Global law firm White & Case LLP has won the Restructuring and Unlocking Finance categories in the "Practice of law" section of this year's FT Innovative Lawyers Europe report.
Practice of law
The Restructuring win, shared jointly with Weil, Gotshal & Manges, is for our work on the US$13 billion sovereign debt restructuring for Zambia. The Firm advised the Zambian government on negotiations with all its non-Eurobond creditors—including official creditors like China—under the newly created Common Framework, a G20 initiative to facilitate debt restructuring in low-income countries. Lenders led by China have agreed to rearrange US$6.3 billion in loans, with a three-year grace period on interest payments, along with extended maturities.
The Unlocking Finance win recognizes the Firm's representation of the Liquidity and Sustainability Facility (LSF) on a repurchase transaction between the LSF, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and the African Export-Import Bank, or Afreximbank, on The Bank of New York Mellon's Triparty Platform. This follows White & Case's support for the LSF's establishment in 2021 and inaugural transaction in 2022. These transactions proved the feasibility of an entirely new market solution that aims to support liquidity in African sovereign Eurobonds and boost sustainable investment in Africa.
Business of law
In the "Business of law" section, White & Case was highly commended in the Regulatory Solutions category for our FSR Toolkit, an online app that guides clients through the reporting process for the EU's Foreign Subsidies Regulation.
