Sovereigns overview

White & Case has been trusted to navigate complex sovereign matters for more than 100 years, managing some of the world's most consequential legal and financial dealings. Our on-the-ground experience, cross-border integration and deep bench of local, US and English-qualified lawyers support clients in any one market or across many.

Our offering

Trusted sovereign advisory firm

Our full-service offering is guided by generations of experience representing sovereigns and their counterparts.
We provide informed insights into the most effective strategy for every unique situation, client and case.
We build on a proven track record and an extensive global client base.
Our learnings, collected through successful sovereign client relationships, often span multiple decades.

Global reach

Our industry-leading legal teams are embedded around the world, ensuring client confidence in singular markets and across many.
A broad client base ensures that we successfully translate creative solutions from one region to fit the realities of another.

Nuanced perspective

Sovereign matters are partner-led, and supported by a team of highly experienced and efficient lawyers.
Tapping into a global network of professionals in constant communication, White & Case addresses each matter with the most strategic and tailored approach.

Complex and consequential matters

Debt management and restructuring

White & Case has advised on virtually every major sovereign debt restructuring of the last 20 years. Recent examples include advising Ukraine and the Republics of Zambia, Suriname and Mozambique on their sovereign debt restructurings, and Azerbaijan on the state-supported restructuring of the country's largest systemic bank. On the creditor side, highlights include representing the major bondholder groups in the sovereign debt restructurings of Argentina, Ecuador, Greece and six Argentine provinces, and advising the major bondholder groups in the debt restructuring of Sri Lanka and Lebanon.

Funding: Banking and capital markets

We have advised more than 30 sovereigns on landmark issuances and loans. For example, we have advised on transactions for sovereigns that include Angola, Cameroon, Gabon, Germany, Ghana, Israel, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Montenegro, Nigeria, Peru, Poland, Qatar, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia and South Africa.

International arbitration and litigation

Having worked on more than 100 investor-state arbitrations for dozens of state clients, White & Case effectively navigates the political sensitivity that can accompany such disputes. Our international arbitration practice works in multiple jurisdictions and languages, and in every major arbitral forum. Our commercial litigators represent clients in all stages of domestic and international disputes, in established and emerging markets. Both teams regularly collaborate with our relevant practice and industry professionals, to provide advice tailored to the specific dispute.

International trade

White & Case has represented Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Korea, Japan and the Philippines on cases involving treaty obligations related to trade remedies, domestic regulation, domestic taxation, agricultural tariffs and general principles of non-discrimination.

Energy, infrastructure and project finance

White & Case helps governments maximize their returns from infrastructure and other development projects. Recently this included representing the senior lenders in the project ﬁnancing of the approximately US$3 billion São Paulo Metro Line 6 in Brazil—the ﬁrst-ever limited recourse ﬁnancing of an infrastructure PPP project in Brazil by BNDES, the country's national development bank. As of mid-2024, it was the largest PPP project under construction in Latin America.

Privatization and legal reform

We have completed more than 100 privatization transactions around the world, helping to establish many of the fundamental principles of privatizations through drafting legislation, creating regulatory frameworks and restructuring state-owned enterprises and industries. Examples include Poland's mass privatization program and the liberalization of the Kingdom of Bahrain's telecommunications industry.

Public-private partnerships (PPPs)

The Firm has assisted many sovereigns around the world with PPPs. For example, we represented the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in connection with a 25-year concession granted to a private sector contractor to expand, refurbish and operate the Queen Alia International Airport in Amman. This was the first limited recourse airport financing in the region and is one of the largest PPP infrastructure projects in the region.

Sovereign wealth funds

Sovereign wealth funds navigate a complex legal and regulatory landscape when it comes to investments and operations. White & Case provides full-service, tailored advice to meet their unique needs and objectives, including as to confidentiality. We cover areas such as investment execution, fund structuring, all corporate and finance transactions, restructuring issues, M&A transactions, project financings, tax structuring, compliance with international regulations, dispute resolution and risk management, and legislative change.