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< Directory Jon Kibbe

Jon Kibbe is a founding partner of the firm. He is a recognized authority on evolving legal issues in the global secondary loan market and his transactional practice concentrates on complex credit structures and the allocation of credit risk in the fixed income markets. He represents trade associations, industry groups, investment banks, hedge funds, broker dealers and other financial institutions that transact in the bank loan, high-yield debt and credit derivatives markets.   

He regularly advises clients participating in the market for troubled and non-performing financial assets and claims, providing transactional, compliance and regulatory guidance to clients that originate, restructure and trade commercial and industrial bank loans, distressed bonds, portfolios of real estate loans, claims against defaulted obligors arising from terminated derivative transactions and other related obligations. He has helped clients establish and support trading desks in the secondary loan market, implement strategic trading programs and develop firm-wide compliance and best-practice initiatives.

Mr. Kibbe also counsels clients engaged in event-driven acquisitions, debt restructurings and innovative financing transactions. He has helped develop and engineer new financial instruments, including the loan credit default swap (LCDS), and new applications of securitization structures, including a vehicle formed to purchase and restructure distressed bank loans.  

Recent significant engagements include: 

  • Advising hedge funds and investment banks acquiring, prosecuting, defending and trading claims arising from terminated derivative contracts in the Lehman Brothers insolvency proceedings in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Switzerland;
  • Advising U.S. and European hedge funds and investment banks purchasing and selling claims against the three largest insolvent Icelandic banks;
  • Representing a trade association developing trading initiatives and best practices designed to increase transparency and liquidity in the U.S. secondary bank loan market, as well as advising on the impact of the Dodd-Frank legislation on such initiatives and best practices;
  • Representing an investment bank seeking to resolve a series of complex trading disputes and potential litigations through the novel use of a portfolio total return swap;
  • Representing an investment bank developing enhanced collateral documentation and operational procedures to reduce counterparty performance and credit risk between trade date and settlement in the secondary loan market.
  • Advising working groups of market participants developing and enhancing the North American and European LCDS documentation and settlement protocols, including the subsequent modifications to the North American "bullet" LCDS;
  • Advising market participants in the development of documentation to trade secured claims derived from interest rate and foreign exchange swap termination payments embedded in syndicated loan documentation;
  • Advising a registered broker-dealer starting-up a bank-loan trading desk; and
  • Advising a broker of bank loans registering as a broker-dealer to trade reorganization equity and other securities arising from and incidental to bank-loan trading activities.

Mr. Kibbe is a frequent speaker on legal, regulatory and compliance issues arising in the fixed income markets, and regularly writes on topics of interest to active participants in the evolving markets for bank loans, claims and related credit derivatives products.

Honors & Awards

"Super Lawyer" in the area of securities and corporate finance by Law & Politics Media, Inc. 

News

Seminars & Speaking Engagements

Publications

Photo of Jon Kibbe

New York Office
T:  212.530.1860
F:  917.344.8860
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Education
  • New York University School of Law, J.D., 1980
  • Harvard University, A.B., magna cum laude, 1976