Lawyer Monthly - December 2024

An Exclusive Interview with: Viviane de Moreau d’Andoy Founding Partner, Marjac Avocats 4 days, throughout the weekend in sunny summer days. You can see where the professionalism and commitment of the lawyers involved has a significant impact on ensuring that the deal closes on perfect timing. Today everything is always quicker and we/MARJAC can align to this evolving world and be very reactive by aligning fully dedicated highly experienced lawyers. As one of the few truly independent firms in Luxembourg, we are accustomed to working with other international firms and have established close ties with other lawyers in the world. Our ever-growing network of international firms with different fields of expertise enables us to offer a wide range of services with top quality lawyers. For example, I set-up the FLIN network which is a gathering funds lawyers from countries (UK, Switzerland, Emirates, France…) and serves as a platform where we discuss hot topics and exchange experiences. We are also working on another network of finance lawyers. What specific expertise does Marjac Avocats bring to securitisation transactions in Luxembourg? Marjac is bringing 25 years of expertise in funds, securitization and financial services both on the legal and operational sides. We are used to deal with extensive documentation and treat a high volume of information. We do not only have experience with the large prospectuses of the securitization vehicles but have also the required operational experience. We always ask ourselves how this is going to work in practice, ensuring that operational teams and back-offices may easily run the transaction of the vehicle. It is about matching the theory with the practice. Our expertise is further developing on the use of new technologies and securitization is a perfect playground. Viviane, what was your role in ensuring compliance with Luxembourg securitisation laws for this transaction? In my role, I oversaw the compliance framework for the transaction, ensuring all aspects adhered to Luxembourg’s securitisation laws. This also involved the drafting of loan and facility agreements. One of the biggest challenges in this kind of transaction is to produce a set of documents which all match each other ensuring perfect coherence through the complete set. Due to the size and number of documents, you need a good brain, believe me. In addition, you need to ensure not only compliance with the laws but, more importantly, the enforceability of the mechanism and of the securities and guarantees. Time is of the essence in this kind of transaction and balanced documents help to reach a quick settlement. How did you collaborate with other firms, such as DWF, in handling cross-jurisdictional complexities? It is not the first time we collaborated with Luca Lo Po and his team. We get to know each other and are used to working in a tiny time schedule. We are on the same page with Luca, this helps us to settle things quickly. In this matter, we have exchanged a few emails and calls. I am personally convinced that the quality of the first drafts and the experience coupled with involvement is a key distinguishing factor. The drafting of the loan agreement, for example, was due to laps 4 weeks (with the drafting of exchange of comments from the parties involved) and was closed in only TRANSACTION INTERVIEW 77 Luxembourg remains a leading hub for securitisation and funds, with 70% of foreign funds in Hong Kong being Luxembourg funds. This transaction reaffirms its position due to its robust legal framework and ability to handle complex cross-border deals.

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