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Clifford Chance advises Latitude Financial Services on Australian Credit Card master trust transaction, a first in the market

3 April 2017

Clifford Chance advises Latitude Financial Services on Australian Credit Card master trust transaction, a first in the market

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance advised Latitude Financial Services, a leading consumer finance business in Australia and New Zealand, on the establishment of the first master trust securitisation transaction in Australia for its credit card business. The deal utilises a master trust structure like those used in the UK and US, which enables efficient future issuances for this asset class, the first time such a structure has been utilised by an Australian securitisation issuer. The assets backing the securitisation notes of approximately AU$1 billion are credit-card receivables.

The team was led by Sydney partner Caroline Jury, London partner Kevin Ingram and London senior associate Kathryn James (who re-located to Sydney for the duration of the deal).

"We were delighted to advise on this transaction which is an excellent example of how Clifford Chance's global network and depth of practice came together to provide the best service for our clients," said Caroline. "Not only is this transaction significant in terms of scale and because it is the first of its kind in the Australian market, but we also expect it to make a contribution to the securitisation industry as a whole in Australia."

Kevin added, "Being able to adapt an internationally recognised financing structure to the requirements of Australian law and market practice was key to the success of the transaction. We were able to achieve this through using our strengths in finance and capital markets in Sydney and London as an integrated team."

Kate offered, "Master trusts‎ are complex structures to analyse and document but once established they give significant advantages to issuers in ease and consistency of future offerings. We believe master trust programmes such as Latitude's will become a compelling alternative to consider for regular issuers in Australia and indeed elsewhere."

Caroline was further supported in Sydney by counsel Nelda Turnbull and associates Jason Hitch, Adrian Blacker and Alex Sorgese.