Mr Rodrigo Zepeda
Mobile:
Email:
+UK (0)7592457373
rodrigo@zepeda.co.uk
Nationality: British
Languages: Spanish
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
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Experience and in-depth knowledge of financial traded products such as financial and commodity derivatives, forwards,
futures, options, FX, swaps, and relevant documentation such as ISDA, GMRAs, and GMSLAs.
Comprehensive knowledge of OTC derivatives master documentation, 1992 and 2002 ISDA Master Agreements,
Confirmations, Credit Support Annexes, Valuation and Close-Out Mechanics, and Give-Up Agreements.
In-depth knowledge of financial services compliance, regulatory and risk issues, and FSA rules and European legislation.
Extensive experience of full-cycle, high-worth commercial contracts negotiation, drafting and management.
Ability to rapidly engage a strong understanding of complex fact scenarios, with clear thinking in difficult circumstances
and an ability to draft and produce a very broad range of relevant legal documentation as the circumstances dictate.
Proven ability to build and maintain effective relationships with firm clients and stakeholders across all levels of seniority.
EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS
Sep 2012 – Nov 2012
Certificate in Investments (Derivatives), Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment
(1) FSA Financial Regulation and Compliance Module. Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the UK regulatory
environment, FSA regulatory compliance requirements; the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000; money laundering and
market abuse requirements; and the FSA Conduct of Business Sourcebook (COBS) and Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS).
(2) Financial and Commodity Derivatives Module. Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of OTC and Exchange-Traded
derivatives and underlying markets; futures, options, forwards, swaps and credit derivatives; clearing, and settlement
mechanics; collateral and margin requirements; and managing OTC credit event life cycle documentation.
Apr 2009 – Nov 2009
The New York State Bar Examination, NY State Board of Law Examiners (US Attorney)
Comprehensive knowledge of substantive and procedural New York State law and US multi State law, including Agency and
Partnership; Commercial Paper; Conflict of Laws; Constitutional Law; Corporations; Domestic Relations; New York Civil
Practice; Secured and Securities Transactions; US Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure; and the Uniform Commercial Code.
Jan 2009 – Mar 2009
US Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, National College Bar Examiners
Professional working knowledge of the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Code
of Judicial Conduct; multistate ethical and disciplinary rules; and controlling multi-state and federal constitutional decisions.
Feb 2006 – Sep 2006
International Practice Diploma in International Competition Law, The College of Law
Advanced professional training in the analysis and drafting of anti-competitive horizontal and vertical agreements;
monopolisation; abuse of dominant positions; and enforcement of international and European competition and regimes.
Feb 2005 – Sep 2005
International Practice Diploma in International Mergers/Acquisitions, The College of Law
Advanced professional training in the analysis, structuring and drafting of international share acquisition and business sale
transactions and documentation; M&A risk, liability, due diligence, warranty, indemnity, and TUPE requirements.
Sep 2002 – Sep 2003
LLM Masters (International Business and Finance Law), London Metropolitan University
Advanced professional study of OTC and derivatives law and ISDA documentation; financial markets and hedge funds
regulation; business aspects of international banking and finance law and regulation; international project financing and
documentation; syndicated loan lending and documentation; and negotiation/drafting of international commercial contracts.
Jun 2001 – Nov 2001
International Capital Markets Qualification, The Securities & Investment Institute
(1) International Capital Markets Module; (2) International Fixed Interest and Bond Markets Module; (3) International Equity Markets
Module. Comprehensive knowledge of financial instruments and documentation including: bonds; warrants; convertibles;
OTC derivative instruments; ISDA documentation; foreign exchange and hedging transactions; Contracts for Difference; and
equity/debt financing (Floating Rate Notes, Management Buy Outs, Medium Term Note programmes; Mezzanine Finance).
Aug 1998 – Jul 1999
Bar Vocational Course (BVC), Professional Legal Studies Centre, Cardiff University
Barrister's professional vocational training comprising advanced company law; case drafting and preparation; civil and criminal
law, procedure, litigation and remedies; conferencing and negotiation skills; advocacy; law of evidence; and opinion writing.
Sep 1995 – Jun 1998
LLB (Hons) Law, Cardiff Faculty of Law, Cardiff University
Studies included: company law; contracts; criminal justice; criminal law; dissertation module (a comparative analysis of the
legal framework governing organ transplantation in the UK and Japan); equity and trusts; European law; international trade
law; land law; medical ethics; professional legal research skills; public international law; public law; and torts.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rodrigozepeda
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EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Jan 2010 – Aug 2012
Legal Consultant, Private Legal Consulting Business
 Set up and developed a successful legal consulting business with a large number of domestic and international clients.
 Provided comprehensive legal consulting and mentoring services in a range of legal fields on a 24/7 operational basis.
 Legal research areas covered included OTC derivatives and ISDA documentation; regulatory KYC and compliance
matters; Anti-Money Laundering; regulatory updates (e.g. Basel III Accord; Dodd-Franck; EMIR; FATCA; MiFID;);
commercial contracts; competition law; construction and energy; corporate and commercial; European law; insolvency;
Intellectual Property; international trade and investment law; Private Finance Initiative and procurement; and taxation.
 Devised and formulated innovative marketing initiatives and new business development strategies in order to build up a
larger and diverse client base, and to continually provide added-value consulting services.
Feb 2008 – Nov 2008 Commercial Contracts Manager, quietrevolution™ Limited, London
 Responsible for analysing, negotiating, and drafting a broad range of commercial agreements, including construction,
supplier, Intellectual Property, non-disclosure, manufacturing, maintenance, and Service Level agreements.
 Commercially negotiated and managed sale and installation contracts for over 70 patented vertical axis wind turbine
commercial installations worth £millions in value through to post-completion, and drafted international tender bids.
 Increased company long-term revenue through the creation and drafting of new turbine maintenance agreements.
 Identified and managed commercial and contractual risks, adhered to KPIs, and managed an electronic contract database.
 Attended site meetings, reviewed and certifying bills of quantities and payment applications, negotiated compensation
events, dealt with variations and change orders, and negotiated and secured collateral warranties and performance bonds.
 Developed and maintained strong positive working relationships with external clients, sub-contractors and suppliers.
Dec 2007 – Jan 2008
Equity Support (temporary), Oriel Securities Limited, London
 Assisted the equities corporate research department in producing daily and weekly equities bulletins and reports.
 Produced company reports and equity sector report manuals sourcing Thomson DataStream, verified and updated
internal equities databases and links with financial statistics, and managed SharePoint company listings data.
Jul 2007 – Nov 2007
Legal Assistant, Fulbright & Jaworski International LLP, London
 Provided transactional assistance to Christopher Clement-Davies, one of the world's leading project finance lawyers and
assisted in producing and reviewing, oil and gas, mergers and acquisitions, and international finance agreements.
 Provided broad litigation support to a senior associate and his litigation team in respect of the firm acting for a global
security and cash handling business in an investigation conducted with a financial regulator into official declarations.
 Provided legal transactional and paralegal support to visiting overseas attorneys as well as liaising with, and assisting in, the
compilation and publication of the firm's world renowned Annual Litigation Trends Survey.
Feb 2007 – Nov 2007 Legal Assistant, Allen & Overy LLP, London
 Managed and supervised comprehensive partner and fee earner legal and documentation assistance at weekends.
 Created and amending a variety of legal, banking and projects documentation, client and competitive pitches and
presentations, complex Visio structure charts, and financial reporting spreadsheets from various legal departments.
 Supervised OfficeTiger international outsourcing processes, employees, and quality control checks in Chennai, lndia.
Apr 2007 – Jun 2007
Legal Assistant, Clifford Chance LLP, London
 Provided extensive creation, amendment and turnover of a wide variety of complex corporate, banking and capital
markets legal agreements and loan documentation within various legal departments.
 Acquired significant professional training and expertise in all technical aspects of creating and managing a very diverse
range of large and complex legal documentation including ISDA documentation; sale and purchase agreements; facility
agreements; loan market agreements; syndicated loan facility agreements; and complex client marketing bids and pitches.
Jan 2007 – Mar 2007
Senior Executive Assistant, Aon UK, London
 Provided short-term Executive Personal Assistant support to the Chairman of Property & Casualty (Americas) Insurance
in all aspects of global insurance and re-insurance client work, insurance research and business development.
 Duties included collating and preparing business reports, insurance mudmaps, financial viability statistics, drafting client
letters and correspondence, and developing domestic and international client pitches and marketing materials.
 Administrative duties involved prioritisation of workloads, organising client meetings, events and brokerage conferences.
Sep 2006 – Nov 2006
Legal Assistant, Hogan & Hartson LLP, London
 Provided short-term Executive Personal Assistant support to the Managing Partner of a premier US law firm.
 Undertook considerable paralegal research, due diligence and business development support within the oil and gas sector.
 Undertook and arranged detailed business developments initiatives, extensive travel arrangements, marketing events,
client briefings, and aided in the sponsoring and preparation of firm attendance at international conferences.
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EMPLOYMENT HISTORY (continued)
Nov 2005 – Apr 2006
Legal Assistant, SJ Berwin LLP, London
 Provided Executive Personal Assistant support to the Managing Partner of the Planning & Environment department.
 Delivered transactional and administrative support comprised of bringing client, billing, research and personal files up-todate; prioritising client, events and trusteeship workloads; intensive liaison with senior board-level public contacts in
airports, councils, and ports; client due diligence research; and planning legal and legislative research.
 Provided professional support within the corporate finance department comprising creation and amendment of corporate
precedents; financial spreadsheets; and Loan Market Association syndicated and transactional documentation.
Apr 2004 – Dec 2004
Legal Assistant, Clifford Chance LLP, London
 Provided partner and fee earner assistance for a wide range of legal work including transactional, administrative and
research work within the Banking & Finance, Derivatives, and Insolvency departments.
 Aided in the preparation of banking and syndications documentation, ISDA agreements, Credit Support Annexes,
confirmations and collateralisation documentation, derivatives know-how research, and signings and closings work.
Jan 2004 – Mar 2004
Legal Assistant, Wedlake Bell Solicitors, London
 Delivered paralegal and transactional support within the Commercial Property department by undertaking client title
searches; general due diligence property work; and telephone and online Companies House and Land Registry searches.
 Aided in the drafting, preparation and review of commercial property standard enquiries, as well as wide assistance in
preparing, reviewing and amending leases and assignments contracts on behalf of fee earners.
Aug 2003 – Sep 2004
Legal and Financial Researcher, Deveraux and Deloitte Consulting, Nottingham
 Provided independent consulting research for a range of financial, legal, corporate and academic research briefs.
 Research consisted of providing research and legal analysis of questions relating to methods of international finance,
directors' corporate fiduciary duties; ISDA documentation (1987, 1992 and 2002 ISDA Master Agreements, 2000
Definitions); and repurchase and securitization methods including analysis of Global Master Repurchase Agreements.
May 2000 – Feb 2002 Paralegal and Transactional Assistant, Allen & Overy LLP, London
 Acquired in-depth working knowledge and experience in drafting and reviewing a wide range of derivatives, ISDA, and
financing transactional documentation in the Banking & Finance, Capital Markets and Project Finance departments.
 Extensive experience gained in document management processes; due diligence and data room administration procedures;
updating and amending know-how documentation; creating and administering bible and precedent collections and
databases; document proofing and indexing, and Companies House, Land Registry and Insolvency official searches.
Mar 2000 – May 2000 Capital Legal Associates, London
 Achieved excellent feedback in a range of demanding paralegal, legal secretarial, and document production specialist
temporary assignments at premier City firms (Chase Manhattan; Fishburn Morgan Cole; Forsters; Shearman & Sterling).
 Wide and broad-ranging exposure to the legal and financial systems, resources and working practices of a range of City
firms, and considerable experience gained in dealing with challenging clients and meeting demanding client expectations.
Nov 1999 – Feb 2000
Communications Assistant, Hackney Borough Council Education Department, London
 Provided executive support to the Head of Communications and assisted in the design and implementation of a new
departmental restructuring plan, deployment of a new communications network, and internal departmental intranet.
 Liaised with Heads of Department, supported the management team, attended inter-departmental meetings, researched
educational plans and statistics, and provided advanced IT support and designed and maintained the intranet.
Aug 1999 – Oct 1999
Legal Assistant, Hugh James Ford Simey Solicitors, Wales
 Delivered broad paralegal, research and drafting support to solicitors within the personal injury, contracts, commercial
and property departments, as well as general legal administration and case handling assistance.
 Responsible for researching personal injury quantum reports, preparing short-form personal injury notes and opinions,
and acquired expertise in researching and preparing corporate precedents and annotated guidance notes.
SOFTWARE AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SKILLS
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Expert professional training in legal Document Production Specialist skills, methods, and applications.
Achieved the RSA Word Processing Qualification (Stages 1 & 2 Distinctions) and expert professional training in the use
of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Project, Publisher, Outlook, Visio and Desk Top Publishing packages.
Professional training in use of LANDesk IT support and legal support packages including Carpe Diem; DeltaView; Docs
Open; Elite; I-Manage; Interwoven; InterAction; Laserforms; Lotus Notes; Hummingbird DM; and OmniPage Pro.
Touch typing approximately 70 (words per minute) including extensive experience in audio and digital software dictation.
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JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS
1 October 2013
Enhancing Islamic Finance through Risk Benchmarking
Capco Journal of Financial Transformation (Issue 38)(14,000 words).
This article argues that the development of a new specialist "risk benchmarking framework" for public and private Islamic
BFIs operating regionally (excluding central banks), is the first and necessary step towards empirically proving this claim of
Islamic superiority right. Furthermore it is submitted that the development of a collaborative risk benchmarking framework
for Western and Islamic banks and financial institutions would contribute to the enhancement of Islamic finance by offering
three significant advantages. These include: (i) contributing to enhancing the legitimacy of Islamic finance; (ii) enhancing risk
management systems and practices in Islamic BFIs; and (iii) affording realistic opportunities for the offering of new Shari'ah
compliant Islamic finance products. This paper will therefore provide a high level analysis of the theoretical framework within
which the new Islamic finance risk benchmarking could operate in practice.
5 July 2013
The ISDA Master Agreement 2012: A Missed Opportunity?
Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation (Issue 8) (10,000 words).
This article provides an overview of the operating provisions and negotiating complexity of the 1992 and 2002 ISDA Master
Agreements, as well as a critical analysis of legal developments affecting the ISDA Master Agreement framework. In principle
it argues these accrued ISDA Master Agreement complexities, combined with recent legal developments, substantiate the need
for simplification, streamlining, increased efficiencies and reduced costs, regarding ISDA Master Agreement negotiations.
Consequently, since ISDA is the global trade association for OTC derivatives, in theory an updated 2012 ISDA Master
Agreement represents a significant missed opportunity by ISDA for achieving all of these objectives.
10 June 2013
Pioneering a New Legal and Regulatory Framework for Derivatives Markets in China: the Third
Way
Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation (Issue 7) (9,350 words).
This article provides a historical, economic, and critical analysis of the legal and regulatory framework governing derivatives
markets in the People's Republic of China. It argues that, in order to implement Socialism with Chinese characteristics, the
Chinese have adopted a new 'Third Way' approach to regulating financial and derivatives markets. This has incorporated a
socio-economic amalgamation of the best of central planning and Capitalism, which does not seek to obtain profit, for profit's
sake, but instead seeks to establish a legal framework which is conducive to fostering efficient, effective, and sustainable
derivatives markets in the long term.
9 May 2013
Derivatives mis-selling by British banks and the failed legacy of the FSA (9,250 words)
Journal of International Banking Law and Regulation (Issue 6) (9,250 words).
This article provides a critical analysis of the legal and regulatory framework governing derivatives mis-selling by British banks
to small and medium sized enterprises, from 2001 onwards. In principle it argues that the current regulatory framework
governing derivatives mis-selling is defective; that the Financial Services Authority has failed in its regulatory duties and
objectives; and that British banks continue to operate with relative impunity amidst a regulatory framework replete with moral
hazard.
25 April 2013
Optimizing Risk Allocation for CCPs under the European Market Infrastructure Regulation
Sixth Annual Cass-Capco Risk Management Conference
Capco Journal of Financial Transformation (Issue 37) (10,000 words)
This article provides an overview of the over-the counter (OTC) derivatives markets and the European Market Infrastructure
Regulation (EMIR) provisions, and a cost-benefit analysis of centralised clearing of OTC derivatives by central clearing
counterparties (CCPs). It argues the EMIR must ensure the optimization of risk allocation for CCPs in order to successfully
achieve its overall objectives, including the correct determination and balancing of clearing eligibility, ensuring strict adherence
to CCP risk governance and harmonization practices, and increased efforts towards achieving interoperability of CCPs.
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