Joseph B. Buonanno

Throughout a bank and law firm career spanning more than three decades, Joe has guided financial institutions, utilities and other companies in a wide range of industries, helping them manage change, adapt to market developments and achieve strategic objectives. Joe’s work has involved trillions of dollars in financial assets and has included derivatives, commodities, risk management, capital markets, securities, finance, real estate, housing, asset securitization, structuring, corporate governance, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, insurance,  commercial transactions, regulatory affairs, litigation, environmental and insolvency. As a result of that work, Joe has helped clients to serve their customers and grow their businesses while maximizing profitability, mitigating losses, allocating capital and managing other resources.

• Debt Transactions: Managed an extensive array of borrowings totaling in the trillions of dollars (and the equivalent amounts of other currencies), including secured and unsecured credit facilities, leveraged leases and project financings as well as CP, MTNs, bonds and other capital markets transactions.
• Equity Securities: Represented issuers, underwriters and others in the negotiation of public and private, common and preferred stock offerings and convertible note sales as well as share repurchase programs, forward share distributions, stock options and other equity capital transactions.
• Governance and Strategy: Advised on tender offers, mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures and other strategic alliances and on obtaining the related debt and equity financing and all board and other approvals.

• Risk Management: Created and implemented risk management programs, provided counsel on the contractual and international regulatory aspects of swaps, futures, options and other derivatives as well as trading platforms and clearinghouses, advised on the use of forward contracts to manage environmental allowances and to trade in and control production factors, arranged for coverage under insurance policies and reinsurance treaties and managed risk by disposing of financial and other assets, resolving troubled debt and restructuring business activities.
• Asset Securitization: Designed the currently-issued synthetic, insurance-linked (cat bond) and credit risk transfer securities for residential mortgage loans, structured mortgage- and other asset-backed securities, produced the leading CLO structure for obligations of restaurant, gas station, automobile dealership, retail shopping place and other franchise or chain store operators and handled sale, servicing, financing and other transactions for a variety of financial assets.
• Real Estate and Housing: Guided lenders, developers and property owners in acquisition, construction and take-out financing for multifamily, office, hotel, retail, healthcare, warehousing, manufacturing, renewable energy generation and other types of commercial real estate, and advised clients on single-family rental investments, installment sale agreements and lease-to-own programs.
• Environmental: Created regulatory and supervisory procedures to promote sustainable and ecological business practices, and advised on carbon credit trading programs, renewable energy projects and biofuel transactions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and minimize the environmental impact of business operations.
• Regulatory Affairs: Practiced before government agencies and other bodies, met with legislators, regulators and others, published legal opinion pieces, integrated business and legal procedures, fashioned business arrangements to minimize regulation and obtain other benefits and played a leading role in compliance initiatives, including the production of compliance manuals, the provision of employee compliance training and the prosecution of regulatory filings to comment on government initiatives and procure necessary government approvals.
• Litigation and Insolvency: Collaborated with litigators and other attorneys in the management of investigations, enforcement actions, defense litigation, asset recoveries and other proceedings involving complex financial products, trading activities and related transactions, and additionally, participated with bankruptcy lawyers in counseling debtors and creditors in the insolvencies of depository institutions, insurance companies, broker-dealers, mortgage lenders and other obligors, including in reconstructing records of title to hundreds of below-market leasehold interests in multiple states for purposes of enabling a bankrupt department store operator to obtain and grant mortgages securing its reorganization plan financing.

• Named a Notable Practitioner for Capital Markets: Derivatives and Financial Services Regulatory, IFLR1000, 2019, 2024
• Selected as a Best Lawyer for Derivatives Law, North Carolina, Best Lawyers in America, 2007-present
• Listed in Who's Who of International Lawyers for Capital Markets, 2007-present
• Named among the Top 100 Corporate Lawyers in North Carolina by The American Society of Legal Advocates, 2013-present

• Firm Member, International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA)
• Firm Member, The Loan Syndications and Trading Association, Inc. (LSTA)
• Firm Member, Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA)
• Firm Member, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)
• Firm Member, Structured Finance Industry Group (SFIG)
• Member, American Bar Association (ABA)
• Member, Association of the Bar of the City of New York (NYC Bar)
• Member, District of Columbia Bar Association (DCBA)
• Member, Mecklenburg County Bar Association (MCB)
• Member, New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)
• Member, North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA)