White & Case Leads Record-Setting Canadian Debt Offering

New York, June 25, 2008 ... For the second time this year, global law firm White & Case LLP represented Canada Housing Trust and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) in a record-breaking deal involving  the sale of $12.5 billion in government-backed Canada Mortgage Bonds to both foreign and domestic buyers.  The deal, which comes on the heels of a similar transaction acted on by White & Case for Canada Housing Trust and CMHC in March and valued at $11 billion, marks the largest bond issue in Canadian history and one of the largest of AAA-rated bonds by an entity other than a US government-related issuer.   

Canada Mortgage Bonds are backed by a pool of Canadian residential mortgage loans originated by Canadian banks.  Timely payment of principal and interest is guaranteed by CMHC.  White & Case advised both Canada Housing Trust as issuer and CMHC as guarantor of the offering.

"The CMHC guarantee carries the full faith and credit of Canada," said White & Case partner Kevin Keogh, who led the team working on the deal.  "That, together with the relatively shorter maturities of the Canada Mortgage Bonds, makes them distinctly different from residential mortgage securities backed by US government agencies." 

In addition to Keogh, the White & Case team comprised associate Terry O'Brien in the Securities Practice, along with partner Sang Ji and associate Gerret Baur in the Tax Practice, all based in New York.
 
Since 2006, White & Case has represented Canada Housing Trust and CMHC in the issuance of more than $80 billion of Canada Mortgage Bonds. A substantial portion of these bonds are sold to US institutional investors under Rule 144A.

Ranked as one of the top 10 practices worldwide in Bloomberg's 2007 Global Legal Advisor League Tables, White & Case has more than 275 lawyers in its global Capital Markets/Securities Practice, including more than 75 Capital Markets/Securities Practice lawyers in New York alone.  In addition to Bloomberg, the group is recognized as a global market leader by such other legal publications as Chambers USA 2008, IFLR 1000, Legal 500 UK and PLC Which Lawyer.
 
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