Philippe Steffens

• Advising North Westerly VI CLO B.V., involving NIBC Bank as collateral manager, on its first ever fully ESG compliant European CLO. IFLR Europe Award 2021 for "Structured Finance & Securitisation Deal of the Year".

• Advising ING Bank as Arranger and Joint Lead Manager and Bank of America as Joint Lead Manager on a Euro 534,000,000 Dutch auto lease securitisation for Athlon Car Lease Nederland (part of Daimler). 

• Advised Argenta Spaarbank NV on two Dutch RMBS transactions: EUR 1.2 billion via Green Apple 2017-I-NHG and EUR 1.1 billion via Green Apple 2018-I-NHG.

• Advised Arrow Global / Vesting Finance as members of the winning consortium for Project Yellow (sale by Rabobank of RNHB Hypotheekbank and EUR 1.7 billion mortgage portfolio).

• Advised VW Financial Services on its inaugural Dutch auto lease securitisation in an amount of up to EUR 1 billion.

• Advised multiple Dutch and foreign parties on the structuring and set-up of new Dutch residential mortgage lending platforms.

• Advised Azzurro Investments in its acquisition of Next Finance whereby Dutch holding Next Investments B.V. sold its debt purchasing, collections and data businesses to UK based debt purchaser Azzurro Associates Limited.

• Acted as Dutch counsel on around 100 CLO loan transactions in the European CLO 2.0 market. Examples include the first European CLO since the financial crisis (Cairn CLO III B.V.) and the first additional issuance among the European 2.0 CLOs (upsize of the Dyrden XXVII transaction).

• Advised Natixis on various transactions in the Dutch mortgage market, including a Dutch RMBS warehouse facility for Merius Hypotheken, the structuring and documentation of investments in Dutch residential mortgage loans by three foreign investors and the structuring and documentation of investments in Dutch residential mortgage loans by foreign insurance companies.

• Advised Deutsche Bank on the financing of the acquisition of a Spanish loan portfolio by various Dutch entities owned by Cerberus Capital Management (project Jaipur). The portfolio was sold by BBVA.

Clients highlight Philippe Steffens for his work in securitisation transactions, with one reporting that he is "really involved with the market and knows his stuff." He represents financial institutions and insurers as issuer and trustee counsel in RMBS and loan transactions.
Chambers Europe, 2020

Philippe Steffens undertakes RMBS transactions and trade receivables financing on behalf of banks and other financial institutions. His scope as a practitioner is extolled by clients, one describing him as "a very amiable person, but at the same time he has proven himself as a tough negotiator on our behalf."
Chambers Europe and Chambers Global, 2021

Capital Markets: Securitisation:
What the team is known for: Notable structured finance practice with a strong focus on collateralised loan obligations. Acts for multinational investment banks and Dutch financial institutions on cross-border refinancing mandates. Enjoys a prominent role in international securitisation mandates, working alongside the firm's global network. Regularly assists international clients with derivatives transactions, including streamlining procedures, hedging agreements and compliance with new Dutch derivatives regulations.
Chambers Europe and Global, the Netherlands, 2020

Strengths: The team receives praise from one client for being "always very detailed," with a "very good view of what the market is doing."

Notable structured finance practice with a strong focus on collateralised loan obligations. Acts for multinational investment banks and Dutch financial institutions on cross-border refinancing mandates. Enjoys a prominent role in international securitisation mandates, working alongside the firm's global network. Assists clients with warehouse financing and mortgage receivables financing.

Strengths: The team's service-minded style is recognised by clients, one extolling how the firm "really puts the interest of the clients first," before adding: "I was very impressed with the fact that the team always made time available for us." Work highlights Advised ING Bank on its partnership with RiverRock on a European direct lending strategy.
Chambers Global, the Netherlands, 2021

Banking and finance: Asset finance and structured finance
The team at Baker McKenzie is primarily focused on securitisation and structured finance, where the firm fields a dedicated and specialised team, along with a significant derivatives practice. Global securitisation head Philippe Steffens is highly specialised in securitisation, structured credit products and loan portfolio transactions and Corrine Schott focuses on derivatives. Recent work has included large-scale residential mortgage-backed securities transactions, collateralised loan obligation transactions, and restructuring of derivative swaps, as well as the drafting of documentation.
Legal 500, the Netherlands, 2020

Baker McKenzie is highly active in structured finance work, with the firm’s global head of securitisation, Philippe Steffens, leading the Dutch practice alongside regulatory specialist Corrine Schott. As such, the Dutch practice is highly active on cross-border matters that utilise the firm’s global footprint, in addition to a strong domestic practice. The firm is also experienced in loan portfolio transactions, in addition to its advice on securitisation deals across a wide variety of sectors. The team saw a notable arrival in late 2019 in the form of Tim Alferink, who joined from PwC Legal.
Legal 500, the Netherlands, 2021

• Dutch Bar Association (Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten) - Member
• Dutch Tax Advisers Association - Member