Our Structured Finance and Leasing Group
Innovative finance techniques including structured finance, securitization, asset/equipment leasing, asset backed financing, asset backed securitization and cross-border finance are increasingly being used as substitutes for traditional financing. The market continues to be influenced by global trends such as synthetic leasing, off-balance sheet financing, use of conduits, securitizations, changing accounting rules and changing bank regulatory capital rules. Implementing these global trends into Canada's domestic environment has led to unique Canadian preferences and structures. The Structured Finance and Leasing Group at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP is uniquely qualified to be your legal advisor in pursuing these exciting opportunities throughout Canada.
Our Services
Our Structured Finance and Leasing Group consists of a team of experts who understand the business, regulatory, tax and administrative issues that confront participants in these complex transactions. We take an integrated inter-disciplinary approach combining lawyers from such areas as banking, tax, commercial and bankruptcy law. We also work closely with major accounting firms and their emerging issues committees.
The Canadian structured finance market is highly influenced by tax rules, Canadian and U.S. GAAP, the rules governing bank activity and the regulation of foreign banks in Canada. Expertise in Canadian tax law is at the heart of the structured finance, leasing and securitization practice at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, and partners in our Tax Group play a leading role in the development of new structures and the implementation of transactions.
Our Structured Finance and Leasing Group prides itself as having an innovative, problem-solving approach to practice. We have a proven track record of advising clients on financing transactions, but also of successfully closing difficult transactions. Putting an experienced team like ours to work on your structured financing arrangement can be seen as an effective way of minimizing completion risk.
Our clients rely on us to develop new products and new structures. Our strength is in working with our clients right from the development stage, often even before a specific transaction has been identified. The result? Creative, practical approaches to financial products that lead to competitive proposals and new mandates.
We provide advice with respect to structuring, negotiating and documenting major structured finance, leasing and securitization transactions including domestic and cross-border leveraged leasing, synthetic leasing, lease in/lease out, off-balance sheet financing, commercial mortgage backed securitization, residential mortgage backed securitization and securitizations of lease receivables. Our clients include Canadian and foreign banking institutions, non-bank financial institutions, specialized leasing companies and users of assets and equipment.
Specific ways in which our Structured Finance and Leasing Group assist our clients are the following:
- Advising arrangers, debt providers, equity participants, lessees and debtors in structured finance transactions.
- Working with clients and their other advisors to create innovative financing and leasing structures.
- Advising financial institutions on regulatory requirements and restrictions on structuring transactions and dealing with regulators to obtain rulings, clearances and consents in transactions.
- Advising clients regarding the income tax, capital tax and goods and services tax implications of structured transactions.
- Negotiating the terms of structured finance transactions.
- Structuring and advising regarding special purpose entities and bankruptcy remote structures.
- Litigation involving structured finance transactions.
Our Experience
Our Structured Finance and Leasing Group has recently acted as an advisor to Canadian and foreign banks and businesses in the following matters:
- $358 Million commercial mortgage-backed bonds
- Advising government agency on development and implementation of mortgage backed bond program
- $35 Million synthetic lease of food manufacturing equipment
- $35 Million cross-border conditional sale of manufacturing equipment
- $300 Million cross-border leveraged lease of qualified technological equipment ("QTE")
- $125 Million synthetic lease of manufacturing equipment
- "Big ticket" equipment leasing transactions involving aircraft, flight simulators, rolling stock, fishing vessels, mining equipment, electrical generation equipment, QTE and chemical plant equipment totalling $3 Billion in the last several years
- Public/private government initiatives