Paul Hastings Global Derivatives Push Advances

May 02, 2019

New York – Global markets have witnessed increased complexity, higher volatility and enhanced regulatory oversight over the last decade. As a result, the demand for solutions that will not only enhance liquidity and raise capital, but also hedge against risk, has grown, and investment managers, banks, private funds and corporations are increasingly utilizing derivatives to accomplish risk-management and financing objectives.

In order to complete the portfolio of services as a leading global firm, and further enhance the sophistication that clients have come to expect from the firm, Paul Hastings has launched a global derivatives practice, led by Corporate Partner Joyce Sophia Xu. Xu, a Chambers-ranked derivatives partner who recently joined the firm after leading the derivatives practice at Simpson Thacher, is a seasoned dealmaker with close to two decades of wide-ranging experience in the global derivatives markets. She and her team are adept at advising on equity derivatives, structured financing transactions, margin loans, interest rate and FX derivatives and commodity derivatives for market-leading global investment managers, banks, private equity firms, and multinational corporate clients.

Xu is joined by a team of derivatives practitioners including of counsel Diona Park who joined from J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, where she was a vice president and assistant general counsel in the bank’s equity derivatives group. Park brings with her both client-side equity derivatives expertise as well as extensive experience in the derivatives practice group at Simpson Thacher. The group also added Matthew Smith, who joined recently from Fried Frank with substantial experience advising asset managers on derivatives trading documentation.

The derivatives practice group works in conjunction with Paul Hastings professionals in Capital Markets, Leveraged Finance, Structured Finance and Securitization, M&A, Private Equity, Asset Management, Tax and Financial Regulations to deliver top-shelf derivatives transactional service to clients in the U.S., Europe, Latin America and Asia.
“My colleagues and I pride ourselves on understanding our clients’ business and compliance needs, stress points and risk tolerance, and we have always been laser-focused on providing seamless deal execution.” said Xu. “With the broad global reach, deep market knowledge and high sophistication of the various corporate practices at Paul Hastings, we will be able to provide an end-to-end solution for clients to navigate the ever-evolving derivatives markets in the U.S. and abroad.”

The launch of the derivatives practice comes on the heels of the addition of other prominent corporate partners including Leveraged Finance partner Frank Lopez as new co-chair of the firm’s global Capital Markets practice, M&A partners Bill Choe and Jason Rabbitt-Tomita, and Private Equity partners Alex Kaufman and Kfir Abutbul.

At Paul Hastings, our purpose is clear — to help our clients and people navigate new paths to growth. With a strong presence throughout Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the U.S., Paul Hastings is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative global law firms.