Banking & Finance

The Banking and Finance practice is one of the most established practice areas within the firm as we have been representing financial institutions since the commencement of the firm in 1964. 

Recognition 

The firm has been recommended for banking and finance by the legal publications asialaw, IFLR 1000 (International Financial Law Review) and Legal 500 Asia Pacific for many years. It was reported in the latest edition of Legal 500 Asia Pacific that a client described the team as “‘Top-tier practice in the region.’

The annual In-House Community survey, conducted among more than 17,000 in-house counsel members in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, UAE, Thailand, Malaysia and India, named the firm as an “IHC: Law Firm of the Year, 2023” for Banking and Finance.

The Team

We provide the knowledge and expertise of an experienced and well-coordinated banking team within the setting of a full-service commercial firm, with the capability to handle a variety of advisory and enforcement work in respect of conventional credit facilities, private debt securities and Islamic banking facilities based on Syariah concepts. 

Services

Besides routine retail banking (conventional and Islamic), over the years we have represented clients in regard to the documentation for corporate banking, trade finance, securitisation and debt restructuring work, bonds, commercial papers, medium term notes and various other forms of loan stocks. Part of our work also involves advising financial institutions, both local and foreign, on compliance and regulatory issues under Malaysian law. 

The firm routinely handles retail recovery portfolios for banks and other financial institutions, local and offshore. In regard to the enforcement aspect of banking, much of our focus is on corporate recovery and enforcement of security where the sums to be claimed are normally very large and/or where the surrounding issues pose particularly difficult problems to our clients.

Whilst a large part of our work involves the recovery of debts owed to our clients, we are also very often retained to take on defence litigation work representing clients who are faced with allegations of breach of regulatory and statutory duties, and/or breach of contractual and/or fiduciary duties to customers.

Clients often request our advice as to their template loan and security documentation to ensure that developments in the law are duly considered. We also work very closely with our clients to formulate policies on enforcement of legal rights, improve workflow and synchronise processes to ensure that recovery work can attain the best and most efficient results. 

From time to time, we assist and advise our clients on queries and issues raised by regulatory bodies such as Bank Negara Malaysia, for example, in regard to the administration of borrowers’ accounts and the implementation of Bank Negara Malaysia guidelines.