29 January 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Clifford Chance’s pre-eminence was recognized at the ISR Awards ceremony this week, when the firm was nominated by ISR readers as Law Firm of the Year for the third year running. Our clients’ successes were also celebrated and we were pleased to see four of the transactions we advised on winning major awards and our client Norwich Union winning the award for Issuer of the Year 2004 – Europe.
The awards for deals where the Group had worked as transaction counsel were:
* Deal of the Year 2004: Land Securities Capital Markets
* ABS Deal of the Year 2004 – Europe: CARDS Issuer
* CMBS Deal of the Year 2004 – Europe: Marlin EMC-II BV
* Deal of the Year 2004 – Asia: Hong Kong Link 2004
These awards for ground-breaking transactions reflect the continuing
innovation within the securitisation market and demonstrate Clifford
Chance’s active role in shaping the industry. Looking forward into 2005 the
Group expects to see a buoyant market and, in addition to a strong flow of
issues under established programmes anticipates new entrants coming to
market as well as existing issuers diversifying by tapping investor demand
for new products and asset classes
Commenting on the Group’s success, Head of the London Group, Kevin Ingram
said: “It is always gratifying to receive the commendation of our peers in
the securitisation industry for our success and reputation as the leading
law firm for securitisation in the market. As a group we had a very good
2004 and moved from strength to strength both as to the structuring and
execution of complex first time deals and also the efficient management and
execution of programmatic issuance. We could not have achieved our success
without the ability and dedication of everybody involved in the group and
our award is recognition of their efforts.”
Peter Voisey, who accepted the award on behalf of Clifford Chance commented:
“2004 was a year of considerable innovation as well as strong issue volumes,
and we are very pleased that clients and market participants have again
acknowledged our role in shaping the market by nominating us for this
prestigious award. Looking at our current pipeline and market activity more
generally, we expect 2005 to be another strong year for the market.”
