Derivatives

It takes decades of hands-on experience to know the internal processes and market practices surrounding derivatives and structured products. We advise our clients throughout the product life cycle, from concept to structuring and development, to regulatory approvals, implementation, dispute resolution, and beyond.

Alston & Bird’s Derivatives Team advises on all legal aspects of over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives as well as structured products. Our clients, who range from well-established institutions with international and national brands to small or start-up enterprises, include global banks, regional banks, community banks, commodity brokers, hedge funds, institutional money managers, insurance companies, corporate credit unions, corporations, energy companies, not-for-profit companies, pension plans, endowments and family offices.

Our advice takes into account the strategic and risk management functions of derivatives and structured products, current and evolving regulatory requirements, the business environment and each client’s legal structure and business goals. We counsel on product development, transaction structure, regulatory compliance, documentation, insolvency and litigation considerations and dispute resolution. Our expertise is broad and deep, encompassing commodities; securities and banking laws; changes brought about by Dodd-Frank, the Volcker Rule and other regulatory regimes; and insolvency, tax and other laws that impact the development and use of the products. We have experience in plain vanilla and complex products and transactions based on a wide variety of underlying measures and instruments, including interest rates, foreign exchange, credit, commodities, energy, equities, investment funds, indices and weather.

Experience/Services

Trading documentation services

Structuring, drafting and negotiating:
- Bespoke transactions
- Master agreements and long-form confirmations
- Prime brokerage documentation
- Futures agreements
- Execution and clearing arrangements
- Collateral segregation arrangements
- Repo and securities lending agreements
Advice on best practices and industry models
Documentation audits and recommendations for improved legal risk management
Preparing dynamic databases of documentation provisions

Complex products and transactions with embedded derivatives

Derivatives products in lending, debt offerings and other financing arrangements
Derivatives products as part of structured finance programs
Structured product programs and takedowns
- Registered transactions
- Private transactions
- Section 3(a)(2) programs
Offering documents and product/pricing supplements for structured note platforms
Review of structured investment products

Regulatory

Advice on new products and structures
Advice on legislative and regulatory regimes and substituted compliance initiatives
Regulatory monitoring
Preparing comment letters
Preparing requests for regulatory consents and exemptions
Preparing compliance manuals and guidelines
Assisting in preparation for and response to regulatory audits

Governmental investigations

Representation in governmental investigations
Representation before governmental bodies

Insolvency and dispute resolution

Advice on insolvency consequences, including safe harbors for derivatives products
Advice on unwinding transactions and products
Representation in bankruptcy and other insolvency proceedings
Advice on dispute resolution
Litigation
Mediation and arbitration

Tax advice

Structuring products and transactions for beneficial tax treatment
Cross-border considerations
FATCA/HIRE Act
Tax integration eligibility

Accolades

Our derivatives practice group includes individuals with substantial experience in financial services who have served as external counsel and internal counsel for dealers and end-users and who have held positions with the SEC, IRS and federal banking regulators. The group includes attorneys who have been recognized by Chambers, Super Lawyers, Lawdragon and other nationally and internationally recognized trade publications. We are active in many industry associations, including the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA), Futures Industry Association, International Energy Credit Association, Managed Funds Association, Structured Products Association, Women in Derivatives, American Bar Association’s Derivatives and Futures Law Committee, New York State Bar Association’s Derivatives and Structured Products Law Committee and New York City Bar Association’s Futures and Derivatives Committee. Our attorneys frequently speak at industry events, and we contribute to and are often cited in industry publications.

Bringing Value to Our Clients

Every client is unique. We team with each of our clients to craft practical approaches and individual solutions that address the client’s legal concerns and business realities. Our clients look to us for advice throughout the life cycle of a product, from the initial concept through product structuring and development, regulatory approvals and filings, program implementation, ongoing modifications, termination and dispute resolution. We have worked with derivatives and structured products in a wide variety of contexts, and we have hands-on experience with the internal processes and market practices surrounding the products. In addition, we have represented clients in the most significant insolvency cases and in government investigations and enforcement cases, and we regularly participate in industry responses to regulatory developments. As a result, we bring perspective and judgment to our clients as they respond to the ever-changing environment for derivatives and structured products.

Analyzed innovative financial and commercial products for regulatory treatment under Dodd-Frank.
Provided monitoring of Dodd-Frank developments for, and advice on implementation strategy to, a large multinational energy company.
Developed client-specific trading documentation templates for corporate and buy-side entities and regional banks; negotiated simultaneously against multiple dealers for maximum advantage.
Advised large institutional clients on establishing and negotiating documentation for clearing arrangements.
Negotiated and established collateral segregation arrangements for leading hedge funds.
Drafted and negotiated bespoke total return swap documentation for a variety of financial institutions.
Structured pre-paid forward swaps in connection with convertible debt offerings.
Advised a financial services firm on a structured products platform linked to emerging digital technology.
Assisted a newly spun-off public company with the establishment of its foreign exchange, interest rate and commodity swap relationships with multiple dealers; advised on the end-user exception to clearing and related hedging policies and strategies.
Developed transactional and compliance documentation for a bank’s customer-facing swap program and hedging products.
Prepared master confirmation agreements and supplements for non-deliverable forward, non-deliverable option and equity derivatives programs.
Analyzed repo and securities lending arrangements for a large pension fund and recommended changes in light of legal, regulatory and market developments.
Advised a leading foreign institutional money manager and a large hedge fund family on overhaul of prime brokerage and derivatives documentation.
Represented a French bank in connection with the unwinding and deleveraging of hedge fund-linked trades.
Represented multiple parties in litigation and mediation involving Lehman Brothers derivatives transactions.
Advised a commodities broker on review and overhaul of documentation for all derivatives trading.
Advised a multinational corporation on a $1 billion structured equity derivative transaction.
Advised a leading renewable energy company on structuring and documenting wind derivatives as part of long-term financing arrangements.

Highlights

                            Press Release
                                                    November 6, 2025
                        Alston & Bird Earns 131 Tier-1 Rankings in 2026 Best Law Firms
                    
                                Alston & Bird has been honored as one of the nation’s top law firms in the 2026 edition of Best Law Firms®, ranked by Best Lawyers. The firm received 30 national tier-one practice rankings and 101 metropolitan tier-one practice rankings across all U.S. offices.
                            