Banking & Financial Services - Davis LLP

The Banking & Financial Services Group at Davis LLP has earned recognition from authoritative legal directory Chambers Global for our demonstrated ability in this sector. Many of the firm's related successes are highlighted, including our ability to attract key clients such as a major mortgage lender; the group's involvement in a syndicated financing of a corporate acquisition in the natural resources sector; and our representation of a borrower in the transportation industry.

In addition, individual members of our Banking & Financial Services Group are recognized as leading lawyers in their field by Lexpert, Chambers Global and Martindale-Hubbell. The acknowledgment of our efforts tells us and our clients that we work hard to deliver the right results to the banking and financial sector.

The right results include providing advice regarding the establishment of financial services businesses, the development and distribution of financial services products, and all manner of regulatory issues with both federal and provincial regulators, with whom we have excellent working relationships.

We represent companies and associations in the financial services industry in relation to legislative changes and major government policy initiatives. Our professionals offer strategic advice to Canadian chartered banks, off-shore banks, non-bank financial institutions including credit unions, and non-institutional lenders in connection with the structuring and implementing of a broad range of debt transactions including:

• Working capital loans
• Asset-based lending
• Mortgage/construction lending
• Project finance transactions, including cross-border project finance transactions related to public-private partnerships
• Securitization transactions including mortgage-backed security and income-generating assets
• Syndicated loan transactions
• Corporate loans; secured and unsecured
• Structured lease transactions
• Trade finance
• Real estate financing
• Bond/debenture capital markets debt transactions.

We provide ongoing collections counsel, regulatory advice and compliance advice to financial institutions such as banks, credit unions and financing companies. We also prepare account agreements and related documentation, and offer guidance with respect to general areas of law affecting financial institutions such as:

• Anti money-laundering and terrorism legislation, and
• Issues relating to operations of customer accounts, including dealing with frauds, unauthorized account activity, powers of attorney, to name a few.

We have experience in all transactions ancillary to debt transactions including:

• Swaps and hedging transactions
• Letters of credit, and
• Monoline insurance products.

We leverage the expertise of other practice groups within Davis to provide complete, seamless services:

• Tax Group: Structuring and advising on various tax aspects of loan transactions, including the availability of withholding tax exemptions
• Insolvency Group: Structuring and advising on various realization transactions
• Forestry, Intellectual Property, Mining and Real Estate Groups: Structuring and securing specialized industry financings.

We assist financial institutions with matters relating to information technology, computer law, privacy and data networks, including:

• Advising on acquisition of IT systems
• Drafting contracts for licensing banking systems to financial institutions
• Drafting service agreements for banking system services
• Drafting hosting service agreements
• Drafting outsourcing agreements for banking services
• Advising on security systems for credit card systems
• Drafting acquisition and licensing agreements for banking system hardware and software.