Hogan Lovells and Bingham act on successful Straumur workout

Hogan Lovells and Bingham McCutchen have taken lead roles on the €2.3bn (£1.9bn) restructuring of Straumur, one of the raft of Icelandic banks taken into government hands last year as a result of the country's financial crisis.

Straumur was nationalised in March 2009 after aggressive expansion in Europe during the credit bubble led to losses of almost €700m (£640m) in 2008.

Hogan Lovells acted as international counsel for Straumur, the first among its Icelandic banking peers to complete a successful restructuring. Hogan Lovells fielded a team led by corporate partner Richard Brown, alongside fellow corporate partner Maegen Morrison.

Brown said: "After 18 months of hard work, it is rewarding to see the transaction completed succ-essfully. This composition will allow Straumur to conduct a careful and productive realisation of its assets and to maximise returns to its creditors."

The transatlantic firm's team also included London-based restructuring partner Robin Spencer and tax partner Karen Hughes, while the bonds specialists working on the restructuring were headed up by debt capital markets partner Andrew Carey.

Iceland's Jonsson & Hall acted as local counsel to Straumur, fielding a team from its Reykjavik headquarters.

Meanwhile, US firm Bingham provided legal advice to the bank's informal creditors committee, fielding a team led by New York restructuring partner Tim DeSieno and London head of finance Barry Russell.

Legacy firm Lovells was instructed by the Icelandic Government last year to advise on potential claims against the UK Treasury in the wake of the country's financial collapse. The mandate came shortly after three major Icelandic banks – Kaupthing, Landsbanki and Glitnir – were taken into the hands of the authorities.