Derivatives and ISDA®

The trainer is a specialist lawyer and senior adviser with over 25 years of transactional experience across magic circle law firms, bulge bracket investment banks and City practice, most recently as a partner heading a structured finance and derivatives team in Europe. She has been actively involved in the creation of innovative structured transactions, structuring, drafting and negotiating complex financings across multiple jurisdictions and asset classes.

Her core expertise spans securitisation, derivatives, structured finance, real estate finance, repos, debt capital markets and financial regulation. She has advised some of the world's leading financial institutions, including Credit Suisse, Citigroup and HSBC, and has practised across London, New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, giving her both a global perspective and deep experience of cross-border transaction structures.

At A&O Shearman, she advised on CMBS and RMBS securitisations, real estate finance, Opco/Propco structures, LMA documentation and US 144A deals with secondments to the Real Estate Finance trading desk at Credit Suisse and to Citibank, advising on structured real estate finance, acquisition finance and syndication. She subsequently moved in-house at Credit Suisse, advising on structured products, derivatives, CDOs, CLOs, repos and regulatory capital transactions through and after the global financial crisis.

Her consulting career spans complex, high-profile projects for major banks and financial institutions, including HSBC, Linklaters, Barclays and others, covering derivatives, securitisation, regulatory compliance and large-scale remediation.

Since 2015, she has been a subject matter expert trainer, designing and leading courses globally for senior lawyers and partners in private practice and in-house, bankers, asset managers, accountants and C-suite executives. Her courses cover derivatives and ISDA documentation, securitisation, real estate finance, repos, structured products, debt capital markets, bond documentation, CLOs and FATCA.

She holds an LLB (Hons) from University College London.

• Redcliffe’s Derivatives & ISDA training course is a basic foundational course offering a clear overview of derivatives, their key features and the types of financial risks they are designed to hedge.
• Participants are introduced to how derivatives are traded: Exchange Traded vs OTC.
• Understand different types of derivatives, including swaps, options, commodity, equity, credit derivatives, etc.
• This course provides an overview of the basic architecture of the ISDA’s documentation, covering the ISDA Master Agreement, the ISDA definitions, ISDA protocols, and ISDA Credit Support Annex and Credit Support Deeds.
• Participants are updated on the pertinent issues related to ISDA Master Agreements and the case law relevant to ISDAs.
• Training covers an outline of issues to consider when drafting ISDA Master Agreements concerning loan transactions.
• Participants cover the regulatory aspects relevant to the derivatives market, including EMIR, the EU REFIT Regulations, the 2016 ISDA Variation Margin protocol relevant to CSAs and the US regulations – Dodd-Frank.

A ‘must know’ for:

• In-house legal counsel at any level
• Private practice lawyers at any level, from paralegals, trainees, and junior & senior associates to partners & heads of departments involved in or likely to be involved in documenting, reviewing and negotiating ISDA transactions
• Traders and bankers involved in structuring involved derivatives & ISDAs
• Operations team members who book ISDA trades (back office)
• Collateral management teams focused on margin calls, CSAs, etc
• Compliance personnel responsible for the regulations of ISDA transactions
• Derivatives training courses are perfect for any professionals looking to gain an overview of:
  • The various types of derivatives and how they are used in structuring
  • The Architecture of the ISDA Documentation Framework
  • The Regulations related to ISDAs

A ‘nice to know’ for:

• ISDA documentation teams at any level, including paralegals, specified transaction executives, etc
• The operations team that books derivatives trades
• Credit Risk personnel at all levels (Analyst, Associate, Vice President, Director and Managing Director) for a foundational overview
• Accountants advising on swap transactions

This Derivatives & ISDA course covers the important aspects of derivatives trading. This course is relevant for in-house and private practice lawyers, traders and bankers involved in complex structuring, including swaps. In addition, we welcome ISDA documentation teams, operations teams that book ISDA trades and compliance personnel responsible for ensuring regulations relating to ISDA transactions are complied with. Finally, accountants advising clients on swap transactions will benefit from this session.

We set the scene by giving an introduction to derivatives, we assess what they are, why they are used, by whom and how they are traded. Looking at the various types of derivatives products available in the market, we will highlight the potential of using these in a wide range of product sectors.

The workings of the derivatives market and the trade association, ISDA, are covered during this session. Delegates are taken through an overview of the ISDA documentation framework, including coverage of the ancillary documentation, the ISDA Credit Support Annexes and Credit Support Deeds. Pertinent issues in ISDA-documented trades, such as netting, mark-to-market valuations, negative interest rates, events of default and early termination,  are assessed. Participants discuss how to document derivatives in loan transactions and cover some English law cases and counterparty issues.

Finally, the EU and US regulations affecting derivatives are covered, discussing how the banks and law firms implement the regulations with practical guidance where appropriate.