Sullivan & Worcester LLP > London, England > Firm Profile
Sullivan & Worcester LLP Offices
TOWER 42
25 OLD BROAD STREET
LONDON
EC2N 1HQ
England
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Sullivan & Worcester LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings
Finance > Trade finance Tier 1
Sullivan & Worcester LLP has ‘deep expertise in trade and working capital finance in the UK market, and a good understanding of how technology is evolving in this space‘. One client remarks that the firm is ‘widely recognised as the best and most prestigious law firm in the trade finance space, its knowledge is unrivalled and it covers all areas from the plain vanilla of LCs, guarantees and receivables finance, to the most complex structured trade finance‘. The firm has the largest dedicated team in trade finance in London and is involved in the full range of work, including the development cutting-edge trade finance platforms. Geoffrey Wynne
(who is ‘very present and active within the whole market‘), Simon Cook (who ‘has a good commercial understanding of the market‘), infrastructure finance partner Mark Norris and the ‘commercially minded and clear‘ Sam Fowler-Holmes are the key practitioners. Wynne and managing associate Hannah Fearn acted for the ITFA Insurance Committee on its development of a Basel III trade credit insurance policy form.Practice head(s):
Geoffrey Wynne; Simon Cook; Mark Norris; Sam Fowler-Holmes
Other key lawyers:
Testimonials
‘They have deep expertise in trade and working capital finance in the UK market, which was invaluable in assisting us in establishing our funding structure and supporting legal documentation.’
‘Geoff Wynne – recognised Trade Finance expert. Is very present and active within the whole market. Easy to work with.’
‘Simon Cook is a well known active member of the trade finance network. His presence at industry events is longstanding. He has a good commercial understanding of the market and underlying products and can give good advice based on this experience. Similar can be said for Geoff Wynne.’
‘Sam Fowler-Holmes brings great knowledge in the area of trade and working capital finance and is very clear when setting out legal considerations and potential risks. He is commercially minded in his approach, which is critical to the way we work and think.’
‘Sullivan is widely recognised as the best and most prestigious law firm in the trade finance space. Their trade finance knowledge is unrivalled and they are often leading the way in terms of advocacy together with the likes of the ITFA, which is the global trade finance industry body.’
‘All the Sullivan staff we deal with are though leaders and some of the most knowledgeable professionals in the industry. Asides from their technical knowledge, they are also extremely approachable and often available at short notice.’
‘A well-established team with trade finance specialisation. Very visible in the market and they take care to engage with their clients and the market as a whole.’
‘Great team to work with, commercial approach and have deep knowledge of structured financial transactions, with a good international network for cross border deals.’
Key clients
Citibank
Deutsche Bank
Crown Agents Bank
International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA)
J.P. Morgan
Santander
Rabobank
Africa Global Trade Finance Ltd
Standard Bank
Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT)
UK Export Finance (UKEF)
Nedbank CIB
Contracta UK
Iroko Securities Limited
Muse Finance
Work highlights
- Advising UKEF, as lender, and Nedbank CIB of South Africa, as agent, in relation to a loan to finance a health infrastructure project, to be delivered by NMS Infrastructure Limited.
- Acting for Marco Polo Network, the world’s first blockchain-enabled, distributed network of trade finance and payment solutions to produce two rulebooks for its Marco Polo platforms under English law and the equivalents under New York law.
- Advised the Insurance Committee of industry body the International Trade and Forfaiting Association (ITFA) Board in connection with various market-led insurance related matters.
United States > Environment > Environment: transactional Tier 4
Chaired by Jeffrey Karp in Washington DC, the environment, energy and natural resources at Sullivan & Worcester LLP stands out in particular for its expertise in land use, zoning and environmental permitting work on real estate development projects and Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) transactions. The well-established team has notable strength advising on pesticide and agricultural chemical transactions, and continues to expand its already extensive client base with new clients in the renewable energy sector, which is a growing area of focus for the department. Victor Baltera , who works out of Boston, is frequently engaged in permitting matters and environmental due diligence for acquisitions and financings of industrial and commercial properties throughout the United States.Practice head(s):
Jeffrey Karp
Other key lawyers:
Victor Baltera
Key clients
Cronin Holdings LP
Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (Nasdaq: ILPT)
Manulife US Reit (SGX: BTOU)
FoxRock Properties
Work highlights
- Represents FoxRock Properties concerning environmental issues related to its pursuit to redevelop a 2.3 acre parcel formerly owned by the City of Quincy into a three-building campus featuring a life sciences/medical office building, hotel, and housing component.
Sullivan & Worcester LLP > Firm Profile
Sullivan’s award-winning London office is multi-disciplinary, advising clients in relation to trade and trade finance, commodity and export finance, banking and securitisation, securities, project finance, insurance, tax, compliance and regulatory issues, as well as all aspects of dispute resolution.
The team advises banks, financial institutions and funds in all aspects of their business. The firm also counts the key industry bodies in trade finance as its clients, including BAFT (the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade), ITFA (the International Trade and Forfaiting Association) and the ICC (the International Chamber of Commerce).
With London being the international centre for trade and commodities finance, a large proportion of the firm’s trade and export finance work is handled there. However, the team advises clients in relation to their activities throughout the world, with a particular emphasis on emerging markets including in Africa, Asia, the CIS and Latin America.
In addition to trade, export and commodities finance and related activity, the firm works hand in hand with the firm’s U.S. practice, advising on transactions involving English law and New York law and supporting the needs of clients worldwide.
Sullivan was named ‘Best Trade or Supply Chain Finance Law Firm’ at Global Trade Review’s ‘GTR Leaders in Trade Awards’ in 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019 and ‘Best Trade Finance Law Firm’ at Trade Finance Global ‘TFG International Trade Awards’ in 2022 and 2019.
The team’s core experience in London includes:
- Commodity financing: large syndicated pre-export financings, prepayment transactions, borrowing base, reserve base lending, inventory financings and commodity repos.
- Receivables financing: multi-jurisdictional supply chain finance programs, invoice discounting, factoring and forfaiting transactions.
- Structured financing: asset acquisitions, distribution, securitisations, hedges, credit derivatives and synthetic securitisations.
- Project finance: including infrastructure projects and energy projects.
- Trade services: the use of trade finance instruments and the application of uniform rules of practice.
- Export credit agency (ECA) finance: short, medium and long-term export credit agency and multi-source finance.
- Digitalisation of trade finance, fintech and electronic banking: legal issues relation to fintech, blockchain, electronic banking, digitalisation of trade finance and electronic payment undertakings (ePU).
- Insurance: advising insureds, banks and financial institutions, insurance brokers, and investment funds on commercial insurance arrangements including those which support structured trade, commodity and pre-export financing, from policy wording negotiations to contested claims.
- Trade disputes: representing clients in risk mitigation and dispute resolution including arbitration, expert determination, court and all forms of alternative dispute resolution.
- Compliance & regulation: advising on regulatory (Basel III), bribery and corruption issues, sanctions matters, anti-money laundering and counter terrorism issues, particularly in connection with trade and export finance.
For more information, please visit: www.sullivanlaw.com
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade & Export Finance | Geoffrey Wynne | gwynne@sullivanlaw.com | 020 7448 1001 |
| Trade & Export Finance | Simon Cook | scook@sullivanlaw.com | 020 7448 1002 |
| Trade & Export Finance | Mark Norris | mnorris@sullivanlaw.com | 020 7448 1003 |
| Dispute Resolution and Insurance | Marian Boyle | mboyle@sullivanlaw.com | 020 7448 1004 |
| Trade & Export Finance | Sam Fowler-Holmes | sfowlerholmes@sullivanlaw.com | 020 7448 1006 |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Marian Boyle | Marian Boyle heads Sullivan’s UK insurance and disputes practices working closely with… | View Profile |
 | Simon Cook | Simon Cook has experience in a wide variety of banking and finance… | View Profile |
 | Hannah Fearn | Hannah Fearn is a managing associate in the Trade & Export Finance… | View Profile |
 | Sam Fowler-Holmes | Sam Fowler-Holmes specialises in structured and unstructured trade, commodity and export finance,… | View Profile |
 | Mark Norris | Mark’s practice covers cross border inward investment, syndicated lending, structured export credit… | View Profile |
 | Geoffrey Wynne | Geoffrey Wynne is head of the Trade & Export Finance Group and… | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Number of UK Partners : 5 Number of UK Associates : 5Memberships
BAFT (Bankers Association for Finance and Trade) ITFA (International Trade and Forfaiting Association) The ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) The LMA (Loan Market Association)- Finance > Trade finance
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- United States > Environment > Environment: transactional