Financial Services

Pre-eminent in Canada
Blakes is recognized as having Canada’s pre-eminent financial services practice. Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business 2013 ranks Blakes number one in banking and finance: Blakes is singled out for its leading banking and finance practice, with sources highlighting the quality of its practitioners and its extensive breadth and depth of experience across the country. “Sources say: ‘They have a real devotion to their financial services practice’ ‘It has always been a top firm in this area.’ ‘Blakes has an outstanding group, with credible people and a great deal flow.’ ”

Depth of Experience
Many of the largest and most highly regarded financial institutions and financial services providers in Canada, the U.S., Europe and Asia, as well as other non-Canadian financial service providers, regularly retain Blakes as counsel. They rely on our extensive experience in successfully structuring, negotiating and documenting a wide variety of domestic and cross-border financing transactions. These include syndications, project finance, asset-based lending, trade finance, high-yield offerings, debt and debtor-in-possession financing, warehouse facilities credit arrangements, private placements, securitizations and structured financing, subordinated debt arrangements, as well as aircraft and other equipment finance and capital markets debt offerings.

Blakes is highly regarded for our expertise in the regulation of financial institutions. We advise on the establishment or acquisition of financial services entities, the development of business and consumer loan and leasing programs, and compliance with the federal and provincial regulatory requirements that apply to financial services entities, their products and their distribution networks.

We also regularly provide advice in connection with a wide variety of other financial-service-related issues, including the purchase and sale of lease, loan and credit card portfolios and deposit businesses; First Nations finance and banking; franchise finance; time-share financings; consumer and commercial loan and lease programs; letters of credit; securities lending; financial products and services distribution arrangements; and outsourcing by financial institutions.

Whether advising on the financing of a domestic or cross-border transaction, structuring financial service products, offering regulatory guidance or acting on a securitization, we have the capability and depth to meet our clients’ needs. Throughout our representation, we offer our clients seamless access to the expertise of our tax, securities, insolvency, regulatory and other specialty groups as needed.