Thomas Y. Hiner

Tom is a versatile lawyer with broad corporate finance experience, having represented financial institutions for over 32 years in structured finance, asset-based finance, investments in and financing of emerging assets and asset securitization transactions.

Bespoke transactions require creativity in addition to technical know-how. Tom’s career has been highlighted by innovative transactions and esoteric and novel asset-based financings based in a deep-rooted background in the fundamentals of traditional structured finance, capital markets, and real estate finance and asset securitization.

Clients know that an effective structured finance lawyer must understand how the financing fits within the larger context of the client’s overall business objectives, and they appreciate Tom’s transaction experience because it consists of financings that engage an entire business. Tom frequently works side by side with lawyers from our M&A, business lending, private equity, tax and bankruptcy teams in structuring and executing transactions, providing clients with a comprehensive approach to their structured finance transactions in a complex and constantly changing market. According to Chambers USA, 2021, Tom’s clients say “he is a leading expert in the MSR excess servicing space who has served us well in timeliness of his response, the depth of his understanding and in mitigating our risk through legal document negotiations.”

In recent years, Tom has emerged as a notable figure in investments in and financing mortgage servicing rights and contract receivables. The structures range from revolving loans to master securitization trusts that combine revolving variable funding notes with term asset-backed securities placed with institutional investors.

Tom was instrumental in several of the leading transactions following the 2008 financial crisis, and in structured investments in distressed companies, and comprehensive debt restructuring transactions for companies in distress as a result of the devastating market dislocations in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tom also led numerous transactions by value seeking investors in 2020 and 2021, many involving new takes on structuring the equity and debt components of these investments. Tom has also been deeply involved in the development of structures for emerging assets such as securitization of revolving warehouse lines of credit, providing capital relief for lenders and an opportunity for private equity investors to participate in this segment of the asset-based debt market; securitization of triple net leases to facilitate repurposing of commercial properties for new economy purposes; and securitization of receivables generated in the energy industry, working closely with our lawyers in Houston.

Tom serves as a co-head of the firm’s Corporate Team, with oversight not only of our structured finance and securitization practice, but also M&A, private equity, capital markets and other corporate practice areas.

Relevant Experience

• Represents servicers of mortgage loans with respect to acquisitions and sales of servicing rights, and financing servicing advance receivables and servicing rights both through structured facilities (including whole-business style master trust securitizations) and in traditional revolving lines of credit.
• Represents underwriters, lenders and syndicated lender agents on a variety of asset-based loans, high yield debt offerings, including development of programs for issuance of securitized interests in mortgage servicing rights and excess servicing spreads.
• Represents financial center banks and hedge fund investors in asset acquisitions, including design and implementation of structured asset-backed components of acquisition financing packages, representing sellers, lenders, buyers and borrowers.
• Represents sponsors and placement agents in issuances of term and revolving asset-backed securities collateralized by servicer advance receivables in over 70 transactions for this unique asset type since 2001.