Derivatives + Commodities

In the derivatives, commodities and structured products area, as in most others, we are judged by the quality of our solutions: do we craft solutions that are practical and effective? And, just as important, can we do so quickly?

We function as our clients' partners in designing new products, assisting in concept development, providing risk and regulatory analysis, and preparing documentation.

Our clients include the derivatives, commodities and structured products groups at numerous investment and commercial banks, commodity dealers and users, insurance companies, mutual funds, hedge funds and other financial institutions, and public companies and holders of restricted equity securities.

With our clients, we have designed or worked on:

Derivatives-linked securities;
Equity and credit derivatives;
Fund-linked derivatives;
Commodity-linked derivatives;
CPPI products;
Energy, metals and foreign exchange derivatives;
Fixed income derivatives;
Derivatives for insurance companies and others in the risk transfer markets;
Hybrids and other exotic derivatives;
Traded indices;
Products designed to capture tax, accounting, credit rating, or other regulatory advantages; and
Emerging market and sovereign-risk products.

Recent select experience:

Deal contingent swaps;
Structured product holder and derivatives counterparty claims against defaulting and financially distressed parties;
Restructuring complex structured product transactions, including hedge fund linked structured notes and tax-efficient cross-border hybrid securities;
Innovative derivatives products and transactions for issuers managing their capital structures, including variable and prepaid forwards, share borrow and equity comp hedges;
Various "next-generation" hybrid securities, including "contingent capital" securities that achieve Tier 1 treatment;
Disclosure and trading documentation for use with customized indices relating to reference assets based on fund of fund programs and broad based commodity price indices; and
Commodity linked financing and hedging products that address exposures resulting from unfavorable changes in refining and power generation operating margins.

Client Stories - We're Only as Good as Our Last Deal

Read more about what we've been up to lately (documents in pdf format):

Capital Markets

PIPE Transactions—Problem. Creativity. Solution.
Hedging PIPEs—No Need to Call the Plumber, Martha. That's a Derivative Embedded in the PIPE
Registered Directs—A Public PIPE
Dribbling It Out—Equity Distribution Programs
Open IPO—Auction Distribution Methodologies
Incapital—Bonds Made Simple
BASICS—What's in a Name
Passave—The Cash-Only Line
An Organic Makeover—Protalix
Call It What You Will—Pre-Marketed or Wall-Crossed: The New Offering of Choice
Time and Time Again—An Innovative Use of an ATM
Specially Purposeful—Helping a Special Purpose Acquisition Company Finance
Lonely at the Top (of the World)—Restructuring and Recapitalizing Icelandic Banks
Showdown in the American West—Main Street vs. Wall Street
Acquisition Well Planned—The Acquisition of Morgan Keegan
Bought and Sold—A Bought Deal
Up, Up and Away—The Up-C IPO
Driven—Mobileye’s Private Equity Financing
Good to be Green—First Corporate Issued Green Bond
Arctic Full Circle—Islandsbanki
Back to the Future—Mobileye IPO
An (Ice)land-mark Transaction—LBI Resolution Proceedings
Stabilizing a House of Cards—Residential Capital
Greenland’s Ports Weren’t Built in a Day—Sikuki Nuuk Habour Financing

Derivatives and Structured Products

Your First Time?—Issuing an Exchange Traded Note
Betting on Oneself—Issuer Equity Derivative Transactions
UBS—Tailor-Made
Monetizations—Cashing In Without Cashing Out
Happy Meals—144A Converts
Deferred Compensation—Immediate Solution
Derivatives on Steroids (Notionally)—Leveraged Total Return Swaps
"Intelligent Design"—Evolutionary Changes in Equity Derivatives
Weakness of Power—Collateralized Hedging Programs for the Energy Market
Hedging Hedge Funds—Financing Hedge Funds
Fast Forward—A Forward Sale
Credit Where Credit is Due—Structured Products with Embedded Credit Default Features
A Matter of "Principal"—Structured Products with Principal Protection
Who's Got the Power?—Energy Commodity Linked Structures and Energy Transactions
Jack of All Trades—Master of Structured Products
The Odd Couple—Structured Products and Life Insurance
Holy BOLI!—Diversified and Principal-Protected
Power to the People—MLPs
Mind the Gap—The Equity Gap
The Dividend Link—Dividend Returns in a Structured Note
Researching an Answer—Research-Based Structured Notes
Making an Impact, Literally—NPX

Structured Finance and Insurance-Linked Products

Lucrative Knock-off—Covered Bonds in the U.S.
Northern Lights—Canadian Covered Bond Issuers
Not Exactly Born in the USA—U.S. Registered Covered Bonds
Catastrophe Bonds and Side Cars—Whose Risk is it Anyway?
Life Settlements and Premium Finance
Life Insurance Securitizations and Structured Products—Where Morality Risk Meets the Capital Markets
Monolines—Ambac, FGIC and PMI
Restarting the Mortgage Markets—Linking Community Lenders to the Capital Markets
The New Gold Standard—BMO Vaulted Gold Bullion Trust

Hybrids

The Elusive D Basket—Hitting the Trifecta
Hybrids: A Case Study—Saving Tax Dollars Makes CENts
Hybrids: A Case Study—Hitting it out of the Park: Bank of America Corporation HITS
Synthetic Equity—It's the Real Thing
Hybrids in Japan—Softbank Corp.

Frequently Asked Questions

To learn about MoFo’s FAQs ebook, click here.

Chambers Asia-Pacific 2018
Asia-Pacific: Capital Markets: Equity
China: Capital Markets: Equity: International Firms
Japan: Banking & Finance: International Firms
Japan: Capital Markets: Domestic
Japan: Capital Markets: International: US Law

Chambers Global 2018
Asia-Pacific: Capital Markets: Equity
China: Capital Markets: Equity: International firms
Japan: Capital Markets: Domestic
Japan: Banking & Finance: International Firms
Japan: Capital Markets: International: US Law
United States: Capital Markets: Debt & Equity
United States: Capital Markets: Derivatives

Chambers UK 2018
Debt Capital Markets

Chambers USA 2018
National: Capital Markets: Derivatives
National: REITS

EQDerivatives Awards 2016
Equity Derivatives Law Firm of the Year

Financial Times: US Innovative Lawyers
Overall winner of the Innovation in Social Responsibility category, 2016
One of four firms ranked “Standout” in the category of New Products and Techniques, 2016
One of four firms ranked “Standout” in the category of Enabling Clients Business, 2015
One of five firms ranked “Standout” in the category of Finance, 2012

GlobalCapital Americas Derivatives Awards
Americas Law Firm of the Year 2015 – 2017
U.S. Law Firm of the Year – Transactions 2018

GlobalCapital Global Derivatives Awards 2016, 2017
Global Law Firm of the Year

GlobalCapital Syndicated Loan, Leveraged Finance and Private Placement Awards 2016
Private Placements Law Firm of the Year

IFLR1000 2018
China: Private Equity – Foreign Firms
Hong Kong: Capital Markets: Equity
Hong Kong: Capital Markets: Debt
Japan: Capital Markets: Equity
Japan: Capital Markets: Equity Foreign Firms
Japan: Capital Markets: Debt
Japan: Capital Markets: Debt Foreign Firms
United States: Capital Markets: Debt
United States: Capital Markets: Equity
United States: Capital Markets: Derivatives
United States: Capital Markets: Structured Finance and Securitisation
United Kingdom: Capital Markets: Debt
United Kingdom: Capital Markets: Derivatives

IFLR Americas Awards
Structured Finance and Securitisation Deal of the Year, 2013
Structured Finance and Securitisation Team of the Year, 2015

Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2018
Japan: Capital markets: International firms and joint ventures
Hong Kong: Capital markets (equity)

Legal 500 UK 2017
Debt Capital Markets
Derivatives and Structured Products

Legal 500 US 2019
National: Capital Markets: Debt Offerings: Advice to Issuers
National: Capital Markets: Debt Offerings: Advice to Underwriters
National: Capital Markets: Equity Offerings: Advice to Issuers
National: Capital Markets: Equity Offerings: Advice to Underwriters
National: Structured Finance: Derivatives and Structured Products
National: Structured Finance: Securitization

mtn-i Americas Awards 2013
Legal Leader

Operational Risk & Regulation Awards 2013
Law Firm of the Year

StructuredRetailProducts.com 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 (shortlist)
Best Law Firm in the Americas

Structured Products magazine 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2016
Law Firm of the Year, Americas

Thomson Reuters Accelus Compliance Awards 2012, 2014
One of Five Firms Shortlisted for Best Regulatory Law Firm of the Year

U.S. News – Best Lawyers^® Best Law Firms 2018
National: Derivatives and Futures Law (Tier 1)
National: Securities/Capital Markets Law (Tier 1)
National: Securitization and Structured Finance Law (Tier 1)
National: Securities Regulation (Tier 1)
National: Banking and Finance Law (Tier 1)

Top Ranked USA Chambers Leading Firm 2018
"The team is very focused, responsive and their quality of work is unequalled [...] This is all coupled with a legal business knowledge of our industry which is unparalleled."
(Chambers USA 2018)

Global Law Firm of the Year, 2016, 2017

Americas Law Firm of the Year, 2015, 2016, 2017

Edwards Logo

"Innovative derivatives products and transactions, in addition to its ability to restructure complex structured product transactions..."
(Derivatives Week 2013)

IFLR1000 2017 ranks MoFo's derivatives practice as a leading national practice

U.S. News Best Law Firms: Tier 1 national practice in Derivatives and Futures Law

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