Rebecca Simmons is a partner in the Firm’s Financial Services and Capital Markets Groups, head of its payments practice and co-head of its FinTech practice. She represents clients in the development of payments, settlement, clearing and other financial technology businesses and systems; in the structuring and development of financial products, novel securities and structured transactions; in insolvency related matters and resolution planning, including living wills; and in regulated transactions such as the development of new lines of business and corporate acquisitions. Her practice areas include U.S. banking and commodities laws and regulation, payments, technology and outsourcing matters, bankruptcy and insolvency issues relating to complex transactions, corporate restructuring, derivatives structuring and regulation, U.S. securities laws and capital markets transactions.
Ms. Simmons led the team that represented the group of commuting counterparties in CIFG’s restructuring (awarded Restructuring Deal of the Year, IFLR Americas Awards 2009), and has represented both sponsors and investors in the resolution and restructuring of structured transactions affected by the recent market crisis. She has represented dealers in the derivatives markets in evaluating the risks raised by derivatives clearing; the development of payment and settlement systems, including the establishment of the CLS Services foreign exchange settlement system; and the negotiation of agreements with technology service providers and other outsourcing arrangements.
Ms. Simmons developed the first synthetic triple-A rated derivatives products program for an insured U.S. bank and the first synthetic securitization of swaps receivables, and has worked with a broad range of credit risk transfer and credit-risk mitigation techniques. She advises clients with respect to trading and settlement issues in both cash and derivative instruments, and assists in developing systems to mitigate credit risk in those trading businesses. She also advises clients with respect to U.S. disclosure and corporate governance requirements, particularly as they apply to non-U.S. issuers.
Ms. Simmons leads S&C’s resolution planning practice and payments practice. Her insolvency-related practice addresses insolvency and bankruptcy matters inherent in structuring transactions and business relationships, the restructuring and resolution of failed financial institutions, and resolution planning in response to U.S. and other regulatory requirements. Her work includes assisting payment and clearing systems in assessing and addressing the risk posed by potential member defaults. She also continues to represent a range of clients in derivatives, structured products and other transactions, financial institutions in capital markets and related transactions, and non-U.S. banks with respect to the financing and operation of their U.S. operations.
Ms. Simmons is the former chair of the Business Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and the former chair of the Committee on Futures Regulation of the New York State Bar Association. She has served as a member of the Committee on Futures Regulation and the Committee on Banking Law of the New York City Bar Association. In addition, she is a member of the board of the advisory board of Legal Information for Families Today; the board of the New York chapter of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce; Columbia Law School’s board of visitors; and the President’s Advisory Council of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
Publications
- “FinTech 2018 Global Practice Guide,” in Chambers & Partners (September 2017)
- “U.S. Regulation of FinTech – Recent Developments and Challenges,” in The Capco Institute Journal of Financial Transformation (November 2016)
- “Single Point of Entry: A Strategy to Resolve Large and Complex Financial Companies,” in Banking Perspective (Quarter 1, 2014)