Cleary Gottlieb Wins "European Legal Team of the Year" at the British Legal Awards for the Third Time

At the British Legal Awards on November 22 in London, Cleary Gottlieb was named “European Legal Team of the Year” for the third time in four years, for our ground-breaking role advising Greece on its debt restructuring.

The citation reads in part:

“Since July 2011 a Cleary team spanning eight offices has acted as international counsel to Greece on legal aspects of its indebtedness, culminating in a liability management transaction, known as a PSI, announced in February this year.

By structuring the transaction following Cleary’s advice, Greece was able to achieve the 95% participation level required as a condition to the continued disbursements agreed under the IMF programme. In addition, as a result of PSI, holders of Greek bonds will have provided more than €100bn worth of debt relief to Greece, and the average interest rate on the country’s remaining debt to the private sector has been significantly reduced.

The firm has been at the forefront of legal advisers on sovereign debt issues for more than 30 years, advising on a long line of high-profile sovereign debt restructurings. In addition to Greece, the now largest-ever sovereign debt transaction, Cleary is advising Iraq and Argentina – the second- and third-largest sovereign transactions, respectively – as well as Iceland in their debt matters.”