Crowell Lawyers Author Chapter in The Handbook of Loan Syndications and Trading

New York – March 4, 2022: Crowell & Moring’s Jennifer K. Grady, Richard J. Lee, and John A. Clark have authored a chapter in the recently published second edition of The Handbook of Loan Syndications and Trading. According to the book’s publisher, the Loan Syndications and Trading Association, “The Handbook covers all aspects of the primary and secondary loan markets, ESG, direct lending, and so much more.”

In Chapter 11 of the Handbook, Grady, Lee, and Clark provide overviews of loan credit default swaps (LCDS) and loan total return swaps (LTRS), which market particpants have used to “synthetically” obtain or hedge exposure to commercial loan credit risk and returns.  Beginning with LCDS, the authors describe how the product evolved in the mid-2000s from a bespoke variant of credit defaults swaps to a standardized form of swap contract designed to address definitional, settlement and other complications that arise when referencing loans. 

Today, LCDS transactions are less common than LTRS, and Grady, Lee and Clark outline in detail the legal structure, cash flow mechanics, financial uses and risks of the LTRS product.  The authors also highlight commonly negotiated LTRS deal points and introduce legal concerns that arise under U.S. tax laws, the Bankruptcy Code and the expansive swap regulatory regime in place since 2010 under the U.S. Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

Grady is a partner in the firm’s New York office and is co-chair of the Corporate Group. She represents investment banks, broker-dealers, funds, and other financial institutions in connection with derivatives transactions, distressed debt and bankruptcy claims trading, and financing transactions.

Lee is a partner in the New York office and a member of the Corporate Group. He focuses on derivatives, finance, and distressed debt and claims trading. Lee is a CFA® charter holder. He has extensive experience advising investors and lenders in a wide range of alternative credit investments and structured financing transactions.

Clark is a senior counsel in the firm’s New York office and a member of the Corporate Group. His practice focuses on derivatives, lending, other secured transactions, and distressed debt and claims trading. His clients have included leading U.S. and foreign banks, swap dealers and broker-dealers, private funds, and commercial end-users of derivative products.

For more information and to purchase The Handbook of Loan Syndications and Trading, visit here.