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Morgan Lewis
Paul St. Lawrence

Paul R. St. Lawrence

Partner

Washington, DC Phone +1.202.739.5314 Fax +1.202.739.3001

1111 Pennsylvania Ave. NW//Washington, DC 20004-2541//United States

Paul R. St. Lawrence concentrates his practice on complex financing transactions, with a particular emphasis on collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) and financings of pools of residential mortgage loans through both repurchase and secured loan facilities. He also handles securitizations, asset-based finance, and other structured finance and derivative products, and is often called upon by clients for his regulatory advice. Paul represents companies on both the sell-side and buy-side in derivative-based financings, CLOs, esoteric securitizations, and transactions utilizing other complex financial instruments. He also advises on the rights of creditors to exercise remedies in derivative and securities transactions following the insolvency of counterparties.

Before joining Morgan Lewis, Paul was a partner in the structured finance practice of another global law firm, resident in Washington, DC.

Selected Representations

  • Represented major underwriters and collateral managers in the structuring and offering of more than $43.5 billion in CLOs since 2014
  • Represented Bank of America and Goldman Sachs in connection with repurchase transactions of structured securities backed by non-performing residential mortgage loans
  • Represented Verizon Communications in the establishment of a platform for the sale to a variety of banks and their asset-backed commercial paper conduits of installment receivables generated by their sale of wireless equipment
  • Represented Citigroup and StoneCastle Financial in the origination and securitization of Tier 2 qualified subordinated loans to community banks; the initial securitization in 2015 was the first such securitization of subordinated bank debt since the financial crisis
  • Represented Merrill Lynch as initial purchaser in over $1 billion securitizations, including securitization of insurance company debt and securitization of insurance company and bank debt securities—the first such securitizations post-Dodd-Frank
  • Represented Strategic Credit Partners Holdings LLC, a joint venture between CIT Group and TPG Sixth Street Partners (f/k/a TPG Special Situations Partners), in a $100 million revolving secured credit facility for the acquisition of middle-market loans
  • Represented C&W Facility Services Inc. and its affiliates in a sale of $138 million of commercial facility services receivables to ING Luxembourg S.A.
  • Represented Crescent Capital in obtaining a significant no-action letter from the US Securities and Exchange Commission establishing the conditions for exempting from the US risk retention rules refinancings of CLO debt that occur following the effective date of those rules
  • Represented numerous leading international banks on the Volcker Rule and risk retention requirements in the United States and the European Union and their implications for structuring of asset-backed securities
  • Represented lenders and borrowers under secured financing facilities for the acquisition of a variety of financial instruments including non-performing residential mortgage loans, consumer receivables, middle-market and broadly syndicated bank loans and other asset-backed securities
  • Represented the creditors of MF Global, Lehman Brothers, and Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC in connection with the close out of derivatives and securities transactions and related matters
  • Represented the Loan Trading and Syndication Association on matters related to US risk retention regulations affecting CLOs
  • Represented the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association on a variety of matters, including the revision to the industry-standard Master Securities Forward Transaction Agreement
  • Represented a major financial institution in connection with novel arrangements entered into with a specialty broker-dealer under which the financial institution will refer repo customers to the broker-dealer and an affiliate will purchase the broker-dealer’s senior debt securities to provide additional capital to support repos entered into with referred customers

Awards and Affiliations

Ranked, Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs, USA, Chambers Global (2022)

Ranked, Capital Markets: Securitization, USA, Chambers Global (2021)

Ranked, Capital Markets: Securitization: CLOs, Nationwide, Chambers USA (2022)

Ranked, Capital Markets: Securitization, Nationwide, Chambers USA (2020, 2021)

Recommended, Finance: Structured Finance: derivatives and structured products, The Legal 500 US (2021, 2022)

Recommended, Finance: Structured Finance: Securitization, The Legal 500 US (2020–2022)

Next Generation Lawyer, Finance: Structured Finance: Securitization, The Legal 500 US (2019)

Rising Star, IFLR1000 Financial and Corporate (2020–2022)

Rising Star, IFLR1000 United States (2019)

Recommended, Structured Finance, The Legal 500 US (2018)

Recognized, Banking and Financial Services, IFLR 1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Law Firms (2017)

Trending 40 Attorneys Under 40, Bisnow (2016)

Member, Structured Finance Committee, New York City Bar Association

Member, Business Law Committee, Working Group on Volcker Rule and Risk Retention Opinions, American Bar Association

Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • New York
  • Virginia

Education

  • Georgetown University Law Center, 2003, J.D., magna cum laude
  • Georgetown University, 1999, B.A., cum laude

Sectors

Services

Regions

Events

5/23/2022 - IMN's 11th Annual Investors' Conference on CLOs and Leveraged Loans
12/13/2021 - ABS East 2021
5/26/2021 - The Virtual Investors’ Conference on CLOs & Leveraged Loans
12/9/2020 - CLO Summit 2020
6/24/2020 - CLO Market Outlook 2020
6/16/2020 - IMN’s CLOs & Leveraged Loans Industry Conference
5/21/2020 - MFA Credit Roundtable
5/5/2020 - Current Issues with Hedge Fund Operations; A Changing Horizon: TALF and the CLO Market
5/5/2020 -
2020 Advanced Topics in Hedge Fund Practices Conference
2/23/2020 - SFVegas 2020
9/22/2019 - 25th Annual ABS East Conference
5/20/2019 - IMN’s 8th Annual Investors Conference on CLOS & Leveraged Loans

News

5/22/2020 - Morgan Lewis Advises on $100M+ Credit Facility for NY Communities Impacted by COVID-19
2/1/2019 - Morgan Lewis Enhances Structured Transactions Practice with Partner Who Focuses on CLOs

Publications

8/14/2020 - Volcker Rule Amendments: An Early Assessment of Interpretive Issues, Business Impact, and Market Opportunities