Banking and Finance Law
Bradley H. "Brad" Johnson
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2018 Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Brad Johnson is a partner in the Finance Group of Alston & Bird. Brad is a senior partner in the firm’s trust, agency and asset servicing practice, one of the largest corporate trust focused practices in the country.
Brad regularly represents financial institutions which provide corporate trust, custody, loan agency, reporting and administrative services in a wide variety of capital markets transactions, including transactions involving collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), project finance transactions and corporate and municipal bond transactions. His corporate trust experience includes the issuance of new capital market products, compliance with regulatory rules and statutes, litigation matters, the exercise of remedies in defaulted transactions, and the resolution of disputed transactions.
Brad is particularly active in representing indenture trustees in CDO/CLO and other debt transactions in connection with events of default and the exercise of remedies such as collateral liquidation and the enforcement of liens in secured transactions. In addition, over his career, he has represented virtually all types of participants in structured finance transactions, including issuers, underwriters, trustees, servicers and commercial paper conduits.
Overview
Charlotte, North Carolina
- The University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., graduated 1995
- Clemson University, B.S., graduated 1992
- North Carolina, North Carolina
- South Carolina, South Carolina
- South Carolina - Supreme Court
Charlotte, North Carolina
- North Carolina, North Carolina
- South Carolina, South Carolina
- The University of South Carolina School of Law, J.D., graduated 1995
- Clemson University, B.S., graduated 1992
- South Carolina - Supreme Court
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Banking and Finance Law
Additional Areas of Practice:
- Securitization and Structured Finance Law
News & Media
Additional Information
Case History
Transactions
- Advised Major Financial Institution in Domestic Wind Farm Financing
Represented major financial institution as administrative agent, collateral agent and depositary in the financing of the construction of a wind farm in the United States. Transactions of this type are valuable in providing financing alternatives for new and alternative energy providers. In addition, the transactions are structured to take advantage of favorable tax treatment for investments in alternative energy transactions of this type.
- Advised Indenture Trustee in respect of Derivatives provided by Lehman Brothers in CDO Transactions
Represented major financial institution as indenture trustee in connection with the termination of a credit default swap with Lehman Brothers. This representation presented complex and novel legal issues relating to the right of CDO vehicles and the related indenture trustee to both terminate credit default swaps with Lehman Brothers as a result of its bankruptcy and then subordinate any resulting termination payment to Lehman in favor of other secured creditors. These issues presented significant concerns for the securitization market, including whether the subordination provisions typically found in indentures relating to defaulted swap counterparties were enforceable.
- Advised Major Financial Institution in Cross-Border Project Finance Transaction
Represented major financial institution as administrative agent, collateral agent and intercreditor agent in the secured financing of the construction of a road project in Colombia. Transactions of this type are valuable to Latin American countries as they provide a means of financing for the improvement of infrastructure. These transactions present unique and complex legal issues given the cross-border nature of the transactions - there are collateral and financing documents governed by New York law and Colombian law.
- Advised Major Financial Institution in CDO Liquidation
Represented major financial institution as indenture trustee in the liquidation of over $1 billion of collateral for a collateralized debt obligation (CDO) transaction. Transactions of this type are significant, both from the amount of funds at stake as well as the winding up of transactions which suffered from the fall out of the financial crisis. From a legal perspective, effecting such a liquidation requires that particular care be given to addressing numerous complex legal requirements, including those contained in the underlying indenture governing the CDO transaction, as well as the requirements of The Securities Act of 1933 and The Uniform Commercial Code of the State of New York UCC.
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