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Issue of Euro 750,000,000 mortgage backed securities by
BARCLAYS BANK, S.A.

One of the securities market groups of Uría & Menéndez, formed by Ramiro Rivera, Daniel Abad, Cristina Fernández, Juan Miguel Martín and Marta Ríos has advised BARCLAYS BANK, S.A. (“BBSA”) and AHORRO Y TITULIZACIÓN, S.G.F.T., S.A. (“AYT”) in connection with the incorporation of the mortgage securitisation fund “AYT GÉNOVA HIPOTECARIO I, FTH” and the issue of mortgage backed securities for an amount of Euro 750,000,000.00.
BBSA and AyT filed the prior notification and the relevant documentation with the National Securities Exchange Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores) on October 23, 2002 being the mortgage backed securities programme cleared by the aforementioned regulatory body on December 5, 2002.
Ana Cantón has been the in-house lawyer at AyT involved in the mortgage backed securities programme, being Enrique Titos and José María Castellón the BBSA team leaders in charge of the financial co-ordination of the transaction, and Luis Miralles and Juan Manuel Ortega the AyT team leaders.

Issue of Euro 1,062,000,000 asset backed securities by
BANCO SANTANDER CENTRAL HISPANO, S.A.

One of the securities market groups of Uría & Menéndez, formed by Ramiro Rivera, Daniel Abad, Cristina Fernández, Juan Miguel Martín and Marta Ríos has advised BANCO SANTANDER CENTRAL HISPANO, S.A. (“SCH”) and SANTANDER CENTRAL HISPANO TITULIZACIÓN, S.G.F.T., S.A. (“SCHT”) in connection with the incorporation of the asset securitisation fund “FONDO DE TITULIZACIÓN DE ACTIVOS HIPOTEBANSA 11” and the issue of asset backed securities for an amount of Euro 1,062,000,000.
SCH and SCHT filed the prior notification and the relevant documentation with the National Securities Exchange Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores) on October 10, 2002 being the asset backed securities programme cleared by the aforementioned regulatory body on November 22, 2002.
María José Olmedilla has been the team leader of SCHT in charge of the co-ordination of the asset backed securities programme.
The asset backed securities programme has been the first one cleared by the CNMV in the view of Law 44/2002, of November 22, on Amendment Measures on the Financial Market (“Ley de Medidas de Reforma del Sistema Financiero”).

Uría & Menéndez advises in the largest Spanish MBS transaction to date, that is also the second largest MBS transaction in the Euro zone

Uría & Menéndez has advised EUROPEA DE TITULIZACIÓN, S.A., S.G.F.T. (“EdT”), as managing company, in connection with the incorporation of the asset securitisation fund “BANCAJA 6, FTA” (the “Fund”) and the issue by the Fund of mortgage backed securities for an amount of Euro 2,080,000,000 (the “Notes”), the largest Spanish MBS transaction to date, that is also the second largest MBS transaction in the Euro zone.

The Notes were issued on the back of residential mortgage credits granted by CAJA DE AHORROS DE VALENCIA, CASTELLÓN Y ALICANTE, BANCAJA (“BANCAJA”). In addition to its role as originator, BANCAJA also acted as lead manager, underwriter and servicer of the Notes.

Uría & Menéndez also acted as advisor to Morgan Stanley and Dresdner as lead managers and underwriters of the issue of mortgage backed securities, together with BANCAJA and Crédit Agricole Indosuez.
Ramiro Rivera, a partner in the securitisation department of Uría & Menéndez, and associate Juan Miguel Martín advised EdT and provided additional legal support on specific matters to BANCAJA.

Morgan Stanley and Dresdner were advised by Javier Redonet, a senior associate integrated in the securities market group of Uría & Menéndez.

EdT and BANCAJA filed the prior notification and the relevant documentation with the National Securities Exchange Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores) on November 6, 2003. The issuance of the notes was cleared by the aforementioned regulatory body on December 2, 2003.

Ramiro Rivera said of this transaction that “everyone was extremely pleased with the response of the markets, particularly in a transaction as large as this one; all of the series have been over-subscribed, including those, like Series A-1, introducing pay-back features which are non-standard in the local markets”.

Uría & Menéndez advises on the first Spanish ABS transaction in Spain involving credit rights from electrical energy supply services

Uría & Menéndez has advised Banco Santander Central Hispano, S.A., as lead manager, and Unión Fenosa Distribución, S.A. and Unión Fenosa Comercial, S.L., as originators, in connection with the first Spanish ABS transaction to date, involving credit rights arising from electrical energy supply services. Uria’s legal team was led by David G.-Ochoa, Luis Pastor and Rafael Sebastián, partners of the firm.

After almost two years of work, the asset securitisation fund “TITULIZACIÓN DE ACTIVOS KWH-1” has been incorporated by Titulización de Activos, S.A., Sociedad Gestora de Fondos de Titulización, issuing securitisation notes for an amount of Euro 202,000,000 on the back of the rights arising from the provision by the originators of electrical energy supply services. The notes have been rated AAA by Standard & Poor’s España, S.A., and Aaa by Moody’s Investors Service España, S.A., and all of them have been acquired by an institutional investor.

Endeavours to structure the transaction, legally and economically, commenced in July, 2002. In December 2002, the National Energy Commission (Comisión Nacional de Energía) approved the proposed transaction. The relevant documentation was subsequently filed with the National Securities Exchange Commission (Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores), which cleared the transaction on April 29, 2004. The transaction documents were executed the following day.

The transaction has been hailed as one of the most innovative securitisations in the Spanish financial market to date, in respect of the type of assets securitised, the complexity of the ABS fund’s economic structure and the Spanish laws on the electrical sector. The sole participating institutional investor has highlighted the considerable interest in this transaction shared by the Spanish and European securitisation markets, in the sense that it has paved the way for similar future ABS transactions, both for companies within the Spanish electrical sector and others owning assets derived from supply services invoicing.

Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados’ partners join Uría & Menéndez’s partnership

Uría & Menéndez becomes the leading Iberian law firm by incorporating one of the most prestigious Portuguese firms Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados

Uría & Menéndez’s Lisbon office is reinforced and establishes a presence in Porto through the existing office of Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados

Portuguese Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados has decided to integrate Spanish law firm Uría & Menéndez, reinforcing their respective strategies in the Iberian market.

Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados was established in 1993. It is currently one of the leading and most prestigious firms in Portugal, with offices in Lisbon and Porto. Its eight partners will immediately become partners of “Uría&Menéndez”

Uría & Menéndez’s Lisbon office (presently 20 lawyers) was opened in 2001, and was the first branch of a foreign law firm admitted by the Portuguese Bar, enjoyed continued success since its inception. The outstanding success of Uría & Menéndez’s Lisbon office coupled with increasing demand for legal services in Portugal triggered the negotiations with one of the most prestigious firms in Portugal. The increasing demands of clients from both firms for an Iberian market will be fulfilled with this integration between two leading firms in their respective jurisdictions.

Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados has nowadays 50 lawyers and Uría & Menéndez over 300, so this integration, fully effective towards the end of 2004, will create one of the leading firms in the Iberian market. This integration is expected to increase demand of Iberian clients investing in Latin-America (Uría & Menéndez currently has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru), thus acting as a link with the Iberian market: Uría & Menéndez is the most significant regional Iberian-Latin-American firm.

Uría & Menéndez’s Portugal offices will be co-headed by Francisco Sá Carneiro, former managing director of Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados, and by Duarte Garin, former managing partner of Uría & Menéndez’s Lisbon office. The resulting firm, who will be working under the Uría & Menéndez’s name, will have more than 70 lawyers in the Portuguese market, with offices in Lisbon and Porto. The Porto office will be led by João Anacoreta Correia. This integration will provide Uría & Menéndez’s clients a full-service firm, and strengthen its Banking, Capital Markets, Corporate, Finance, Labour, Litigation, Real Estate and Tax practices.

Rodrigo Uría, Managing Partner of Uría & Menéndez, stated that : “Uría & Menéndez’s partners are thrilled to include 8 leading Portuguese lawyers of the highest calibre in their partnership. All the Uría & Menéndez lawyers in our Lisbon office are extremely proud of forming part of what is about to become one of the leading Portuguese firms. My aim has always been to preserve professional ethics coupled with the greatest quality and excellence at all times, all of which are guaranteed with this integration.”

Francisco Sá Carneiro, Managing Partner of Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados, declared that: “Uría & Menéndez is one of the best and most prestigious firms in Spain. The invitation we received from Uría & Menéndez is an honour as well as a great challenge. Our integration in Uría & Menéndez and the combination of our practices in Portugal, with the already existing synergies, together with our clients’ collaboration, will contribute to create a truly Iberian law firm.”

Duarte Garin, Managing Partner of Uría & Menéndez’s Lisbon office stated that “We are delighted to join forces with Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados, and I cannot think of any other firm that I would feel so comfortable in integrating within the Uría & Menéndez organisation as this one. Vasconcelos, F. Sá Carneiro, Fontes & Associados and Uría & Menéndez share the same principles and values and this has been very clear in the conversations held between the two firms. I am certain that we are witnessing the birth of a major player in the Portuguese legal market. ”

Uría & Menéndez is one of the most prestigious firms in Europe. After the integration, it will have more than 350 lawyers with offices in Spain (Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Bilbao), Portugal (Lisbon and Porto), England (London), Belgium (Brussels), Unites States (New York), Brazil (San Paulo), Chile (Santiago de Chile), Argentina (Buenos Aires), Mexico (Mexico City) and Peru (Lima).