LSE Law School Financial Market Infrastructure Project

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The Global Financial Crisis 15 Years On: Insights into Central Counterparties’ Responses to Member Defaults

Marking 15 years since the nadir of the global financial crisis, this seminar is part of a series exploring the events of 2008 and drawing out insights for current debates.

Central Counterparties (CCPs), a type of financial market infrastructure, respond differently to member defaults depending on (among other factors) the nature of the default, market conditions, and the potential impact on public customers. Their responses in past situations are important data points in evaluating regulatory regimes that might apply in the event of a CCP member default. The discussion will feature a review and analysis of the actions taken by key CCPs in the wake of high-profile defaults in the Lehman and MF Global cases, including a review of the public customer account porting process and the portfolio auctions.  The discussion will also touch upon other member default situations and CCP reactions in those cases.

This event will be of interest to those with an interest in financial and insolvency law, financial market infrastructure, market regulation, and banking law. Students are warmly encouraged to join.

Speaker: Vincent E. Lazar

Vince Lazar is co-chair of Jenner & Block’s Bankruptcy Litigation and Markets & Trading practices. Drawing upon his bankruptcy and restructuring expertise, Vince regularly advises clearing organizations, self-regulatory organizations and market participants concerning member default issues, customer protection concerns and crypto and fintech proposals.

Vince has played a leading role in a number of financial services sector insolvency cases and is considered an expert on commodity broker bankruptcy cases. He represented the CME Group in the SIPA liquidation proceeding of MF Global, including implementation of its unprecedented transfer of under-margined positions to other commodity brokers; the examiner in Lehman Brothers; both the National Futures Association and CME Group in Peregrine Financial Group’s case; the bankruptcy trustees in Stotler & Company and Refco, LLC, where he acted as the trustee’s special counsel in the first-ever successful bankruptcy sale of a commodity broker business; and trustee of Sentinel Management Group,  a $1 billion+ fraud case involving the misuse of segregated customer assets. Vince also represented the Depository Trust Clearing Corporation in connection with investigations, litigation and Congressional testimony arising out of the 2021 meme stock market disruption events, and the examiner in the Celsius Networks cryptocurrency bankruptcy case. He currently represents SVB Financial Group, serving as its conflicts counsel.

Vince co-chaired the ABA subcommittee drafting proposed changes to the CFTC’s bankruptcy “Part 190” rules which received the CFTC’s “Chairman’s Award for Regulatory Excellence” in 2020.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy, a Member of the International Insolvency Institute, and a contributing author of the leading bankruptcy treatise Colliers on Bankruptcy.

Register here to participate in person (Only 40 spaces available)
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Organisers: Visiting Professor in Practice Dr David Murphy; Professor Jo Braithwaite: contact details j.p.braithwaite@lse.ac.uk