Banking law is the broad term for laws that govern how banks and other financial institutions conduct business.
Banking and finance is a giant sector internationally, intersecting with various industries and overlapping with multiple other practice areas. Banking and finance lawyers may work in any one of the specialist areas described below, but all deal with the borrowing of money or the management of financial liabilities. Their task is to negotiate and document the contractual relationship between lenders and borrowers, and to ensure that their clients’ best legal and commercial interests are reflected in the terms of loan agreements. It is a hugely technical, ever-evolving and jargon-heavy area of law.
- Straightforward bank lending: a bank lends money to a borrower on documented repayment terms.
- Acquisition finance: a loan made to a corporate borrower or private equity sponsor for the purpose of acquiring another company. This includes leveraged finance, where the borrower uses a very large amount of borrowed money to meet the cost of a significant acquisition without committing a lot of its own capital (this is called a leveraged buyout or LBO).
- Real estate finance: a loan made to enable a borrower to acquire a property or finance the development of land and commonly secured by way of a mortgage on the acquired property/land.
- Project finance: the financing of long-term infrastructure and public services projects, where the amounts borrowed to complete the project are paid back with the cash flow generated by the project.
- Asset finance: this enables the purchase and operation of large assets such as ships, aircraft and machinery. The lender normally takes security over the assets in question.
- Islamic finance: Muslim borrowers, lenders and investors must abide by Shari’a law, which prohibits the collection and payment of interest on a loan. Islamic finance specialists ensure that finance deals are structured in a Shari’a-compliant manner.
- Financial services regulation: lawyers in this field ensure that their bank clients operate in compliance with the relevant financial legislation.
For more information on European banking law, visit: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/eu-banking-and-financial-services-law_en
For more information about different legal areas visit our “What is…” articles at https://buenosabogados.es/what-is-animal-law/
