James Patti

James P. Patti represents clients involved with transactions in the emerging markets, including Brazil, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Peru, Russia and Turkey, and has been particularly active in Latin America and Turkey.

His work emphasizes fund-raising in all its forms and he is often involved in complex, cutting-edge transactions for which broad knowledge of the emerging markets is very beneficial.

Matters include structured finance, eurobonds, infrastructure-related project finance (principally with airports) and general lending (secured and unsecured), as well as debt restructurings and corporate transactions.

Jim’s experience includes having structured the transaction (an Argentine airport financing) named in 2013 by Latin Finance as the “Structured Finance Deal of the Quarter Century” in Latin America as well as having established the first “future flow“ transactions in Brazil (including Banco do Brasil’s Japanese remittance transaction) and Peru, the first three MTN programs in Turkey, the first Basel III-compliant Tier 2 issuance in Turkey and the first two cross-border residential mortgage covered bond programs in Turkey.

Chambers USA 2016 notes James “is ‘very experienced’ in emerging markets encompassing Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Latin America. His international scope is regularly utilized when advising on infrastructure-related finance, general lending and restructuring matters for domestic and international clients.”

Education :

• The University of Chicago Law School, JD
• Georgetown University, BS, magna cum laude

Admissions : Illinois

Experience :

• Represented the issuers in the first three MTN programs ever from Turkey: a $3 billion program for Vakifbank, a $2.5 billion program for Garanti Bank and a $1.75 billion program for Isbank.
• Represented Garanti Bank in connection with the sale by General Electric Capital Corporation of most of its 21 percent interest in the bank. GECC and the bank’s other principal shareholder sold an aggregate of 24.9 percent of the bank to BBVA for €4.2 billion.
• Represented the originator in Brazil’s first-ever “future flow” transaction, recognized as the 2001 emerging market structured financing deal of the year by Structured Finance International and as the Latin American structured financing of the year by Emerging Market Investor. In 2008, this transaction was selected by Latin Finance as the “Most Important Structured Finance Deal in Latin America” for the past 20 years.
• Represented parties in the first-ever “diversified payment rights” transactions in Brazil (originator), Russia (arrangers), Peru (monoline insurer) and Turkey (arranger).
• Represented the arranger in the first future flow transaction guaranteed by the Asian Development Bank (in Kazakhstan).
• Represented the debtor (Embratel) in one of the most successful corporate debt restructurings during Brazil’s debt crisis in 2002-2003 (over $1 billion).
• Represented (with various partners) a large US corporate (Bell South) in the $5.8 billion sale of its Latin American operations (comprising 10 countries) to Telefónica.