Arnold & Porter Represents Republic of Turkey in Its Fourth Islamic Financing
NEW YORK and LONDON, June 8, 2016 -- The Republic of Turkey closed a $1 billion Sukuk offering today, its fourth such financing transaction in recent years. The latest Sukuk, which was again structured to comply with Shariah law, involved the issuance of lease certificates representing interests in Turkish government real estate assets that were transferred to the issuer and leased back to the government.
Arnold & Porter LLP also represented Turkey in its three previous Sukuk transactions, including its offerings in November, 2014, October, 2013 and September, 2012. The firm has represented the Republic of Turkey in global finance matters for more than twenty years.
The Arnold & Porter team in the latest transaction included Steven Tepper and Deidrie Stone of the firm's New York office, and Jeremy Willcocks and Ben Kieft of its London office. Cynthia Mann (New York) and Elizabeth McGee (San Francisco), also provided tax assistance. Co-counsel for the transaction was Paksoy, based in Istanbul, and included that firm’s Sera Somay, Pinar Tuzun, Soner Dagli and Elif Eren.
Arnold & Porter has an extensive history of advising international governments in financial transactions and related issues and undertakings. It has been active in representing the ministries of finance and central banks of many sovereign governments since well before the original debt crisis of the 1980s. It has been involved in numerous financial transactions on behalf of sovereigns throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Asia. Among its sovereign clients are Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Hungary, Israel, Pakistan, Turkey, Tunisia, Panama and Venezuela. The firm has also represented and advised a number of the world's most prominent multilateral financial institutions, including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, the International Finance Corporation, OPIC, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Bank for International Settlements, in significant financial transactions and other novel legal assignments.