A&O assists TNC in debt conversion for Amazon BioCorridor
A&O Shearman has assisted The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in its first land-based Nature Bond Programme effort, which is the first in the iconic Amazon and the largest ever for conservation, in support of Ecuador’s Amazon Biocorridor Programme (the BCA).
The debt conversion was closed by the Republic of Ecuador, with support from TNC, the US International Development Finance Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank and Bank of America.
The transaction resulted in the conversion of $1.53 billion of Ecuador’s international bonds, which is expected to generate approximately $460 million to support the Amazon BioCorridor Programme over 17 years.
The conversion will generate more than $800 million in net fiscal savings for Ecuador by 2035, while financing the conservation of Ecuador’s Amazonian terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems, making it the largest debt conversion ever undertaken for conservation.
A&O’s team was led by partner Cynthia Urda Kassis (pictured left) and of counsel Antonia Stolper (pictured right), and included partners Christopher Ryan and Paula Anderson, counsel Carter Clements, associate Andrew Meiser, and law clerks Sarah Ludwick and Nathan Bodger.
