Banking & Finance Law

Who Do We Help?

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Whether you are acting as a borrower, guarantor, lender, trustee, servicer, account bank, account manager, financial project coordinator, arranger, a hedge-fund provider, equity or debt holder, investor or similar, we can assist you in structuring, drafting, negotiating and reviewing various aspects of your financial or investment transactions. We can also assist with any regulatory matters that you face.

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What Do We Advise On?

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Our experienced lawyers advise on all of the documents listed below related to your overall business terms, or on specific transactional or regulatory issues impacting your business, client base, or a particular transaction. 

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Terms of business:​

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• Conducting “fit for purpose” assessments on existing terms of business. 

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• Drafting new terms of business or updating existing versions (i.e., due to regulatory changes or in the instance that you are offering a new product or service).

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• Managing client disputes or rebuttals in respect of terms of business.

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• Investment management agreements or investment advisory arrangements.

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• Terms and conditions of equity or debt instrument.

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• Broker-dealer, inter-dealer or inter-broker arrangements.

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Trading documentation:​

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• We have expertise in financial industry market standard documentation (such as the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”)).

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We review, advise and negotiate: ​

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• Master agreements (ISDA, GMRA, GMSLA etc.), bespoke terms or specific trade confirmations.

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• Collateral arrangements used by market participants (such as credit support annexes, credit support deeds or collateral transfer agreements) over the counter or in a clearing environment master agreements, bespoke terms or specific trade confirmations. 

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Lending documentation (whether part of a syndicate or bilateral arrangement, related to acquisition (asset, business, equities, real estate) finance, bridge financing, project finance or structured finance). We draft, advise and negotiate:

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• Bilateral lending arrangements (i.e., intragroup or involving a third-party lender).

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• Syndicated loan agreements (i.e., term loan or revolving facilities, subject to market standard Loan Market Association  (“LMA”) or bespoke arrangements).

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• Hedging requirements in respect of the above transactions.

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Note that apart from the financing aspects of the transactions, we also have expertise in all aspects of acquisition or project finance transactions involving the acquisition of a business, equities, or other interest in a target company, through our corporate, corporate finance and commercial law divisions.

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What Regulatory Issues Can We Support You On?

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There is a substantial amount of current legislation and hot legal topics affecting banking and finance which we may be able to help with, a few of the current issues are set out below.   

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Brexit

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The loss of passporting rights has had a significant impact on UK banks and financial institutions. This has resulted in a loss of business for many firms; however, we can advise on certain non-regulated products or products where specific cross border licenses or exemptions are available and may still be sold to  clients in the European Union. Specific areas which we can support you on are below.

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• Trading venue obligations for shares and derivatives - The requirement for EU firms only trading on EU trading venues has made life difficult for some firms but there are possible solutions to these issues.

• Restriction on acting for European Union government debt issuances - UK banks may find themselves unable to act as the main dealer on some EU issuances.

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Benchmark Reform LIBOR Transition

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Our lawyers have advised major banks on the transition from LIBOR to risk-free-rates and negotiated relevant amendments to the underlying documentation for derivatives and loan agreements. 

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Tough legacy contracts will need careful consideration as the legislative approach between the United Kingdom, European Union and United States of America differs significantly.