Sovereign Debt

Sovereigns and supranationals continue to use the international capital markets with increasing frequency for their plain unstructured borrowing. We have advised on over 700 sovereign bond issuances by sovereigns, central banks, municipalities and cities over the last 40 years, including Reg S, 144A, fully SEC registered and Sukuks. Our expertise ranges from bond issuances to liability management exercises, exit consents and exchanges in the context of restructurings.

Banks, sovereigns and supranationals engage in a multitude of derivative and structured finance transactions (including swaps, repos, CDS and other derivatives) involving sovereign bonds or state assets. We have been acting on all of these types of transactions, including some notable ones over disputed collateral ownership. We have advised ISDA for over 25 years including its Determinations Committeesin all cases of sovereign CDSs (with Greece being the most discussed instance).

Sovereign lending work has been a core practice of the firm since the early 1970s and we remain at the forefront with a practice which advises sovereigns and creditors alike. We have an extensive track-record of advising on loans from state-owned banks, commercial banks and sovereigns to other sovereigns, central banks, municipalities and state-owned-enterprises in over 125 countries. 

Our restructuring team is known for providing pioneering solutions as well as delivering real commercial results, to banks, insolvency officeholders/trustees and government institutions, lenders and investors holding a broad range of credit instruments. 

We have had major roles in all sovereign crises to date including those of the Eurozone (Greece, Ireland and Cyprus) as well as in the earlier Argentina crisis. We acted in all phases of the Greek crisis, from the 2010 Eurozone rescue loan of €80 billion, to Greece’s return to the markets.

In extreme cases, countries that have otherwise open currency markets may choose to restrict capital flows and imposed exchange controls to protect their currency from what is perceived to be an unwarranted risk. In such a case international counterparties of domestic debtors will need clear advice delivered swiftly and consistently to ensure the market reaction is orderly. We have advised a syndicate of the largest global banks on the two most recent such control impositions, that of Cyprus and Greece, through multidisciplinary teams, co-ordinated access to the best local law advice, and communication platforms.

Our projects, infrastructure, energy and asset finance practice has extensive experience on transactions where sovereigns are asked to provide support to multilaterals or commercial creditors, including on loans with guarantees from sovereigns and ECA backed loans.

Through financings to the energy sector in many countries, we understand the challenges of expanding energy capacity, maintaining reasonable rates for a national economy, and moving to decarbonisation. 

We are the only global elite law firm to have a litigation offering in Africa, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, Europe, the US and the UK. We advise on matters of sovereign immunity, capacity and authority, validity of claims, preservation of rights, service on states, attachment of assets and other debt related claims before domestic courts.

We advise on sovereign issues, both at the transaction stage and before national courts, international courts and arbitral tribunals.

Our public international law practice advises sovereigns on the full range of contentious and non-contentious matters arising under public international law, and represents them before international courts and tribunals.

This team includes experts on both public international law and sovereign issues under various national laws, and specialist advisors on the documentation and investment mechanisms for a huge range of financial instruments, including equity and all forms of debt.

Our corporate trustee team advises trustees, agents and custodians in all aspects of the capital markets arena, on new deals, amendments, restructurings and defaults, including litigation. During the famous litigation between Argentina and its holdout creditors, we acted for the trustees and paying agents whom the holdout creditors sought to enjoin from making payments to the consenting creditors.

Advising sovereigns and government authorities, central banks and leading financial institutions, we have invested in building a large team that can cover the full range of financial services regulation. We have extensive experience in: bank regulatory regimes including in relation to prudential and tax treatment of banks' sovereign debt holdings; bank recovery and resolution; derivatives; structured finance; payment systems; and regulatory consultations with regulators.

Our team, which includes several former government officials in the US and Europe, advises financial institutions, funds, corporates, sovereigns, and government agencies on a wide range of trade and sanctions-related issues.  We work closely with regulators such as OFAC OFAC, OFSI, BEIS and BIS, amongst others, and have an in-depth understanding of how trade and sanctions matters play out in sovereign transactions.