For all but the most credit-worthy companies, it is more efficient to finance large pools of assets that have predictable behavioral characteristics through non-standard arrangements. These off-balance sheet structures allow credit exposures to be tailored to investor risk, asset class, and an ever-increasing diversity of idiosyncratic needs on the part of issuers and investors. The discipline that addresses these structures, which is called structured finance or securitization, is almost twenty years old, and has become a pervasive element of modern financial management. Yet, it has not been systematically covered in a textbook designed for both the school and workplace contexts. The Elements of Structured Finance, the text version of a program of instruction in structured finance that the authors have offered at NYU and Hong Kong University, as well as in private training programs and consultancies, fills this void spectacularly. Raynes and Rutledge, two very highly regarded teachers and consultants in the field, bring clarity and logic to an inherently complex and frightening area of finance, using their extensive experience working with many of the top Wall Street securities houses. The book begins with the relatively simple concepts of static valuation models and the benchmark pool, and takes the reader through the more esoteric features of dynamic risk analysis, thus serving as both an introduction for the beginner and a helpful reference for the professional. In addition to participants in structured finance programs, this book will appeal to structured finance analysts and managers at banks, asset management companies, insurance companies, and a wide variety of other corporations.

The Analysis of Structured Securities presents the first intellectually defensible framework for systematic assessment of the credit quality of structured securities.

It begins with a detailed description and critique of methods used to rate asset-backed securities, collateralized debt obligations and asset-backed commercial paper. The book then proposes a single replacement paradigm capable of granular, dynamic results. It offers extensive guidance on using numerical methods in cash flow modeling, as well as a groundbreaking section on trigger optimization. Casework on applying the method to automobile ABS, CDOs-of-ABS and aircraft-lease securitizations is also presented.

This book is essential reading for practitioners who seek higher precision, efficiency and control in managing their structured exposures.

BASIC LEGAL DRAFTING offers down-to-earth instruction on how to draft well-organized and clearly articulated legal documents. A culmination of twenty-five years of teaching in the highly regarded Legal Drafting Program at the University of Florida College of Law, the book is designed to be used as a resource for law students and practicing attorneys, as well as a textbook for drafting classes. The text is particularly strong in its discussions of how to organize a document, often the most difficult task facing a drafter and typically under-addressed in other drafting manuals. Equally useful are the very concrete recommendations on how to articulate the language of a document in order to achieve clarity and precision. The text helpfully distinguishes traditional drafting principles from common conventions and stylistic preferences. The litigation chapter addresses complaints, answers and motions. Useful examples range from a simple negligence complaint to a complex statutory-based multi-count complaint and appropriate responses. The contracts chapter includes an extensive discussion, with examples, on how to create for any contract a logical, coherent framework that underlines the drafter's (and presumably the client's) intentions. The chapter addresses in detail the articulation of particular provisions, including definitions, termination and exculpatory provisions. Its comprehensive discussion of how to recognize and avoid various types of ambiguity will prove useful beyond the contract drafting context. The legislation chapter identifies common legislative protocols and applies, within those protocols, many of the organization and articulation principles set out in the contracts chapter. While the text uses litigation documents, contracts and legislation as the bases for its discussions, Basic Legal Drafting offers practical, realistic advice and instructions that will be useful to the drafter of any type of legal document.