Mayer Brown is at the cutting-edge of the global derivatives market. The firm’s global reach, its interdisciplinary approach and its expertise across the entire asset class have made it the practice of choice from Toronto to Rio De Janeiro. For its exemplary coverage across the US and the Americas, Mayer Brown is the deserved winner of best law firm in both categories.
The firm’s ability to call on an integrated array of specialists worldwide is second to none. Mayer Brown’s derivatives and structured products group is among the largest in the United States. The group works seamlessly with colleagues based in any one of Mayer Brown’s 27 offices across the globe. Key practices in Europe and Asia are staffed by hundreds of lawyers, giving the firm unrivalled reach. Mayer Brown is one of a select few firms able to provide regulatory support on issues in the US, the Americas, Europe and Asia.
“We can truly advise on cross border matters in a way that some of our competitors can’t,” says Anna Pinedo, a partner at Mayer Brown focussed on securities and derivatives. “That helps distinguish us for clients who want to be able to use one law firm rather than multiple law firms across different jurisdictions.”
Mayer Brown also stands out for the breadth of its expertise. Rather than focus on a specific product, the firm covers a huge sweep of asset classes. These range from equity and credit derivatives to rates, FX, commodities and crypto. Supporting clients with their derivatives needs often requires expertise in other areas of the firm. Serving bank clients who act as swap dealers, for instance, requires close collaboration with Mayer Brown’s broker-dealer, bank regulatory and securitization teams. They provide advice on everything from new products, risk weighting and margin, to credit risk transfer, compliance, and enforcement. The firm’s derivatives and commodities enforcement practice represents clients in investigations conducted by major US regulators, including the SEC, CFTC and FINRA.
Delivering peerless support across a spectrum of OTC derivatives and new product work also relies on Mayer Brown’s proficiency across areas like structuring and tax capabilities. “Our Derivatives and Structured Products Group works very closely with our Tax Group,” says Pinedo. “This integrated approach is in everything we do, how we go to market and how we’re viewed by clients.”
The depth and breadth of the firm’s tax practice mirrors its global footprint. Not only does Mayer Brown boast a bigger US tax practice than many of its competitors, but the firm also maintains a large tax practice in key markets like Brazil. This allows it to offer support on issues critical to derivatives - from tax treatment on dividend-equivalent payments to helping clients assess the impact of possible legislation on mark-to-market derivatives.
“On many points we don’t have certainty on what the future will look like,” says Remmelt Reigersman, a partner and member of the firm’s Tax Transactions & Consulting practice. “We help clients navigate these issues and assess how the tax landscape may change.”
This tax expertise is on full display in Mayer Brown’s work with multinational businesses and financial institutions, where the firm works closely with internal tax departments. “We work with the clients’ tax personnel to inform them on the issues we’re looking at and identify things to look out for,” says Reigersman. “It's one of the things that sets us apart from peers.”
Reigersman also points to Mayer Brown’s commitment to helping clients grapple with the wider implications of a given issue. “Many law firms and tax lawyers just answer the question and then move on,” he says. “We try to ask the follow up questions, which helps engage with broader issues that the client might not have considered. The reason we’re able to do that is because we’re collaborating across practices.”
This interdisciplinary and international approach has kept Mayer Brown at the forefront of the global derivatives market, growing its client base, strengthening existing relationships and consistently winning mandates in markets both calm and volatile.