The 2008 edition of Chambers Global's The World's Leading Lawyers for Business ranks our banking and finance practices among Canada's leaders, giving the firm special praise in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal. The 2008 edition of IFLR 1000 recommends our group for both bank lending and regulatory work, while the 2007 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory identifies Stikeman Elliott banking lawyers in each of the four Canadian offices as leading practitioners in their field. Our expertise covers unsecured and secured lending, by one lender or in syndication, as well as structured transactions such as project financings, acquisition and lender offer financings, securitizations, and derivatives. The Toronto office publishes a commentary to the Personal Property Security Act (Ontario) in LexisNexis' Butterworths annual publication of the Ontario PPSA and Commentary. 

Areas of Expertise

In the past year, we have been particularly active in advising on financings involving income fund structures, both as borrower's and lender's counsel. We are also very well known for our work on work-outs and restructurings and have participated in some of Canada's largest and most high-profile situations. Our clients include Canadian and other financial institutions, investment funds, governments and their agencies and corporations in a wide range of industries.

We also have one of the leading financial institutions regulatory practices in Canada. We regularly advise leading Canadian and foreign financial institutions with respect to a broad range of financial institutions regulatory matters including acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures, permitted lines of business, capital and structured transactions and the establishment of new business.

Our finance practice extends to all areas of financing, including:

• Corporate financing
• Syndicated financing
• Cross-border financing
• Acquisition financing
• Project financing
• Asset based lending
• Debt restructuring
• Film and television financing
• Public and private debt instruments
• Real estate financing
• Derivative products
• Aircraft financing
• Securitizations
• Privatizations
• Public/private partnerships financing

Our clients include Canadian and foreign financial institutions and corporate borrowers involved in Canadian leading industries, such as:

• Pulp and paper
• Steel
• Entertainment
• Telecommunications
• Pharmaceutical and biotechnology
• Mining
• Transportation
• Information technology
• Manufacturing
• Retail
• Food processing
• Utilities

Regulatory and Financial Institutions

Our financial institutions practice is broad and diverse. Stikeman Elliott acts for participants in the financial institutions sector in the entire range of their activities. Our clients include major Schedule I and Schedule II banks, foreign banks, Canadian and other insurance companies, investment dealers, trust companies, members of the investment fund industry, and others, including non-regulated entities, providing financial services. We also advise or have advised governments and their agencies on legislative and regulatory issues. Our particular expertise in this sector includes:

• Corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures among financial institutions.
• Permitted activities and permitted investments.
• Establishment of financial services businesses in Canada and foreign bank entry into Canada.
• Bank capital transactions, including innovative capital transactions.
• Foreign bank debt and equity issuances into Canada.
• Compliance and capital issues.
• Consumer protection, cost of credit disclosure, usury laws and class actions.
• Government relations.

Many of the transactions in which we have acted involved significant regulatory advice. As a result, we have developed an in-depth understanding of the regulatory framework governing the sector at the federal and provincial levels, a good working relationship with regulators, and extensive knowledge of the public-policy environment in which they operate. In particular, we have worked closely and extensively with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), which governs financial institutions at the federal level. As an example, we have recently participated in a survey conducted by OSFI, and have met with representatives of OSFI, relative to OSFI's processes and procedures. In addition, we have worked closely with OSFI on, and have contributed to the drafting of, a number of recent policy statements by OSFI. We also have numerous contacts within the federal Department of Finance, which is responsible for drafting the policies, regulation and legislation that the OSFI and the department enforce. A former partner of the firm is a former federal Minister of Finance and another partner is the former Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of Canada. Another former partner is the current Minister of Finance of Ontario. Similarly, at the provincial level, we have strong ties to both regulators and policy analysts and advisors.

As regulatory regimes evolve in this and other sectors, competition (antitrust) law becomes a more vital component of corporate strategy. Our Competition Group is considered among the best in Canada. Through our work on the proposed merger of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Toronto-Dominion Bank, as well as other transactions in the sector, we have developed valuable insight into the application of the Competition Act to participants in the financial services sector.

Recent Group Activities

Go-To Law Firm of Leading Financial Services Companies
The firm has been selected by clients as a Go-To Law Firm of Leading Financial Services Companies in the 2008 Incisive Media guide In-House Law Departments at the Leading Financial Services Companies.

Partner writes article on Islamic Financial Services
Stuart Carruthers authored the article "Islamic Financial Services in Canada: Recent Developments and Long-Term Prospects" in the May edition of Islamic Finance News.