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England - London • Finance
3

Derivatives and structured products

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Macfarlanes LLP

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Macfarlanes LLP ‘stands out for their deep sector knowledge with a very client-facing and pragmatic approach’. The firm maintains a strong buy-side focus, and is a key adviser to investment and hedge funds, banks, pension funds and insurers, high-net-worth individuals and corporates on trading, hedging and financing transactions. It increasingly acts for credit funds on SRT financing solutions including the use of repo, TRS and other instruments to transfer risk. The ’accessible, commercially pragmatic’ Will Sykes and Chris Acton, who ‘can always be relied upon in a crunch’, are the lead partners. Their team continues to look after the trading needs of US, UK, European, UAE and HK market participants, thanks to an in-depth knowledge of local regulations.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'The whole team from partners to associates display a high level of technical competence, instilling confidence from the get go.'

  • ‘Practical and commercially pragmatic - great value for money overall.’

  • ‘Will Sykes is great to work with - accessible, commercially pragmatic and provides quality advice.’

  • ‘The Macfarlanes team we work with has deep experience in the SRT product area and this contributes to their ability to provide advice which protects us as their client, whilst still maintaining commercial principles. The team is responsive and delivers high-quality advice and guidance within commercial timelines.’

  • ‘Chris Acton is the go-to partner in this team - his expertise is second to none. Chris is supported by a brilliant team, in particular, Edward Karsten, who is both knowledgeable, responsive but also a pleasure to work with. Both Chris and Ed are very responsive and can always be relied upon in a crunch or a particularly complex matter. ’

  • ‘Macfarlanes is able to handle every challenge we through at them no matter what the circumstances. They have depth in their team, produce terrific advice and work and are extremely competitive on costs.’

Key clients

  • Hayfin Capital Management
  • AlbaCore Capital
  • Marshall Wace
  • Aspect Capital
  • Man Group
  • Legal & General Investment Management
  • Winton Capital
  • Systematica Investments
  • Polus Capital
  • Thélème Partners
  • Cross Ocean
  • Florin Court Capital

Work highlights

Provided transactional advise to Legal & General on £900m buy-in with the ICI Pension Fund.

Practice head

William Sykes; Christopher Acton

Other key lawyers

Edward Karsten; Richard Fletcher

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