Consistently recognized as one of the largest providers of corporate trust services, the Firm advises both bank and non-bank service providers in the Americas, Europe and Asia in their capacities as Indenture Trustee, Master Servicer, Subservicer, Collateral Agent, Paying Agent, Administrative Agent, Escrow Agent, Auction Agent, Collateral Manager, Cash Manager, Account Bank and Collateral Administrator.

As a full-service law firm, Seward & Kissel has capital markets, litigation, bankruptcy, securities, banking, regulatory and tax attorneys who augment our ability to assist corporate trust clients in dealing with both legal and business issues at every stage of their financial transactions. Our corporate trust group consists of lawyers with extensive experience in drafting, structuring and negotiating complex financial transactions as well as restructuring transactions both in a judicial and nonjudicial setting.

A major portion of the Global Banking and Corporate Trust Group’s practice falls within the following categories:

  • Lending & Project Finance
  • Securitization and Structured Finance
  • Sovereign and Corporate Debt
  • American & Global Depositary Receipts
  • Restructuring, Workouts and Insolvency

Lending & Project Finance

Consistently recognized as one of the market leaders in representing bank and non-bank service providers as facility and administrative agents in direct lending, private credit, club and broadly syndicate loan transactions. We are experienced in loan transactions involving both domestic and foreign collateral and highly complex intercreditor structures.

In particular, we focus on:

  • Senior Loans
  • Mezzanine Loans
  • Term Loan B Financings
  • Debtor-In-Possession Loans
  • Warehouse Facilities
  • Asset Based Lending Facilities
  • Aircraft Financings
  • Letters of Credit
  • Subscription Facilities
  • NAV Facilities

We are also well known for our expertise in liability management transactions (LMTs) and have participated in some of the largest and most complex LMTs in the marketplace, including uptier transactions, drop-down transactions and cooperation agreements.

Securitization & Structured Finance

As a pioneer in corporate trust representation, Seward & Kissel is at the forefront of asset securitization transactions, representing banks in their roles as Indenture Trustee, Master Servicer, Subservicer, Collateral Agent, Paying Agent, Collateral Custodian and Account Bank.

We have worked on and structured securitizations backed by almost every type of asset, including:

  • Financial receivables such as credit card receivables, loans and bonds as well as synthetic debt instruments;
  • Equipment lease receivables including aircraft and engine leases;
  • Royalty payment, medical and trade receivables;
  • Traditional receivables such as credit card, student loan and automobile loan and lease receivables;
  • Specialty receivables including private equity fund commitments, television, motion picture and music royalty receivables, 12b-1 mutual fund fee receivables, servicing fee receivables as well as receivables generated by stranded assets;
  • Real estate backed transactions such as REMICs, RMBS and CMBS transactions; and
  • Special purpose vehicles such as CLOs, CBOs, CFOs and CDOs

Sovereign & Corporate Debt

We represent trustees, paying agents, collateral agents, managers and investors in note and bond offerings by companies, municipalities and sovereign nations.  We regularly advise our clients on both domestic and cross-border transactions across several industries including oil & gas, infrastructure, pharmaceutical, healthcare and travel.

We have extensive experience in both high yield and investment grade offerings and have been involved in various types of debt exchanges and tender offers.

We have also been involved in some of the largest sovereign debt restructurings to date, including restructurings related to PDVSA and the Republic of Ecuador.   

Restructuring, Workouts and Insolvency

We are nationally recognized as a leader in the area of bankruptcy, workouts and reorganizations. Our capabilities extend to virtually every aspect of the bankruptcy, workout and reorganization practice, including special situations, court-supervised proceedings and out-of-court restructurings and workouts.

The clients we serve represent the full range of participants in these proceedings, including secured and unsecured creditors, debtors, independent directors, special board committees, official and unofficial creditor and bondholder committees and others.

We regularly represent administrative agents, collateral agents, DIP agents, corporate trustees, master servicers, lenders, investors and other ancillary service providers in special situations, default and workouts in an effort to maximize recoveries from troubled or insolvent debtors and defaulting companies.

The Firm has been involved in some of the largest restructurings of complex finance transactions, including senior and subordinated loans, mortgage backed and asset backed securitizations, senior and subordinated bond issuances, trust preferred issuances, swap arrangements, structured investment vehicles, conduits and project finance transactions. A sample of some of the recent restructurings that we have been involved in include:

  • GTT Communications
  • Biora Therapeutics
  • Hornblower
  • Instant Brands
  • WeWork
  • Diamond Sports Group
  • Travelport
  • 2U
  • Fontainebleau Las Vegas
  • Riverbed Technologies
  • Talen Energy
  • Spirit Airlines
  • Revlon
  • J Crew
  • Lumen Technologies
  • Acorda Therapeutics
  • Franchise Group
  • Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
  • Pier One Imports
  • Endo Pharmaceuticals