDA agreement in which the parties represented that they had relied on their own independent decisions to enter the transaction trumped provisions in an earlier set of terms of business which referred to the...more
With the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) announcing in July 2017, essentially, its intent to no longer persuade or compel panel banks to make LIBOR submissions by the end of 2021, the future of LIBOR, and its role in...more
The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision of the High Court that an Italian local authority could rely on local mandatory laws to invalidate an interest rate swap entered into with an Italian bank. In its ruling the Court...more
On 15 June 2017 the English Court of Appeal handed down a significant judgment in Dexia Crediop S.p.A. v Comune di Prato. The Court’s unanimous judgment confirmed that the nature of an agreement made pursuant to an ISDA...more
Derivatives traders and lawyers are focused on March 1. Not for any basketball tournaments, but for the variation margin (VM) big bang. From March 1, 2017, swap dealers and financial end-users will be required to exchange VM...more
Dexia Crediop S.p.A. (Dexia) v Comune di Prato (Prato) [2016] EWHC 2824 (Comm), 10 November 2016 - In the second and final part of his judgment, Walker J held that further mandatory provisions of Italian law apply to and...more
In a case with potentially broad implications for participants in the leveraged loan and derivatives markets, Justice Eileen Bransten will conduct a bench trial starting next week in the long-running dispute between a...more
The High Court held that a mistaken reference in an interest rate swap confirmation to the 1992 ISDA Master Agreement instead of the 2002 ISDA Master Agreement could not be corrected by interpretation. However on the facts...more
A Bond Trustee or Security Trustee in a finance transaction will typically be a beneficiary of a legal opinion. A Trustee may be expressly named as one of the addressees on the face of an opinion letter. Alternatively, a...more
Under the Margin Rules, swap dealers and major swap participants that do not have a prudential regulator (Covered Swap Entities, or CSEs) would be required to collect and post initial margin for uncleared swaps with financial...more
Prudential Regulators and CFTC Re-Propose Rules for Uncleared Swap Margin - Both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the prudential regulators re-proposed their April 2011 proposed rules imposing initial and...more
On June 19, the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) published a long-awaited standard amendment to Section 2(a)(iii) of the ISDA Master Agreement (the Master Agreement). Section 2(a)(iii) of the Master...more
Extension of Certain Dodd-Frank No-Action Relief - The CFTC recently established a phased compliance timeline for the implementation of the execution requirement currently applicable to certain interest rate swaps and...more