Linklaters was pleased to advise OTC Clearing Hong Kong Limited (OTC Clear), a subsidiary of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX), on the recent launch of its clearing service for cross currency swaps (CCS).

“We are delighted to have advised HKEX to develop an innovative product which is ground-breaking and provides real-time solution to market participants,” said Chin-Chong Liew, Partner, Linklaters.

Mr Liew said OTC Clear will initially provide clearing for swaps in the U.S. Dollar/Offshore Renminbi (or RMB) currency pair.

The team's initial advice considered whether longevity swaps, where the provider would insure the risk of covered  members living longer than expected, were a feasible option for the funds. Gowling WLG's team moved on to providing thorough training for the trustees to ensure they were fully aware of what they were doing and investing in, what the hedges were designed to achieve, and the associated risks. Gowling WLG also led the contractual negotiations with Zurich on the trustees' behalf.

On 24 August 2016 Nordea completed the sale of certain credit default swaps; transferring credit risk on EUR 8.4 billion of its corporate loan exposures to a select number of investors.

The risk transfer is achieved through a collateralised CDS structure and no assets will be derecognised from Nordea’s balance sheet. The transaction includes a broad selection of assets from Nordea’s core corporate loan book and does not target any specific sectors/geographies. Nordea will continue to service the loans.

Shearman & Sterling advised Liberty Global on its novel cross-currency hedging transaction to hedge exposure to foreign exchange risk in respect of the Jamaican dollar following its acquisition of Cable & Wireless Communications. This cross-currency transaction was entered into with Goldman Sachs International and has a notional amount of approximately $80 million.

Shearman & Sterling has a long-standing relationship with Liberty Global, having previously advised on its $8.2 billion (£5.5 billion) acquisition of CWC.

Freshfields has advised Boehringer Ingelheim in relation to the strategic global swap of its consumer healthcare business with Sanofi’s animal health business

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (‘Freshfields’) has advised Boehringer Ingelheim in relation to the strategic global swap of its consumer healthcare business with Sanofi’s animal health business. Boerhinger Ingelheim is one of the world’s top 20 pharmaceutical companies, and Sanofi is a global life sciences company focused on healthcare.

Weil is advising longtime client Sanofi in its asset swap transaction with Boehringer Ingelheim, the eighth largest consumer healthcare business in the world. The transaction will consist of an exchange of Sanofi’s animal health business, with an enterprise value of €11.4 billion, and Boehringer Ingelheim’s consumer healthcare business, with an enterprise value of €6.7 billion, and will include a gross cash payment from Boehringer Ingelheim to Sanofi of €4.7 billion.

De Brauw, working as a team with its Best Friend Slaughter and May, has advised Coca Cola Enterprises Inc. on the IPO of Coca-Cola European Partners, with listings on Euronext Amsterdam, Euronext London, and the Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid and Valencia stock exchanges.

Dentons’ Energy and Natural Resources team in Warsaw advised Grupa Energetyki Odnawialnej Renewables (GEO Renewables) on the sale of shares in the Lubartow wind farm in Poland to IKEA. They also advised GEO Renewables on  an exchange of shares in the Ilza, Jedrzychowice and Zgorzelec wind farms in Poland with EDP Renewables. Both transactions were completed in March 2016.

Partners Group, the Swiss private markets investment manager, announced on December 3, 2015 that its founding partners and largest shareholders, Dr. Marcel Erni, Alfred Gantner and Urs Wietlisbach, have entered into a derivative transaction involving up to 4.1% each of Partners Group's total share capital, which corresponds to a maximum deal value in excess of CHF 1 bn.

Herbert Smith Freehills has advised on the Hallett Hill No. 2 Wind Farm’s successful launch of a $A205m issue in the US Private Placement (USPP) market - the first Australian wind farm to issue in the USPP market.

Hallett Hill is a 71MW, 34 turbine wind farm located in mid-north South Australia. It has been operational since 2009 and is wholly owned by the Energy Infrastructure Trust (EIT), which is managed by Australian funds manager Infrastructure Capital Group (ICG).