Howard M. Goldwasser and Skanthan Vivekananda have joined Kaye Scholer LLP as partners in the firm’s Finance Department. Since the 1990s, Goldwasser has maintained a wide-ranging transactional finance practice focused on structured finance and the securitization and financing of an array of traditional and non-traditional asset classes. Vivekananda has a hybrid finance practice and extensive experience in both the structured finance and derivatives practice areas.
Together, Goldwasser and Vivekananda are leading lawyers in the “CLO 2.0” market, representing arrangers and collateral managers on collateralized loan obligation issuances. Goldwasser’s and Vivekananda’s addition to Kaye Scholer will enhance the firm’s existing CLO team, which already features partners Dan Hartnett and Lawton Camp in the United States and Stuart Axford in London.
“From structured finance and capital markets to derivatives and securitization, these two partners add significant bench strength to the many finance-oriented legal services we offer to our financial institution and asset manager clients,” said Kaye Scholer’s managing partner Mike Solow. “As a former managing partner of a branch office of a major firm and a practice-group leader, Howard’s proven leadership skills, in tandem with his and Skanthan’s extensive experience with sophisticated financial products, will complement the practice and add value to our clients on both coasts.”
Goldwasser, who joins the firm’s New York office, has practiced as a structured finance lawyer at leading structured finance firms for more than 24 years. He has represented many of the world’s leading investment banks; an array of commercial banks, non-bank lenders and hedge funds; and investment managers. He, along with Lawton Camp, is recognized as one among a handful of U.S. lawyers to have pioneered the introduction of covered bonds to the U.S. capital markets. In recent years, his practice has concentrated on CLOs, trade receivables financings and highly structured, asset-based finance transactions. Howard was also recently distinguished as an MVP in the 2016 BTI Client Service All-Stars report published by BTI Consulting Group.
Vivekananda will be based in Kaye Scholer’s Los Angeles office. In addition to being a dedicated structured finance specialist, Vivekananda advises investment funds and other financial institutions in connection with a wide variety of over-the-counter derivatives and bespoke structured products. He focuses his practice on transactional structuring, as well as purely regulatory issues.
“Our clients continue to adapt to rapid change in the global financial services industry, whether it’s regulatory compliance or new or developing asset classes or structures,” said Henry Morriello, chair of Kaye Scholer’s Finance Department. “Howard and Skanthan, with their varied international experience, will further enable our firm to assist financial institutions and asset managers around the world with all of their sophisticated finance transactions.”
“We are thrilled to have joined Kaye Scholer’s Finance Department, which is one of the best and most highly regarded in the industry. We are confident that our clients will benefit from our move to the firm.”
Added Vivekananda, “We look forward to leveraging the firm’s renowned finance capabilities and resources to offer the best possible service to our clients.”
Source: www.kayescholer.com
