Global Mindset. Local Instinct.
Craig A. Wolson
Capital Markets & Securities Regulation
Biography
Practice Areas
Education
Bar Admissions
Biography
Craig A. Wolson has practiced law for over 40 years. Although he has primarily been based in New York City, he has had clients all over the world. He specializes in finance (including secured loans of various types), corporate (including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, entity formation and corporate counseling), securities (including private placements and securities fraud), securitization (including MBS, ABS and CLOs) and derivatives (including interest rate and credit default swaps) matters. He has been an Associate, Special Counsel, Of Counsel and/or Partner at several of the leading law firms in the world.
Practice Areas
- Capital Markets & Securities Regulation
- Corporate/M&A Practice
- Emerging Growth & Technology Practice
- Intellectual Property
- Litigation & Dispute Resolution
- Private Equity, Hedge Funds & Asset Management
- Real Estate
Education
- University of Michigan Law School at Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- J.D. - 1974
- Honors: cum laude
- Honors: With Honors
- Honors: Best Brief in Moot Court Section, Case Club Judge
- University of Michigan, College of Literature
- B.A. - 1971
- Honors: summa cum laude
- Honors: James B. Angell Scholar
- Major: Science and the Arts
Bar Admissions
- New York, 1975
Professional Associations
- American Bar Association
- New York State Bar Association
- New York City Bar Association
Published Works
- Frequently Used Terms in Securitization and Structured Finance Transactions (V. Tucker and C. Wolson ed. 2015)
- “A Call for Industry Awareness of Risks Relating to Residual Interests in Securitizations,” published in December 2021 Business Law Today
- Comment Letter to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System dated July 29, 2020 relating to the Board’s Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (“TALF”), submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System dated June 5, 2020 relating to TALF, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to the U.S. Department of the Treasury dated August 5, 2016 relating to the Treasury’s White Paper issued on May 10, 2016 entitled “Opportunities and Challenges in Online Marketplace Lending,” submitted by the Structured Finance Committee of the New York City Bar Association (Craig A. Wolson, Founder and Chair from 2004-08)
- Comment Letter to the U.S. House of Representatives dated June 15, 2016 and relating to H.R. 4620, the Preserving Access to CRE Capital [through the commercial mortgage-backed securities market] Act of 2016, submitted by the Structured Finance Committee of the New York City Bar Association (Craig A. Wolson, Founder and Chair from 2004-08)
- White Paper dated October 5, 2015, entitled “Current Issues in Securitization” and based on an educational program presented by the Structured Finance Committee of the New York City Bar Association (Craig A. Wolson, Founder and Chair from 2004-08) on April 14, 2015
- “Annual Review of Federal Securities Regulation,” published in Summer 2015 The Business Lawyer
- Comment Letter to SEC dated May 6, 2014 relating to two proposing releases pertaining to asset-backed securities (ABS)—in particular, the disclosure of asset-level information; submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated November 12, 2013 relating to reproposal of rules pertaining to risk retention in transactions involving ABS, released jointly by the OCC, the Federal Reserve Board, the FDIC, the SEC, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and HUD; submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to Uniform Law Commission dated November 8, 2013 relating to the Commission’s proposed Residential Real Estate Mortgage Foreclosure Process and Protections Act, submitted by the Securitization and Structured Finance Committee of the American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to Uniform Law Commission dated May 2, 2013 relating to the Commission’s proposed Residential Real Estate Mortgage Foreclosure Process and Protections Act, submitted by the Securitization and Structured Finance Committee of the American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Supplemental Comment Letter to SEC dated August 10, 2012 relating to the SEC’s proposed rules pertaining to risk retention in transactions involving ABS, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated February 13, 2012 relating to the SEC’s proposed rule relating to the prohibition against conflicts of interest in certain securitizations, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated November 16, 2011 relating to the SEC’s re-proposal of the shelf eligibility conditions for ABS, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated November 15, 2011 relating to the SEC’s proposed changes to Rule 3a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (in particular, to delete the investment-grade ratings requirement of the Rule), submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated August 19, 2011 relating to the SEC’s proposed rules pertaining to credit rating agencies, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated July 20, 2011 relating to the SEC’s proposed rules pertaining to risk retention in transactions involving ABS, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated November 17, 2010 relating to the Commission’s proposed rules pertaining to risk-retention with respect to securitizations, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated November 17, 2010 relating to the Commission’s proposed requirement that an ABS issuer perform a review of the assets underlying certain ABS offerings, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to Financial Stability Oversight Council dated November 8, 2010 relating to the Council’s Study Regarding the Implementation of the Prohibitions on Proprietary Trading Imposed by the Dodd-Frank Act, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- “Structuring Commercial Mortgage Securitization Special Purpose Entities After General Growth Properties,” published in November 2010 Bloomberg Law Reports
- Comment Letter to SEC dated October 29, 2010 relating to the Commission’s proposed rule concerning conflicts of interest pertaining to certain securitizations, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- Comment Letter to SEC dated August 17, 2010 relating to the Commission’s proposed amendments to Regulation AB, submitted by American Bar Association Business Law Section
- “Securitization in the Post-Crisis Economy: An ABA Business Law Section White Paper” (paper completed on November 20, 2009 by American Bar Association Business Law Section, presented to Congress on January 22, 2010 and sent to the FDIC on March 5, 2010)
- “Reviving Securitization–A Response to Critics,” published in June 8, 2009 Law 360
- “Special Report on the Preparation of Substantive Consolidation Opinions,” published in February 2009 Business Lawyer
- New York City Bar Association Statement to Obama Transition Team Regarding Regulation of Financial Services, December 2008
- Comment letter re American Securitization Forum proposal (Project RESTART RMBS Disclosure Package), August 20, 2008
- Comment letter to Financial Accounting Standards Board re Revised Exposure Draft of Proposed Amendments to FASB Statement No. 140 Relating to Transfer of Financial Assets, October 28, 2005
- “The Real Estate Investment Trust: State Tax, Tort and Contract Liabilities of the Trust, Trustee and Shareholder,” March 1973 Michigan Law Review (reprinted in The Real Estate Investment Trust–Problems and Opportunities (L. Oliensis ed. 1974))
- Editor, New York City Bar Association Structured Finance Committee Blog, 2015-19
Honors
- New York Super Lawyer, Law and Politics Magazine
- Who's Who in the World
- Who's Who in America
- Who's Who in American Law
- Who's Who in Finance and Business
- Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, 2018
Classes & Seminars
- Seminar: “The Upheaval in the Subprime Market: The Direct and Indirect Effects of Same on the Structured Finance Market,” New York City Bar Association, January 2008
- Seminar: “What Every Finance Lawyer Needs to Know About Securitization,” New York City Bar Association, May 2007
- Seminar on Securitization of Project Finance Loans, New York City Bar Association, April 2003
Experience
- Acted as co-counsel with respect to a private placement of securities issued by a DE LLC that planned to invest in another DE LLC that planned to invest in a Cayman Islands LLC that planned to purchase shares in a Korean steel company
- Acted as special securities counsel for a private placement of securities issued by a company that planned to purchase the future earnings of a professional athlete; the offering utilized blockchain techniques
- Acted as co-counsel to an owner of several cannabis sales and distribution companies in several Western States who planned to sell shares in a new company that would use the proceeds to expand into several other States
- Acted as co-counsel with respect to advising a large real estate developer as to its rights and responsibilities under several interest rate swap agreements with a large bank
- Acted as counsel to a European securities broker who (a) had several large clients that owned illiquid securities and (b) wanted to help them sell the securities to a structured finance vehicle that I would have helped him establish
Past Positions
- Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, Counsel