Ronald T. Sarubbi Partner

Ronald T. Sarubbi, former chair of the firm’s Financial Transactions practice, leads the Corporate Trust practice, which is distinctive for its combined focus on transactional matters, defaults and bankruptcies, and indenture trustee-related litigation, and risk-mitigation and compliance advisory work. He represents the corporate trust departments of banking institutions in their roles as indenture trustee, collateral agent, administrative agent, escrow agent, custodian, securities intermediary and other agency capacities in domestic and cross-border debt capital market transactions, defaulted debt restructurings and litigation. These representations include unsecured debt transactions and an array of structured finance transactions, including commercial paper conduits, CLOs, and securitized asset-backed securities such as shipping and aircraft financings, RMBS and CMBS transactions, esoteric assets, credit card debt, and student loans debt, solar projects and other alternative energy projects, oil, gas, and electric projects, and debt streams from leasing royalties. He also represents Cayman SPV Issuers in risk mitigation matters, including winddowns and dissolutions.

In his practice, Ron reviews and negotiates contracts for corporate and municipal debt, escrow, custody and agency agreements, and more sophisticated and novel types of secured project financings and structured finance transactions. These deals typically involve companies, hedge funds, investment banks and projects located in the United States and in emerging markets throughout Latin America and Asia and have involved the review and negotiation of thousands of indentures, agency agreements and custody/control agreements. He has also worked with secured and unsecured creditors and disbursing agents in numerous defaulted debt restructurings. Ron has advised indenture trustees in complex commercial litigation, including breaches of representations and warranties and the enforcement of loan repurchases by sponsors and originators in residential mortgage-backed securities transactions.

Recently, Ron has been counseling financial institutions on the application of blockchain and distributed ledger technology in their securities servicing and processing areas and in preparation for the LIBOR phaseout set for the end of 2021, he advises issuers, trustees and asset managers on risk mitigation and compliance issues. He is a member of Perkins Coie's LIBOR task force and the Blockchain, Digital Assets & Custody industry group, which consists of 40 lawyers representing some of the earliest and most innovative firms in the industry, including Overstock, Andreessen Horowitz, R3 CEV, and Xapo.

Ron frequently presents to groups of trust professionals on various corporate trust topics.