Sebastian Kaufmann
is a partner in the Capital Transactions and Real Estate Practice Group in King & Spalding’s New York and Frankfurt offices. Mr. Kaufmann’s practice focuses on commercial real estate transactions. On the equity side, Mr. Kaufmann has represented investors in the development, acquisition, disposition and financing of real property projects throughout the United States, in Europe and in Asia. On the debt side, Mr. Kaufmann has represented financial institutions as lenders in construction and permanent loans secured by real estate as well as in mezzanine loans in the United States and Europe.
Trained as a German and an American lawyer, one concentration of Mr. Kaufmann’s practice has been the representation of German “open-end” and “closed-end” investment funds in corporate, tax and bank regulatory matters in connection with real estate investments in the United States. Another area of concentration has been the representation of German mortgage banks as mortgage and mezzanine lenders, including in the origination, participation and restructuring of such loans.
Mr. Kaufmann is an expert on German laws governing covered mortgage bonds (Pfandbriefe) and frequently speaks and writes on the topic. He also advises German investors on German Investment Act issues in connection with their real estate investments in the United States and abroad.
Mr. Kaufmann is recognized by Chambers USA as a leading practitioner in Real Estate Finance. He received his LL.M. with honors from Columbia University in 1999 and his J.D. with honors from the University of Hamburg in 1997. In 2004, Mr. Kaufmann received his Ph.D.-equivalent (Dr. iur.) with honors from the University of Hamburg. He is a member of the American Bar Association (Business and International Section), as well as the New York State Bar Association. Mr. Kaufmann is also qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales and admitted as attorney (Rechtsanwalt) in Frankfurt, Germany. He is a member of the Law Society of England and Wales.
Recent Publications/Speaking Engagements by Mr. Kaufmann:
New Decision Offers Lessons on Bad Boy Guarantees, with Arthur J. Steinberg, in New York Law Journal, March 12, 2012.
Chapter N: Kreditsicherheiten in den USA (Loan Collateral in the United States), in: Praktikerhandbuch Auslandssicherheiten: Hereinnahme von Kreditsicherheiten im europäischen Ausland und den USA (Practitioner’s Handbook Foreign Loan Collateral: Loan Collateral in Europe and the United States), Johannes Tauber/Klaus Vorpeil, Finanzkolloqium Heidelberg 2010.
Bankruptcy and Defaults, moderate panel at AFIRE Winter Conference in New York on February 11, 2010.
Covered Mortgage Bond Assets in the United States, presentation for the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BAFin) together with members of theGerman Mortgage Banking Association (Verband deutscher Pfandbriefbanken -- VdP), October 2009.
Real Estate Finance Part I - The Lender’s Perspective, with Thomas Broschek, Head of Real Estate Finance North America, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), and significant contributions from Sheryl Kass, to be published in: AFIRE Guide to US Real Estate Investing, expected publication date: October 2009.
Working Out and Restructuring Troubled Real Estate Loans: An Overview of Some of the Key Legal Issues, with Arthur Steinberg, in: AFIRE News, Volume 23, Number 2, March/April 2009.
Restrukturierung von US-Immobilienkrediten und Verwertung von US-Grundstückssicherheiten (Restructuring US-Mortgage Loans and Exercising Remedies Against US-Real Estate Collateral), presentation for the German Mortgage Banking Association (Verband deutscher Pfandbriefbanken -- VdP), April 2009.
Aufnahme US-amerikanischer Grundpfandrechte in die Deckungsmasse für Pfandbriefe (Inclusion of US-Mortgages in the Collateral Pool for German Covered Bonds (Pfandbriefe)), in: Zeitschrift für Bankrecht und Bankwirtschaft, 17. Jahrgang, Heft 5, 15. Oktober 2005, S. 309-400.
Parol Evidence und Merger Clauses im internationalen Einheitsrecht (Parol Evidence Rule and Merger Clauses in International Uniform Law), Internationalrechtliche Studien, Beiträge zum Internationalen Privatrecht, zum Einheitsrecht und zur Rechtsvergleichung, Herausgegeben von Ulrich Magnus, Peter Lang, Europäischer Verlag der Wissenschaften, Frankfurt am Main 2004.
