We want LI to be one of the friendliest places on the internet, where lawyers and law students help each other with their career related queries and occasionally discuss other stuff that might affect their lives too. In other words:
1. Be kind, respectful and helpful to each other.
2. Be bona fide, truthful, genuine and curious.
3. Assume the best intention of others.
Therefore, in using the site, you must agree to do your best to uphold these community guidelines.
Note that what you find here is written and moderated by anonymous people on the internet.
Therefore everything you read here is very likely unverified, rumour, speculation and/or downright false.
In continuing to read anything here, you must therefore agree not to take anything you read here as factual and that you will exercise due caution, diligence and common sense before acting on any information you may come across here.
You also agree to report any inaccurate or malicious comments with the buttons. Moderators take action within 24 hours, as required and appropriate under law.
Our full terms and conditions apply too.
Do you solemnly agree to all of the above?
With limited diligence - 45
This includes listed instruments issued via private placement (similar to QIPs on ECM side) and listed instruments issued via public issue (debt IPO / FPO basically). There is also foreign bond issuances where Indian counsels are involved (RegS/144A issuances). There aren't many teams that do all these regularly. For example TTA has a team that specialises in foreign bond issuances, even JSA does I think. Most banking and finance teams also dabble in privately places listed debt issuances. Only a few do public issue of NCDs.
Finding a team that does ECM and DCM together will be good if you intend to be a capital markets lawyer. It's anyday good to diversify.
The DCM team in KCo does all sorts of matters (listed NCDs (private placement and public issue), municipal bonds, foreign bonds, etc.). They have also worked on a few ECM deals sprinkled here and there. There must be other T1s also similarly placed.
However this field is very methodic and process oriented. Not much innovation or scope for doing bespoke transactions (unless you are doing structured finance deals, restructuring etc.).
WLB is non existent in most T1s DCM/B&F teams as banking / dcm lawyers are expected to meet unreasonable deadlines and unless you have a partner who can set the boundaries with the clients, you'll have long weekends and ruined holidays. Some firms manage this better some are worse. Depends on the team and partner like always. Compensation is on the better side because there is always workflow (except foreign bonds, where work can stop suddenly) and DCM teams mostly always also do B&F work as well.
Please note that public debt issuance is often more complex than private placement of NCDs and comes with undercutting to stay ahead of the competition.
Now that I am 11 years into financing at a tier 1 firm, my advice is to stick with a B&F team and not such a sub-specialized vertical within B&F; to avoid the monotony of templated work which DCM entails.
According to me, it's not advisable to specialise in something this niche if you are early on in your career.
DCM is not the same as ECM even though there might be some overlap. Billing wise it's the same as B&F and better than ECM i would say
Billing available on stock exchange website - search for debt offer documents. In key information document - law firm fees are disclosed. Ranges from 10 to 15 L.
Contractual provisions similar to B&F - debenture trust deeds also available on stock exchange websites.