Nicole Selby
Senior Vice President, Head of Default and Special Services at Computershare Corporate Trust
As Head of Default and Special Services, Nicole Selby oversees Computershare’s Default and Restructuring Group. Computershare Corporate Trust’s marketing team sat down with her to learn more about her world and the successor trustee market.
What are the key roles of a default and restructuring team?
Default and restructuring teams comprise Special Accounts Consultants that administer various types of bond debt, including corporate and municipal transactions during compliance issues, payment defaults, or Events of Default. Their aim is to work with deal parties to resolve noncompliance issues, to prudently represent the interests of bondholders, to exercise remedies as directed, or to reorganize debt obligations and create viable pathways to maximize recovery for bondholders. This process may take many forms, including litigation, foreclosure, in and out of court workouts, receiverships, and bankruptcy resolutions.
What is a successor trustee?
During the course of a bond transaction, circumstances may arise when the existing indenture trustee decides to resign because of an Event of Default or other extraordinary circumstances. In this instance, a successor trustee is appointed to step in and assume the role. The successor trustee’s default and restructuring group should administer the issue as one of its defaulted deals.
What are the top three qualities of a successful default and restructuring group?
Most importantly, in the successor space, they need to be fast and nimble in their response to inquiries from resigning trustees. Things move quickly in the early days of a bankruptcy, and so the sooner a new trustee can be appointed, the sooner they can potentially get appointed to unsecured creditor committees and be a part of key discussions. A quick and seamless transition also results in the least amount of disruption to the underlying business of our clients.
Successor trustees must also be responsive to bondholders, who appreciate calling on a single point of contact and knowing they will receive a satisfactory answer from a trusted expert.
Finally, a top-notch default and restructuring team has expertise in all types of corporate trust services and understands the intricacies of private and public debt. With public debt, for example, news outlets are often quick to report on signs of potential distress, especially on high-profile well-known institutions, which can create additional complexities for resolving the underlying concerns in a timely manner.
What makes Computershare Trust Company, N.A. unique in the successor trustee market?
Computershare Trust Company, N.A. is a national trust company, free of lending conflicts normally associated with a commercial lending bank. After the acquisition of Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services in November 2021, and the formation of Computershare Trust Company, N.A., our default and restructuring team continues to resolve a variety of unique issues in the default context that require a hands-on approach to solving complex problems.
My teams comprise highly sophisticated and experienced professionals that navigate the most complex and urgent matters with client and risk focused diligence. With Computershare’s focus on the successor trustee market, we look forward to collaborating with industry colleagues in the default and restructuring space. I’m proud of our proven track record of nimbly accepting successor trustee appointments and look forward to working with other trustees and bondholder groups in this space.
To learn more about our default and restructuring services, please contact Nicole Selby at Nicole.Selby@computershare.com.