Chambers USA"Jon Van Gorp is a really smart guy who is very business-minded and good to work with."
"His key quality is the combination of deep expertise, responsiveness and problem solving."
"Jon Van Gorp is ‘an encyclopedia of securitization knowledge’" and comes up with "creative ways to accomplish the objectives."
Overview
Jon Van Gorp is chair of Mayer Brown. He has served on the firm’s Management Committee since 2017 and previously served as a co-leader of the Banking & Finance, Capital Markets and Structured Finance practices. He has practiced continuously at Mayer Brown for more than 25 years.
Called by a client “the godfather in mortgage-backed securities” and “the most creative problem solver I ever found,” Jon helps clients analyze their current situations and propose unique yet practical solutions. His reputation for innovation, recognized by the Financial Times, is demonstrated by his integral role in many first-of-their-kind transactions, including:
- The first Non-Performing Loan re-REMIC securitization
- The first offshore public company established to own mortgage-servicing rights
- The first publicly offered CDO of mezzanine MBS debt
- The first issuance of bank debt guaranteed by Farmer Mac
- The first securitization of Mexican mortgage loans funded in the US capital markets
- The first auto receivables shelf registration statement to go effective under Regulation AB
- The first synthetic transfer of risk related to a portfolio of consumer auto leases
- The first synthetic captive auto finance company funded and administered by an independent commercial bank
- The first auto-leveraged lease transaction funded with asset-backed debt
Jon’s experience highlights his versatility and flexibility. The broad range of his work includes public and private securities offerings, private investment funds, mergers and acquisitions, assets sales, structured finance transactions, leveraged leases, derivatives, synthetic risk-transfer programs, litigation/workouts/restructurings, government relations/lobbying and financial guaranty insurance. He develops novel approaches to funding difficult-to-finance assets, such as mortgage servicing-rights and nonperforming mortgage loans, distressed ABS and MBS, residential homes and single-family rental properties, and mortgage servicing advances.
Jon’s clients have included Assured Guaranty, The Blackstone Group, The Carrington Companies, Canada Pension Plan, HSBC, Opendoor and Redwood Trust, among many others.
Because of his innovative management philosophy as chair of Mayer Brown, Jon garners headlines and generates media interest across the legal industry. His leadership philosophy, profiled in Reuters’ "Beyond Cold Hard Cash, Warm Fuzzies Are the Way to a Lawyer's Heart, Firm Chair Says" and Law360’s "Mayer Brown Chair On Why Law Leaders Need to Listen More," centers on fostering a collaborative work culture. The two podcasts he hosts for firm lawyers and staff, Tools of the Trade and The Monthly Check-in, have helped instill a sense of belonging and purpose among colleagues across the organization.
Drawing inspiration and lessons from his lifelong love of reading, Jon frequently publishes book reviews in the American Lawyer and was showcased in the celebratory 200th episode of the American Lawyer’s “Legal Speak” podcast, where he was touted as a fellow podcaster. Because of his broad base of experience and reputation, Jon frequently provides insight and analysis on issues related to the finance and banking industries in top-tier media, including the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Dow Jones Newswires, the Financial Times, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Areas of Focus
Spoken Languages
- English
Experience
Structured, negotiated and documented:
- The purchase or sale of several large mortgage-loan origination, servicing and asset management platforms; including two purchases from bankrupt sellers.
- Multiple mortgage loan securitization transactions and structured warehouse facilities issuing both public and private securities, including REMIC and non-REMIC structures for commercial and residential mortgage loans, home-equity lines of credit, fix-and-flip loans, home equity loans and nonperforming loans.
- Multiple financing facilities for owners of residential homes.
- Multiple one-off and flow asset purchase arrangements for mortgage loans, mortgage servicing rights, auto loans, insurance policies, and consumer finance origination and servicing platforms, ranging in size up to $55 billion.
- Multiple public auto loan and auto lease term securitization transactions, including transactions with asset-backed derivative instruments and financial guaranty insurance.
- Several cross-border mortgage-loan securitization transactions, including transactions issuing publicly registered asset-backed securities.
- Multiple repurchase agreements and securities-lending agreements for ABS, MBS and mortgage loans.
- Asset-backed interest rate and currency swap transactions, including transactions conforming with criteria for ratings-dependent swaps.
- Multiple market value swaps for mortgage loan-backed and securities-backed funding vehicles.
- Credit derivatives for a large monoline insurance company.
During the Great Recession, Jon led a consortium of independent mortgage servicers in a successful effort to obtain government support for mortgage servicing advance funding facilities.
Over the years, Jon has also prepared multiple Regulation AB-compliant shelf registration statements for auto receivables, mortgage loans and home equity loans, including registrations by foreign issuers.
Perspectives
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December 282022
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November 2022
EU Securitisation Regulation and the Australian Market
Australian Securitisation Journal -
September 052022
Events
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April 292021
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November 16 – 172020
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October 222020
News
Education
Calvin College, BA
Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, JD, cum laude
Staff Editor, The International Lawyer
Admissions
- Illinois
- New York
- Texas
- Utah
- Consistently ranked as an outstanding lawyer by Chambers USA, Chambers Global, Legal 500 and IFLR1000 each year since becoming a partner.
- One of only four lawyers ranked Band 1 in Chambers USA for Capital Markets: RMBS (Nationwide) in 2022.
- One of only 12 lawyers in Legal 500’s inaugural list of Hall of Fame lawyers for Structured Finance in the US.