Project Finance News

(Case results depend on many factors unique to each case, including facts of a case and decisions of independent third parties.  No firm can guarantee a positive result in any particular case.)

The banking regulatory crisis that began in June 2006 caused great disruption in the functioning of banks throughout the European Union.  In the midst of the already constantly changing banking regulations that had begun paralyzing the financial industry, the Wall Street based law firm and licensed financial services institution, STILAS International Law Services, P.A., successfully implemented a series of extraordinary measures at substantial expense.  These solutions far exceeded the retainers paid by clients for law firm preparation work for project financing, with STILAS investing as much as $5.0 Million USD in efforts to overcome banking paralysis.  Much of the work was provided for and with banking institutions in Europe, on a pro-bono basis, far above and beyond the scope of its contracts with clients.

Work on solutions was accomplished under the guidance of Matthew Greene, the founder of STILAS and a former law enforcement investigator and Chief of Special Operations in economic security for governments.  Matthew Greene and STILAS assembled a team of top lawyers from different countries to accomplish the mission.  As a result of changing banking laws, many methods of structured collateral funding had become obsolete and unworkable, and moving funds between countries increasingly problematic.  STILAS re-engineered multi-level legal documents for structured collateral financing transactions, using new and cutting edge securities methods that are easier for the banks to process under new legislative restrictions.

In February 2007, after 8 months of delays by banks who were unable to close transactions, STILAS successfully closed a landmark structured collateral project financing loan, using its new proprietary methods for registered securities as collateral instruments.  As a “test transaction” with a corresponding European Union bank, as part of the bank’s in-house banking operations, STILAS structured financial instrument collateral for a loan, and prepared the financial mechanisms and legal documents for closing the transaction, which resulted in a loan from an Italian bank to its European hedge fund subsidiary for $100 Million USD at 3.5% interest rate with LTV 100% against collateral.

This “test transaction” proved that STILAS itself was entirely effective and fully capable of successfully closing collateral loans for its clients using its new securities methods.  It also proved that those methods work, and can be used by banks worldwide to strengthen national economies through private sector transactions.  The widespread delays preventing most project financing loans are due only to the paralysis of the banking industry in crisis, and banks being simply unprepared to process or close commercial loans for new clients.  STILAS is negotiating with banks throughout the EU to use the successful “test transaction” model to fund its own clients.  While banks have given it highly favorable consideration, the only obstacle is a developing credit crisis, and banks are concerned about their own capital reserve ratios regarding whether or not they are prepared to fund any project loans.