At Meissner Tierney,  our attorneys regularly counsel clients in the financial services industry, with a focus towards maintaining the integrity of our clients’ investments and protecting our clients’ individual and institutional interests.

Our clients come from a variety of disciplines within the financial industry, including banking, investment and insurance.  On the banking side, our clients include banks, credit unions and other creditors and lending institutions.  We frequently counsel on a wide range of issues, including commercial financing and lending, public financing, financial restructuring and workouts, creditor’s rights, perfection of security interests, state and federal regulatory compliance, privacy regulations, foreclosure and loan-related litigation, just to name a few.  We often work with institutions to both develop standardized documentation for various types of commercial and consumer transactions and to modify existing documentation to accommodate the unique aspects of transactions.  Of course, we also work extensively with clients in matters involving transaction analysis, term negotiation and document drafting.

On the investment side, our clients include venture capitalists, investment advisors, investment advisor representatives, broker-dealers and other financial professionals.  Our attorneys regularly assist these individuals and institutions in registration, filings and compliance matters before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and state administrative agencies, as well as filings, regulatory compliance and representation in enforcement and other litigation proceedings.

On the insurance side, we represent a number of national and international insurance companies in a variety of matters, including various state licensure and expansion applications, annual and quarterly state compliance filings, audit committee and investment committee compliance and antifraud and other regulatory compliance.  Our attorneys also frequently represent insurance companies in coverage disputes, regulatory enforcement and other litigation matters.

Our breadth of experience in the financial industry allows us to offer counsel that is uniquely tailored to our clients’ businesses.  Whether it’s negotiating and implementing a particular transaction, or ensuring our clients’ sophisticated practices are in line with complicated and ever-evolving regulation, we allow our clients to focus on their businesses rather than their risk of liability.

Commercial Loans

From negotiation and documentation to workouts and refinancing, our attorneys are experienced in all aspects of commercial lending transactions.  Whether representing the lender or the borrower, we aggressively negotiate favorable terms, diligently analyze and draft documents to ensure agreements are memorialized in an unambiguous manner, clearly explain to the client the impact of the transaction on its business and carefully strategize with the client as to how to most efficiently incorporate the transaction into its existing business.

Lender Liability Defense

Our attorneys are experienced in defending lending institutions against lender liability lawsuits.  Whether grounded in traditional theories, such as bad faith or breach of fiduciary duty, or theories that have only recently become popular, such as those contemplating “robo-signing” and mortgage securitization, our attorneys are well prepared to advise on and defend such lawsuits.  We also regularly consult with our lending institution clients to ensure they have proper processes in place to both mitigate the risk and lessen the probability of success of such lawsuits.

Loan Documentation and Enforcement

Our attorneys are experienced in reviewing, revising and drafting virtually all types of loan and related documentation, including credit agreements, promissory notes, guaranties, security agreements, assignments of leases and rents, subordination agreements, modification agreements, purchase and sale agreements, letters of credit, collateral pledge agreements, collateral agency agreements and interest rate option and swap agreements, among many others. We strive to build maximum client protection into our documents. If enforcement under a lending transaction is in our client’s best interest, whether under collateral recovery, distressed asset sale or foreclosure, we move swiftly and intelligently to obtain the most value for our client.

Secured Transactions

When a borrower defaults in a lending transaction, the promise to repay is only as good as the collateral taken by the lender.  We approach each transaction with this in mind and we work for our clients to diligently perfect all available security interests in a timely and correct manner.  We supplement this diligence with expertise in loan workouts, restructurings, liquidations and foreclosures, and aggressively take such actions when they are in our client’s best interest.