Edmund Parker

Practice Areas

Edmund "Ed" Parker covers all aspects of derivatives at the highest levels. He has been nominated as Global Derivatives Lawyer of the Year, a reflection of his technical excellence in this field.

He is a trusted thought leader for both clients and the profession, writing extensively on derivatives matters. Under his stewardship, the team was declared Global Law Firm of the Year – Overall at the GlobalCapital Derivatives Awards. The practice was previously declared European Law Firm of the Year – Transaction; and Americas Law Firm of the Year – Overall. The practice was also commended in the “Complexity and Scale” category of the FT Innovative Lawyers Report: Europe.

Ed advises on complex OTC and structured credit, equity, fx and commodity derivatives, as well as insurance and pensions-linked derivative structures. He advises on distressed derivatives, together with our litigators and insolvency colleagues; as well as advising on central clearing issues and derivatives regulation, together with our regulatory team. He has notable experience in global initial margin regulation projects related to EMIR and other regimes, and large projects driven by regulation.

Consistently ranked as a key individual and receiving strong market praise from the legal directories, the most recent sources say that he is "very responsive and diligent, has good attention to detail, and is great to deal with." He is well known for his derivatives expertise and is frequently instructed on high-profile matters.” (Chambers UK) and a “high profile partner” (Chambers Global). He “enjoys a reputation as one of the City's leading lawyers. Clients appreciate his "unrivalled breadth and depth of knowledge across all asset classes," and regard him as one of the lawyers who knows the most about derivatives - he wrote the book on them."” (Chambers UK). Ed is also described as "very user-friendly and very easy to deal with," with the same source adding that "he really knows his stuff" (Chambers UK) and is "a leader in his field" (Legal 500). Legal 500, quoted market sources describing the Derivatives and Structured Products practice as "A fantastic alternative to the Magic Circle"; and that his practice "has its finger on the pulse with ISDA and transatlantic regulatory work"; and provides "military-style turnaround, good value and a deep bench". Clients "use his encyclopaedic knowledge of derivatives and general banking law to sound new ideas and concepts” (Chambers UK).

Ed has written extensively on derivatives matters. He is the industry’s most widely published lawyer on the subject, with his views regularly sought by the press and on television. His written works include an acclaimed five books derivatives books. Two of these are as sole author: Credit Derivatives: Documenting and Understanding Credit Derivative Products, published in 2007; and Credit Derivatives: Understanding and Working with the 2014 ISDA Credit Derivatives Definitions, published in 2017. He was sole editor of Equity Derivatives: Documenting and Understanding Equity Derivative Products, which published in 2009. He was co-editor Commodity Derivatives: Documenting and Understanding Commodity Derivative Products, which published in 2010; and of Practical Derivatives: A Transactional Approach, which published in 2017; and contributed multiple chapters to each of the edited books. Ed is fluent in Spanish and is also a co-head of the firm’s India practice.