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Russell Leblang
Everett Parker
Susanna Stern
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Susanna Victoria Stern, Partner

Susanna Stern practices domestic and international corporate and banking law with a special focus on structured cross-border emerging-market financial transactions. Her years of work and study in Brazil have given her unique experience and perspective which contribute to her effectiveness as an advocate. Specific capacities and experience include the following:

  • Bank Finance. Drafting and negotiating domestic and cross-border syndicated loan and note placement agreements, guarantees and related documentation for domestic and emerging-market companies in varied industries such as telecommunications, energy, agribusiness, aircraft manufacturing, cable and professional ice hockey.
  • Trade Finance. Structuring and negotiating trade transactions for banks, such as pre-export and import finance, letters of credit, syndicated export finance transactions backed by trade receivables and trade finance programs backed by guarantees or political risk insurance from agencies such as The Export-Import Bank, MIGA, OPIC and MITI, the Japanese trade agency.
  • Restructuring. Advising banks, financial institutions and borrowers on restructuring syndicated loans and structured finance transactions; preparation and negotiation of standstill, intercreditor and restructuring agreements.
  • Structured Transactions.Advising banks and financial institutions in structuring, negotiating and documenting financial transactions to achieve specific business and financial goals. Examples include issuance of structured notes by Brazilian companies to European investors interested in tax credits for emerging markets investment.
  • Derivatives. Structuring and negotiating tailor-made emerging-market derivative instruments aimed at hedging exposures such as political risk, market volatility, credit risk and liquidity.
  • Equipment and Project Finance. Preparing and negotiating documentation for cross-border leases of aircraft, vehicles and equipment, bringing manufacturers, banks and purchasers together in complex multi-country transactions aimed at achieving the tax, accounting and secured credit goals of the parties. Experience includes aircraft lease securitization and project finance in the energy sector, representing banks and other financial institutions.
  • Corporate Law. Participating in corporate structure matters such as internal restructuring, opening and monitoring of offshore subsidiaries, and mergers and acquisitions, including corporate due diligence. Securities law experience includes private placement of debt and the issuance of trust certificates for securitizations.
  • Legal/Regulatory. Extensive experience in US banking regulations and legal compliance matters. Ms. Stern has lectured regularly in Brazil on the US legal and regulatory environment, including lectures on restructuring syndicated loans and guarantees for the Legal Division of the Brazilian Association of International Banks (ABBI) and a talk on international guarantees at the Federation of Brazilian Banks (FEBRABAN) in São Paulo, Brazil.
  • General Business and Corporate.Preparing and negotiating contracts for large and small businesses and financial institutions, advising companies on legal matters such as supply agreements, outsourcing, and business formation.

Ms. Stern graduated with a major in Philosophy from Swarthmore College (B.A. 1986) and from the University of Wisconsin Law School (J.D. 1991), where she was a Note & Comment Editor of the University of Wisconsin Law Review. Ms. Stern was an associate at Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in New York and then served as Vice President and Legal Counsel to Citibank in São Paulo, Brazil. She has been certified as a specialist in Brazilian business law from the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) in São Paulo and wrote her monograph on the economic impact of problems in the Brazilian judicial system. She is a founding member of the board of directors of the Brazilian American Chamber of Commerce of New England and is their legal advisor. Ms. Stern is fluent in written and spoken Portuguese, has Spanish language skills, and is admitted to practice in New York and Massachusetts. She is a member of the American Bar Association and the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation.

 

 

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