Banking & Finance | Commercial Finance
We work for the providers of commercial finance services, whether banks, lenders or finance houses. We also advise borrowers and those raising finance.
We advise on:
- commercial loans
- equipment finance including the financing of ships and aircraft
- trade finance, including legal aspects of currency hedging, bills of exchange, letters of credit and debtor insurance products
- interest rate, foreign exchange and commodities hedging, together with other SWAPS and structured derivatives products
Our expertise:
We act for various providers of commercial finance and have prepared standard documentation, contract terms and procedures manuals for UK and overseas financiers. We are panel lawyers to banks and other providers of commercial finance facilities to businesses for the documentation of finance facilities and associated security.
Our team acts in resolving disputes before the courts, both directly in connection with commercial finance facilities and also including wider disputes involving assets, land, fraud, asset-tracing and insolvency.
We act for a wide range of borrowers to help them structure and put in place finance, source finance and negotiate the terms and documentation.
Our experience:
- acting for several European airlines on their fleet finance and finance ancillary equipment
- advising London and regional transport networks and operators on bus fleets, train fleets, ticketing and access barriers and other equipment
- working for a UK national fleet-hire company with 14,000 vehicles on their asset finance arrangements with multiple financiers
- acting for a global entertainment company on their stocking finance arrangements with customers and putting in place structures with co-financiers
- helping a Hong Kong-based manufacturer document its loans to customers and take security over stock and other assets in the UK
- advising a national lessor on its leasing and hire purchase documentation
- working with financiers on the financing of a fleet of short-haul and long-haul aircraft, engines and spare parts
- acting for hedge funds, insurers, and others on their interest rate and currency hedging documentation with a wide range of counterparties
- advising a leading regional care provider on unwinding expensive interest-rate SWAPS and release of collateral security
- helping international traders on letters of credit arrangements with global banks
- advising on putting in place invoice discounting facilities across multiple jurisdictions for a global recruitment company
Related Expertise
Our Team
Articles & Publications
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (the “Act”) has introduced a number of reforms to Companies House in March this year. One of the Act’s aims is to improve corporate transparency and enhance the role of Companies House.
In our latest review we reflect on some notable developments and trends in UK corporate and commercial law.
The UK government has been exploring a programme of wide-ranging reforms to the listing regime since 2020. This was driven in part by market feedback indicating that the UK listing regime was regarded as overly burdensome and deterring companies from listing in the UK.
In the second part of our year end recap, we reflect on some of the more notable developments of the past 12 months in the areas of Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Governance and Business Crime.
The corporate finance regulatory framework is experiencing seismic shifts as the UK government looks to implement change necessitated or facilitated by Brexit and to maintain and enhance the UK’s position in the global financial marketplace. As we approach the year end, we recap on the status of some of the key changes and developments in the UK’s corporate sector over the past 12 months.
As we enter a new year, environmental and social responsibility becomes an ever brighter light on the radar of business. A series of diverse drivers have converged to ensure that ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) has become or is fast becoming a top priority for businesses across the globe.
Our Capital Markets Briefing covers the FCA Task Force on climate-related financial disclosures, the UK Secondary Capital Raising Review, the UK Prospectus regime review and the FCA confirming that it will be extending to standard listed companies the obligation to make climate related disclosures.
In our latest briefing, we look at warranty disclosures following the recent Court of Appeal ruling in Butcher v Pike [2021] along with warranty claims and interpretation of financial caps following the High Court decision where a claim for breach of warranties in a share purchase agreement was considered.
On 15 November 2021, the government published new National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA 2021) guidance on notifiable acquisitions and updated guidance on what to expect when an acquisition is being reviewed and assessed.
Following the UK’s departure from the EU on 31 January 2020 the UK-EU Withdrawal Act (EUWA) provided for a transition period (which ended on 31st December 2020) during which the UK’s listing regime remained unchanged.