Banking and Finance

The Firm offers advice to financial institutions and borrowers alike on bilateral and syndicated corporate lending, leveraged finance and asset finance transactions, on the secondary loan market, on distressed business restructuring deals, and on fresh money and distressed debt trading. The Firm also advises on structured finance and derivatives.

Garrigues offers integral advice on project finance in all sectors and, particularly, in the areas of public and energy infrastructure, including concessions and private finance initiatives. The Firm is uniquely placed to provide integral legal and technical advice to financial institutions and sponsors in energy project finance transactions as it can call on the technical advice of Garrigues Medioambiente’s consultants. 

More recently, Garrigues has also been working with Spanish sponsors and financial institutions in the preparation and execution of international project finance deals, both in the public infrastructure and energy areas, offering legal support in conjunction with local advisers in each jurisdiction.

The Financial Law team boasts expertise in the area of consumer banking, in factoring, reverse factoring, and finance and/or operating lease transactions, as well as credit cards, mortgage and consumer finance, asset finance, and commodities and trade finance transactions. The team also advises on the distance selling of financial services.

Similarly, Garrigues has an outstanding track record on financial regulatory advice. In particular, it can boast specialists in the field of investment services and investment vehicles or their managers (private equity firms, collective investment institutions (whether or not UCITS), collective investment institution managers, investment services firms), with a strong emphasis on the cross-border deals of such entities. The Firm also advises on the special regime applying to hedge funds, and their managers and custodians, and on the drafting of prime broker agreements. Moreover, Garrigues has noteworthy experience in advising on the rules of conduct for supervised institutions and on solvency requirements, and on aspects relating to credit institution discipline and control legislation, anti-money laundering policy, requests for guidance submitted to supervisory authorities, and inspection or enforcement procedures by the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the Bank of Spain, or the Enforcement Service of the Anti-Money Laundering and Monetary Infringements Commission (SEPBLAC).

This practice area also includes issues relating to payment and e-money institutions, where Garrigues has gained considerable experience since the entry into force of legislation specifically regulating this field.