Ed Nalbantian has more than 30 years of experience representing counterparties in a broad range of cross-border structured finance transactions with a particular focus on over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and related debt capital markets financings.
Following the financial crisis, Ed's experience extended to the analysis and dispute resolution of credit-linked structured finance primarily from the Firm's role as Special Derivatives Counsel to the Estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. for which he headed the Firm's London team. He was also lead partner on Jones Day's representation of a major U.S. bank in evaluating its risk and documentation exposure in the derivatives, stock lending, and repo markets and, subsequently, in the context of the bank's credit rating downgrade.
More recently, Ed has been involved with a broad range of fintech issues in the derivatives markets including the drafting of documentation for cryptocurrency derivatives and related capital markets financings. He participates in the International Swaps and Derivatives Association's (ISDA) fintech working group and has recently addressed global custody issues related to cryptocurrencies in a podcast for FinTech Beat.
Ed also has experience with major strategic portfolio acquisitions of derivatives assets on behalf of major bank clients. This included Jones Day's representation of BNP Paribas on its acquisition of the £1.6 billion equity derivatives business of the Royal Bank of Scotland for which Ed was the lead London partner.
Ed served as co-leader of the Firm's Banking & Finance Practice from 2009 to 2015. He practiced in the Firm’s Paris Office from 1998 to 2004 and continues to represent clients involved in the Paris market.
Experience
Additional Publications
- May 10, 2004
French Funds & OTC Derivatives – A Practical Guide, coauthor, Derivatives Week Magazine - October 2003
Book Review of Droit des Dérivés de Crédit by Alain Gauvin, Banque Magazine - March 2002
Whiskey and LIBOR - Financing Pernod Ricard's Seagram Acquisition, International Financial Law Review - April 1999
France – Derivatives 1999 – A European Guide, co-author, Special Supplement for International Financial Law Review, Euromoney Publications - December 1998
Securitisation – Public-Private Partnerships, Balance Sheet Magazine, London - September 23, 1996
Produits Dérivés : un Risque Juridique à Maîtriser, Option Finance Magazine - September 1996
France Modernizes Collateralization and Netting, co-author, International Financial Law Review, Euromoney Publications - April 1996
Des Critères de Responsabilité en Evolution, co-author, Banque Magazine - March 1995
The Prudential Framework in Repurchase Transactions, coauthor, International Financial Law Review, Euromoney Publications - February 1994
France Sorts Out Netting Uncertainty, International Financial Law Review, Euromoney Publications - 1994
Targeting the Capital Markets, coauthor, Capital for Shipping Annual by Lloyds Shipping Economist - September 1993
Netting and Derivatives – a Practical Guide, International Financial Law Review - April 1991
Restructuring Junk Bonds: Bondholders Beware, International Financial Law Review, Euromoney Publications - April 1991
Restructuring Junk Bonds: Bondholders Beware, International Financial Law Review, Euromoney Publications - December 1987
Eurobonds, coauthor, Supplement to Butterworth Journal of International Banking & Financial Law - 1981
Legislative Analysis, Federal Proposals Regulating State Taxation of Multistate and Multicultural Corporations, American Enterprise Institute - 1981
Note, The Constitutional Dilemma of State Tax Exemptions: Sears Roebuck and Co. v. County of Los Angeles, 13 Law and Policy Int’l Bus. 811
Additional Speaking Engagements
- February 14, 2013
European Banking – On the Road to Union and Harmonization?
- Georgetown University (J.D. 1982); London School of Economics (M.Sc. 1978; Fulbright Scholar); Georgetown University (A.B. cum laude 1977)
- New York, California, and Paris
Legal 500:
2025: "the vastly experienced Ed Nalbantian is highly regarded for his knowledge of cross-border structured finance transactions including OTC derivatives"
2017: ‘extremely good, a fast thinking lawyer who anticipates clients thoughts and intentions faster than his peers’ and one client remarks that ‘he has the internal authority to put together a committed team very quickly across the firm's network’
2014: has ‘proper industry and product knowledge’
- English, French, and conversational Armenian