Leigh R. Fraser

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Leigh Fraser is co-head of Ropes & Gray’s global asset management group. Leigh has significant experience forming onshore and offshore open-end and closed-end private funds pursuing a variety of investment strategies. She also advises these entities and their sponsors on an ongoing basis with respect to regulatory matters and structuring new investment products.

Leigh also serves as the head of the derivatives and commodities practice. She advises a variety of financial institutions, including hedge funds, investment advisors, mutual funds, private equity managers, credit managers and endowments, on derivatives and arrangements with brokers and custodians, as well as related regulatory matters under the Dodd-Frank Act.

Experience

Represents investment advisory firms with respect to the launch and operation of their range of onshore and offshore hedge funds, including equity funds, fixed income funds, currency funds, asset allocation funds, and funds that invest in illiquid assets.
Represents a preeminent U.K. investment advisor with respect to its U.S. private funds and offering of its European funds on a private placement basis in the United States.
Advises many “buy side” clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, investment advisers, and endowments, with respect to the impact of the derivatives provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act and related rulemakings.
Regularly advises our “buy side” clients on the negotiation of ISDA Master Agreements, master derivatives confirmations, triparty agreements for collateral posted under ISDA Master Agreements, Master Repurchase Agreements, Global Master Repurchase Agreements and securities lending agreements.
Regularly advises our hedge fund clients on the negotiation of prime brokerage agreements and term commitments.

Credentials

Publications

Quoted, “Steps Fund Managers Should Take Now to Ensure Their Trading of Swap, Repo and Securities Lending Transactions Continues Uninterrupted After January 1, 2019,” The Hedge Fund Law Report (October 18, 2018)
Quoted, “Asset Management Group Of The Year: Ropes & Gray,” Law360 (January 26, 2018)
Quoted, “Newly Adopted Fed Rules: Limiting Buy-Side Remedies in Financial Institutions,” Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (September 25, 2017)
Featured, “50 Leading Women In Hedge Funds 2017,” The Hedge Fund Journal (May 19, 2017)
Q&A, “Steps Hedge Fund Managers Should Take Now to Ensure Their Swap Trading Continues Uninterrupted When New Regulation Takes Effect March 1, 2017,” The Hedge Fund Law Report (February 9, 2017)
Quoted, “How Fund Managers Can Mitigate Prime Broker Risk: Legal Considerations When Negotiating Prime Brokerage Agreements (Part Three of Three),” The Hedge Fund Law Report (December 15, 2016)
Quoted, “How Fund Managers Can Mitigate Prime Broker Risk: Structural Considerations of Multi-Prime or Split Custodian-Broker Arrangements (Part Two of Three),” The Hedge Fund Law Report (December 8, 2016)
Quoted, “How Fund Managers Can Mitigate Prime Broker Risk: Preliminary Considerations When Selecting Firms and Brokerage Arrangements (Part One of Three),”The Hedge Fund Law Report (December 1, 2016)
Quoted, “Fed proposes swap stay rules,” International Financing Review (May 21-27, 2016)
Co-author, “U.S. Banking Regulators Finalize Minimum Margin Requirements For Uncleared Swaps,” Thomson Reuters Derivatives Journal (November 2015)
Co-author, “New ISDA Protocol Limits Buy-Side Remedies in Financial Institution Failure,” The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (December 14, 2014)
Co-author, “EMIR reporting – Further Reporting Obligations Apply in August 2014,” Thomson Reuters’ Derivatives: Financial Products Report (July 2014)
Quoted, “Ropes & Gray Attorneys Discuss Implications for U.S. Hedge Fund Managers of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation,” The Hedge Fund Law Report (July 18, 2014)
Co-author, “Segregation of Initial Margin Posted in Connection with Uncleared Swaps,” The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation (April 19, 2014)

Presentations

Speaker, “Derivatives Market Reform: Where Are We Going Now That We Are Almost There?,” Investment Company Institute’s 2017 Mutual Funds and Investment Conference (March 14, 2017)
Panelist, “Undue Speculation? The Implications of the SEC’s Derivatives Rule for Your Business,” ICI Education Foundation’s 2016 Securities Law Developments Conference, Sponsored by ICI Education Foundation (December 6, 2016)
Speaker, “Derivatives Update: The Impact of the SEC’s Proposed Fund Limits,” Institutional Investor Legal Forum – Winter Roundtable (February 23, 2016)
Presenter, Investment Company Institute’s 2015 Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference, “What Every Fund Lawyer Should Know About Derivatives Regulation” (March 17, 2015)
Moderator, 2014 GAIM Ops Cayman, “Prime Brokers: How PBs are Responding to the Challenges Given the Change in the Composition of the HF Industry and Regulatory Requirements” (April 7, 2014)
Moderator, Mutual Fund Directors Forum’s Oversight of Derivatives Roundtable, “Regulatory Uncertainty” (September 9, 2011)
Presenter, Mutual Fund Directors Forum webinar, “Derivatives Before and After Dodd-Frank” (March 23, 2011)

Experience

Credentials

Education

Admissions

Publications

Presentations

Awards

Areas of Practice