Airfinance Journal (AFJ), the world’s biggest aviation finance publication, announced its selection of Lee & Ko as the recipient of the ‘2017 AFJ Overall Deal of the Year’ award.

An internationally prominent source of financing intelligence for the global aviation industry, AFJ recognizes the achievements of outstanding aviation finance transactions each year. At the 22nd AFJ Global Awards, Lee & Ko received the ‘Overall Deal of the Year’ award for its work in connection with Korean Air’s recent purchase of new aircraft in a high-profile deal constituting the first-ever transaction utilizing a new financing structure involving Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) products, making it possible to draw upon an enormous pool of assets available in the insurance market.

In further recognition of its market-leading expertise in the aviation industry, Lee & Ko was also awarded the ‘Operating Lease Deal of the Year’ and ‘Finance Lease Deal of the Year’ awards at the AFJ Inaugural China Awards held in Shanghai this June, resulting in a total of three awards for the firm.

The ‘Operating Lease Deal of the Year’ award honored Lee & Ko’s achievements in successfully completing the world’s first operating lease transaction using a lessor/SPC entity based in Hong Kong (instead of Ireland) in a deal that involved Korean Air and ICBC Leasing, a subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Lee & Ko was highly commended for its efforts in relation to obtaining an authoritative interpretation from the National Tax Service recognizing exemptions from withholding tax, without requiring the filing of a related tax exemption application.

The ‘Finance Lease Deal of the Year’ award, on the other hand, highlighted Lee & Ko’s role in effectively using a highly efficient mechanism for natural hedging of exchange rate-risk, based on cash flows generated by Japanese Yen-denominated income, in the context of Yen-denominated finance leasing used for Korean Air’s acquisition of Boeing 747-8i aircraft.

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Originally published on 14 June 2018 on the Lee & Ko website.