Jason Jurgens is the leader of Jones Day's global, cross-disciplinary LIBOR transition team focused on advising financial institutions and corporate issuers as they evaluate the legal and regulatory risks arising from the financial market's expected transition to alternative reference rates and implement remediation plans. Jason has nearly 20 years of experience litigating civil matters and conducting regulatory investigations, principally involving the financial markets. He has worked on matters concerning residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), collateralized loan obligations (CLOs), derivatives, commodity futures, options, and structured products. This experience includes some of the earliest and largest financial crisis cases, some of the most complex bankruptcies involving derivatives and structured finance arrangements, and some of the earliest swaps-related investigations conducted by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) under Dodd-Frank.
Jason advises financial institutions, hedge funds, and issuers regarding their rights and obligations in connection with complex contractual arrangements that involve structured finance agreements, indentures, swaps, guaranteed investment contracts (GICs), and collateral management agreements. He counsels clients regarding risks inherent in contemplated transactions and how to minimize or avoid such risks when they exist. In addition, Jason conducts internal investigations for banks, swap dealers, corporations, clearinghouses, and exchanges.
Jason is a member of Columbia Law School's Board of Visitors, as well as the board of directors of the Columbia Law School Association. He also sits on the Advisory Board of Legal Outreach.
Outside of the law, Jason serves as a director of the Mid-Hudson Valley Camp, which offers summer camp experiences to children with cancer, Down Syndrome, autism, and hearing impairments, as well as children from economically challenged communities.
Experience
The following represents experience acquired prior to joining Jones Day.
Capital Markets, Structured Finance, and Complex Contractual Disputes
Represented a monoline insurer in the chapter 11 bankruptcy of ResCap and its affiliates, after representing the insurer in a four-year civil litigation against a ResCap affiliate to recover billions of dollars in losses arising out of financial guarantee insurance policies that the client provided in connection with several RMBS transactions.
Represented an international banking institution in a civil action seeking to recover $700 million in losses arising out of a warehouse financing facility, which was brought against the hedge fund sponsor of a contemplated CDO transaction.
Represented a U.S. financial institution in connection with swap transactions and a collateral agreement regarding litigation and motion practice in the chapter 9 bankruptcy of the City of Detroit.
Represented a U.S. financial institution in connection with a dispute arising from trading done pursuant to an energy management agreement.
Represented a German asset manager and a French financial institution in their efforts to enforce rights and remedies arising from their respective municipal GIC portfolios.
Represented a German banking institution in its successful defense of federal antitrust claims predicated on its short selling practices.
Represented a German banking institution in civil litigation arising out of a state housing agency's breach of its obligations under the terms of a municipal GIC.
Represented a bondholder in a civil action brought to enjoin an issuer from redeeming bonds and selling a power generation facility that served as the underlying collateral for the bonds at issue.
Criminal, Regulatory, and Internal Investigations
Played a key role in the white-collar criminal defense and trial of a former CEO charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office for allegedly committing securities fraud through a finite reinsurance transaction.
Led an internal investigation for an international banking institution regarding the propriety of various transactions involving certain senior officers of the bank.
Conducted an internal inquiry as part of a team advising a financial institution regarding certain structured products that it markets to retail and institutional investors.
Led an investigation for a futures and options exchange related to the futures and options trading of one of its members, which was the subject of a parallel investigation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Played lead role in an internal investigation for an international banking institution in connection with inquiries by the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), the CFTC, the New York State Attorney General's Office, and the NASD into the use of swaps to finance mutual fund market timing trades, as well as allegations of late trading.
Played a lead supervisory role in connection with internal investigations and compliance reviews conducted for an oil services company investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Counseled individuals involved in the U.S. Attorney's Office's investigations concerning back-dated stock options.
Represented a coffee futures broker accused of improper trading practices by the CFTC.
Counseled a senior insurance executive involved in the New York State Attorney General's Office's investigation into allegations of bid-rigging in the insurance industry.
Represented an individual targeted by the SEC for his role in clearing mutual fund transactions.
Counseled the former CEO of a retail chain accused of securities fraud arising out of his company's accounting practices.
Commodity Futures Markets
Played an integral role in an exchange's successful defense of claims brought under the Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) against the exchange and its clearinghouse arising out of the collapse of a futures commission merchant.
Advised an exchange in connection with, among other things, an investigation of various member disputes arising out of trading in its futures and options markets for sugar and the fallout from Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.
Represented an exchange in connection with litigation brought by parties seeking to become delivery points for the exchange's cotton futures contracts.
Played a lead role in a major copper merchant's successful defense of a CFTC enforcement proceeding alleging a conspiracy with Sumitomo to manipulate copper futures prices on the LME and COMEX. Represented the same copper merchant and its senior executives in connection with various civil actions brought under federal and state antitrust laws, including one action that was abandoned by the plaintiff after a 10-day evidentiary hearing concerning a former CFTC attorney's alleged misappropriation of confidential law enforcement information.
- Columbia University (J.D. 1999); New York University (B.A. with honors 1996)
- New York; U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Second and District of Columbia Circuits; and U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and Eastern District of Michigan