English High Court Issues Decision in Orion Case

2008-07-13 18:33:12 -

www.sidley.com - Sidley Austin LLP Janet Zagorin, 212-839-8797 Director of Practice Development jzagorin@sidley.com or Rubenstein Associates Peter Pochna, 212-843-8007 ppochna@rubenstein.com The Senior Subordinated Note Holders, represented by lawyers from Sidley Austin LLP, London and lawyers from its affiliated partnerships in the US, prevailed in the English High Court against the Senior Note holder committee in Bank of New York vs.

Montana Board of Investments, relating to the Orion SIV.

The Court considered a variety of factors including the fiduciary duty of a security trustee in these circumstances under New York law in concluding that the security trustee of the defaulting SIV did not have to, and should not, take direction from the Orion Senior Noteholders (represented by Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP) regarding the manner time and place of a sale of the SIV's assets in what is now a distressed market.

This decision adds clarity to the rights of different classes of secured creditors in the context of a distressed Structured Investment Vehicle (SIV). Sidley represents varying interest holders in all kinds of distressed structured financial vehicles including SIVs, SIV lites, CDOs, ABS, CMBS and leveraged funds. Sidley has one of the leading insolvency and structured finance practices in the world operating inside one of the largest international law firms."

Sidley Austin is one of the world's largest full-service law firms, with more than 1800 lawyers practising in 16 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Every year since 2003, Sidley has been named to Legal Business' Global Elite, its designation for the 18 firms "that define the pinnacle of the legal profession." BTI, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, has named Sidley to their Client Service Hall of Fame as one of only two law firms to rank in the Client Service Top 10 for seven years in a row.

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Sidley Represents Senior Subordinated Note Holders