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Restructuring and insolvency: advising both borrowers and lenders in relation to the position of businesses that are in financial difficulties and unable to repay their debts as well as assisting with the restructuring of a company and/or its debt arrangements to address such issues.
Here’s a specific example Given the complexity and bespoke nature of most of the work we do, no two banking and finance matters are the same. However, to give you a better idea of the type of work you might find yourself involved in, we have set out an example of a matter that combines a few of the sub-areas described earlier in this article. Social impact investment The KWM banking and finance group has helped State Governments drive innovative ways to achieve desirable social outcomes – through the use of social impact bonds. A social impact bond is a contract with the government pursuant to which the investor invests money in a project targeted at achieving a particular social outcome (for example, a program designed to address chronic homelessness). The project itself is managed by a third party (generally an NGO). If the project achieves its goal and results in financial savings, then investors are entitled to a portion of those savings, payable by the relevant government entity. From a banking and finance law perspective, this involves drafting bespoke legal documentation which necessitates the combination of creativity with technical legal skills. These matters also often combine expertise in debt capital markets (which is necessary to raise the debt capital through the issuance of the bonds at first instance) and project finance (as the matter is in essence a project with a set outcome that to some extent mirrors more traditional project financing transactions). Help! I don’t know anything about banking or finance – how do I fit in as a junior? No need to worry! Work given to juniors in the banking and finance group allows you to gain valuable insights into the practice area without throwing you too far into the deep end too early in the game. As a junior you will often be in charge of:
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first drafts of transaction documentation;
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conducting ASIC and PPSR searches;
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running the deal completion agenda and facilitating the execution of deal documentation;
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researching proposed regulatory changes to the banking sector;
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working with clients to help manage compliance with regulatory requirements; and
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attending meetings with clients or negotiations with the other side.
For transactional work, you will often be the person that is the closest to the transaction documents and the status of each of the deal documents as a deal unfolds – which can be really exciting! Truly global Finance is a truly international industry - finance documents look remarkably similar all over the world, and many countries closely follow each other’s systems of financial regulation. At KWM you will be exposed to overseas parties whether it be that the client is an overseas company looking to invest in Australia or an Australian client is looking to start operations overseas. You will work with foreign counsel in the United States, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom – sometimes all on the same transaction! Although this can sometimes lead to some interesting timeslots for all-parties conference calls, it is all part of the excitement which comes with being a banking and finance lawyer. The global nature of the industry also lends itself to some exciting secondment opportunities at the many offices that make up KWM’s global network.