Karen Stretch > Dechert LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Dechert LLP Offices

Dechert LLP
25 Cannon Street
LONDON
EC4M 5UB
England
Visit website 020 7184 7000 020 7184 7001

Karen Stretch

Karen Stretch photo
+44 20 7184 7461 karen.stretch@dechert.com

Work Department

Financial Services and Investment Management

Position

Partner

Career

Karen Stretch focuses her practice on advisory and transactional derivatives, advising clients worldwide on a range of discrete and transactional derivatives and related regulatory matters, trading documents and non-traditional investment and financing techniques, including repos, TRS, dynamic portfolio swaps, stock loans and other structured derivatives.

Ms. Stretch routinely advises on regulatory compliance relating to derivatives, trading and benchmarks, such as EMIR, SFTR, the Short Selling Regulation, the Benchmarks Regulation and BRRD, with a focus since 2017 on LIBOR and benchmark reform.  Ms. Stretch is leading the firm’s coverage on LIBOR and derivatives and is an integral part of the Dechert LIBOR taskforce.

Ms. Stretch also has significant experience advising on matters relating to the establishment of structured capital markets transactions with a credit focus, as well as fund products, during her career having provided full service support to several funds and investment vehicles including MTN program updates, follow-on offerings, new compartments and sub-funds, subscriptions and restructurings as well as prime brokerage arrangements.

Prior to joining Dechert, Ms. Stretch worked at another global American law firm in a similar role and a leading French bank in London as a senior trading, sales and derivatives lawyer.

Education

  • University of Warwick, B.A., 2003, with Honors
  • Nottingham Law School, Legal Practice Course, 2004, with Distinction

Lawyer Rankings

London > Finance > Derivatives and structured products

(Next Generation Partners)

Karen Stretch –Dechert LLP

Dechert LLP is a prominent adviser to fund managers on derivatives, though it also acts for investment banks, commercial banks, private equity funds and credit funds on transactional matters, brokerage and regulatory matters. Gus Black, co-chair of the firm’s global financial services group and a fund formation specialist, oversees the derivatives group in London, in which John McGrath and Karen Stretch are the standout partners. Stretch, whose work encompasses transactional derivatives and advice on regulatory compliance, ‘has a unique capability to synthesise complex issues into salient solutions‘. McGrath, whose work spans both transactional matters and advice on disputes concerning derivatives, continues to advise Fondazione Enasarco on the closeout of derivatives positions following the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Senior associate Richard Chapman, who joined from AB Derivatives Advisors Limited, handles prime brokerage, derivatives, trading documentation and associated regulatory issues.

London > Corporate and commercial > Financial services: non-contentious/regulatory

Led by Gus Black, the team at Dechert LLP has demonstrable experience advising asset managers on buy-side financial regulatory matters and is well-placed to leverage the firm’s US-law capabilities to handle transatlantic issues. Karen Anderberg advises asset managers on all aspects of US financial services regulatory issues and Katie Carter focuses on the EU and UK regulatory disclosure regimes relating to green financial products, while Colin Sharpsmith joined from Kirkland & Ellis International LLP in September 2022. Other key contacts in the team include Richard Frase and Karen Stretch.

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