Linklaters LLP has ‘the outstanding securitisation team in the City’, according to one client. The firm maintains a broad practice that handles high value, market-leading transactions covering the full spectrum of asset classes. Practice head Andrew Vickery focuses on NPLs, REOs, RMBS, CMBS, ABS, and covered bonds. He recently worked with emerging partner talent Lucy Sidey to assist Cerberus with the securitisation of a mix of residential mortgages and unsecured personal loans, which included the issuance of £1.5bn in notes. Thomas Quoroll is ’a technical superstar, calm, methodical, and goal-orientated’. He focuses on performing and non-performing loan portfolio sales, and asset-backed public and private financing. Adam Fogarty ‘knows when to be hands-on and when to let the associates take the reins’. Real estate and ESG structured finance specialist Alexander Shopov, utility and whole business securitisations expert Reza Taylor, and Aditi Srivastava, who has in-depth knowledge of receivables financings, are among the many highly regarded practitioners in the group, which is supported by a strong team of associates.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Linklaters SFG is the outstanding securitisation team in the City. I would rather have them than any other team acting for me on these sorts of matters. There are good associates.’
‘Tom Quoroll is the reason I want to work with Linklaters. If he moved, I would move my business with him. He is simply an oustanding lawyer. He is a technical superstar, calm, methodical, goal-orientated and also just a thoroughly decent human being.'
'This is a good team of associates: Emma Lance is outstanding technically. Their juniors are also really good: I particularly rate Justyna Todd-Frankowska.’
‘Top-quality legal advice and top quality people. They are a team I know will never let me down or disappoint. They have credible and relevant experience across the board in all areas of finance and corporate work and still see the value of having lawyers with a broad skills base. They don't over lawyer deals and the senior members have a good grip on all aspects of the deal they are working on.’
‘Excellent partners - Tom Quoroll, Andy Vickery, Reza Taylor and Lucy Sidey - they roll their sleeves up and do work Excellent Counsel - George Gooderham and Gigi Hock - George is the outstanding K&L lawyer in the City. Gigi is not just very competent but always remains calm and good natured when people around her aren't!’
'Both Adam Fogarty and Lucy Sidey know when to be hands on and when to let their associates take the reigns. They're great to work with and it looks like they instill a good culture within their team. Separately, when we have reached out to them for additional market colour or to speak about deals they have worked on there is no hesitation to have a call with us.'
'The Linklaters team is a great team to work with - a very collaborative ethos seems to exist across all levels. Even though we are not their client, they represent our lending/arranging group and we have always been appreciative of the fact that they work with us to get the deals completed and when the odd issue emerges we see them working very closely with us and our counsel to come to a resolution for all parties in a helpful and collaborative manner without egos. Contrast this with other firms where partners and associates alike may struggle to advise their client in a manner which is conducive to completing the transaction.'
'The Linklaters team we work with strike a good balance between protecting their client and keeping their client's focus on the end goal. We also think that, on the whole, they represent good value for money and we can have good conversations surrounding fee overruns when they occur - this is not always the case with other firms that we have worked with.'
Key clients
- Cerberus
- Bank of America
- AB CarVal Investors LP
- J.P. Morgan
- Santander UK PLC
- Citi
- Barclays
- BNP Paribas
- Deutsche Bank
- Lloyds
- Centerbridge
- Morgan Stanley
- Assured Guaranty
- HSBC
- Song Capital
Work highlights
Advised Cerberus as sponsor on the securitisation of a mix of residential mortgages and unsecured personal loans, which included the unwinding of two existing securitisations, Granite 4 and Granite 5, and the issuance of over £1.5bn in asset-backed notes.
Advised Citibank as arranger and joint lead manager on LiveMore’s debut £210m securitisation of residential mortgages, a deal which represented LiveMore’s first “later life lending” securitisation, and which was both STS and ESG-compliant.
Advised Citigroup Global Markets Limited as arranger on the public securitisation of a £748 million portfolio of equity release mortgage loans, a deal which was highly significant as it involved the largest portfolio of equity release mortgages outside of the United States.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Alexander Shopov
Reza Taylor
Andrew Vickery
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Thomas Quoroll
Lucy Sidey
Aditi Srivastava
Practice head
Andrew Vickery
Other key lawyers
Thomas Quoroll; Adam Fogarty; Alexander Shopov; Reza Taylor; Emma Lance; Justyna Todd-Frankowska; Aditi Srivastava; Gigi Hock; George Gooderham