Walkers is a recognised market leader in the provision of best in class legal, tax, listing and professional services to CLO issuers incorporated in the Cayman Islands, Ireland, Bermuda and Jersey. 

In 2022, Walkers was ranked as number one for 'Best Offshore Legal Services' and 'Best Offshore Fund Administration' in Creditflux's sixth annual CLO Census for services provided to the global collateralised loan obligation market. This marks the fifth year in a row that WPS has taken the Best Offshore Fund Administration award and the fourth win for the legal team.

Walkers, through its integrated network of offices across the world, offers a client centric one-stop shop solution for CLO Arrangers and CLO Managers involved in US and / or Euro CLOs.

Our dedicated professionals have advised in relation to some of the most innovative and cutting-edge CLO transactions brought to market in the recent past, including the first public CLO 2.0 deal (post the credit crisis). The Walkers CLO team is deeply experienced and has advised CLO issuers at all stages of the CLO life cycle from warehouses and CLO takeouts to substitutions, resets, refis, reissues, restructures and liquidations.

US CLO

Walkers and Walkers Fiduciary Services Collateralised Loan Obligation (CLO) team offers multi-jurisdictional advice on CLO transactions and is recognised as a market leader by clients, peers and partners in the legal, financial and asset management industries. 

We advise arranging banks, sponsors and asset managers on all aspects of their structured and US CLO transactions through one integrated legal and fiduciary business. We have been active in the US CLO and securitisation market since its inception.

We have been instrumental in introducing new legal technology to US CLO deals covering a wide range of asset classes and we offer efficient and cost-effective turnaround of transaction documents.

We have specialist middle market US CLO and Trust Preferred (TruPS) US CLO teams. We also work closely with our Investment Funds team on finance transactions involving Cayman Islands credit funds.

Walkers acted on the first public US CLO 2.0 deal (post the credit crisis) to reopen the U.S. market and our US CLO team have also advised on many other CLO deals for asset managers and on private CLO transactions, total return swaps (TRS) / Repos and warehouse investment structures.

Our specialist Restructured Products team (comprising lawyers from our Structured Products Group and Insolvency & Dispute Resolution teams) is able to devise mechanisms to release value from distressed assets, particularly on pre-crisis transactions.

EURO CLO

Our Dublin based Finance & Capital Markets Group is a multi-award winning team specialising in CLOs and is the largest dedicated CLO team in Ireland. Our team is experienced, responsive and dedicated to providing market leading service levels to our clients.

Our Finance & Capital Markets Group has acted as Issuer counsel on many market firsts and award winning deals in the CLO space and also regularly advises on the Irish legal, tax and regulatory aspects of the establishment and maintenance of Irish risk retention / originator structures.

Walkers Professional Services, our SPV administration business, is also a recognised market leader in the CLO space. Walkers Professional Services is synonymous with responsiveness, a solution-driven approach and a commitment to excellence in client service.

Together our Irish legal, tax, listings and corporate services teams provide an integrated one-stop shop solution for CLO Arrangers and CLO Managers issuing Euro CLOs through Ireland.