IFLR 1000
The Guide to the World's Leading Financial Law Firms

	A&L Goodbody Arthur Cox Matheson Ormsby Prentice McCann FitzGerald
	William Fry
	Byrne Wallace Eversheds LK Shields Mason Hayes & Curran
	Dillon Eustace Eugene F Collins Maples and Calder Walkers

It has been another turbulent 12 months for Ireland's banks. With the property bubble long burst and the government ploughing reserves into its debt-ridden institutions, which were teetering on the brink of default, a bail out to rescue the Republic looked increasingly likely as 2010 drew to a close. Swallowing its pride, the former government requested assistance from the EU and IMF to the tune of €90 billion in November 2010. A good proportion of this money has already been funnelled in to the banks in return for additional shares and now the country's banking system has an altogether different complexion.

The banks can now be divided into two distinct categories; the ones supported by the state, which have handed over loan portfolios to Nama (National Asset Management Agency), and the independents. Allied Irish (AIB), Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish, EBS, Irish Nationwide and Irish Life and Permanent, all fall into the first group, while on the non-Nama side is National Irish Bank, RBS (Ulster Bank) and the other international lenders.

Going forward, the Minister of Finance plans to consolidate and has said only two stripped-down, conventional banks will remain, AIB and Bank of Ireland.

With foreign investment vital to the country's economic recovery, the state is conscious that it must assure the world that every endeavour has been made to redress the glitches in the old system. "The particular issue that was identified was that hands-on regulation and auditing of the financial services industry in general was poor and in particular there was a skills gap, where the regulators didn't have the capability to fully analyse. As a result of that there's a huge exercise by the Central Bank in up-skilling as well as increasing their hands-on supervisory roll," explains one lawyer.

All the financial services regulatory work has now been transferred from the financial regulator, which was previously a separate entity to the Central Bank, to an internal department. "You are now going to see the Central Bank of Ireland looking after all aspects of financial services regulatory work as well as the prudential capital side of the equation." explains one lawyer.

A mass of new regulations and numerous restructurings has filled a void in conventional banking and finance activity for several lawyers. One partner says: "In broad terms, an awful lot of what we've been doing from an advisory perspective is advising on restructuring, or regulatory, or protective work for corporates and others.

The country is by no means through the worst of the crisis but with the action being taken through Nama and a new government elected in March 2011, lawyers are upbeat. "I would suggest that at least the cycle has moved on a little - even if that's going on to enforcement or restructuring or whatever at least it's just not frozen indefinitely," says one lawyer.

Nama is certainly still one the biggest clients in town. Primarily employing firms to complete the due diligence on the loans that it took on from banks to become a consolidated lender, Nama has since moved to making decisions on how to progress with the loans. Developers have submitted business plans and on the basis of whether the agency considers them feasible or not it decides how to progress. "We're in the phase where Nama has the business plans and has decided either to enforce the loans or restructure the organisation's facilities. So we're seeing quite a bit of activity out of that," explains one lawyer. A further bounty of instructions for lawyers and opportunities for investors is assured once the sale of assets from within the loan portfolios begins.

On the pure lending side, firms have not been overwhelmed with opportunities but banks have healthier balance sheets, courtesy of the state and have opened their doors again at its behest. As it owns controlling stakes in a significant proportion of the country's banks it is utilising them to stimulate the economy. Small and medium size enterprise (SME) lending has been one such growth area spurred by the government. "The Irish government at the moment is very much focussed on growing our way out of this recession and they believe that they only way to do that is by creating employment in these smaller companies. They have put pressure on the Irish banks and they are the majority shareholder if not a 100% shareholder in most of them, to lend to these businesses," says one lawyer.

A niche industry, based in the country to avail of its favourable tax laws, is aviation finance, which has proven itself almost recession-proof. "Some banks still have international capital. There are areas that are a risk - aviation isn't one. It's one of the few areas seen as attractive to lend to," says one partner. Financial institutions are willing to bankroll Irish aircraft lease companies, which are doing a roaring trade with rapidly expanding Asian companies that need to account for large populations which are travelling more.

Irish banks may indeed have a new problem on the horizon as non-domestic banks look to capitalise on the difficulties and gain purchase on the Irish market by undercutting their local counterparts. One lawyer says: "While the Irish banks are still open for business, more and more lending at that high level with those blue chip corporates is from foreign banks who are offering very competitive pricing," says one partner and another agrees: "We're increasingly seeing foreign banks taking over in the role as the primary bankers of some significant Irish companies. So people like HSBC are increasing their presence in the market and Ulster Bank are doing the same," says one banking lawyer.

Competitors allege that Arthur Cox and McCann FitzGerald are gaining market share from A&L Goodbody, but none deny the firm has the capabilities to compete: "Goodbody's has a good and very diversified banking and financial services practice," observes one.Of the firm's leading lawyers, Séamus Ó'Cróinín, who heads the firm's aviation finance practice, is highly regarded by rivals: "Séamus is a very reasonable, collegiate and practical person and certainly someone I like to work with," remarks one lawyer.... [more]

Competitors allege that Arthur Cox and McCann FitzGerald are gaining market share from A&L Goodbody, but none deny the firm has the capabilities to compete: "Goodbody's has a good and very diversified banking and financial services practice," observes one.

Of the firm's leading lawyers, Séamus Ó'Cróinín, who heads the firm's aviation finance practice, is highly regarded by rivals: "Séamus is a very reasonable, collegiate and practical person and certainly someone I like to work with," remarks one lawyer.

Aircraft leasing and securitisation has proven a robust niche in Ireland and activity in this area is coming to the fore again. Leading lawyer Catherine Duffy advised the International Leasing Finance Company on a secured term $1.3 billion loan from a group of 15 banks from Europe, Asia and North America. The facility was signed in April 2011 and will be funded over the next 12 months due to mature in 2018. Duffy also advised aircraft lease company GECAS on a $336 million securitisation of a portfolio of aircraft engines involving Rotor Securitisation and its subsidiaries.

The bulk of banking and finance work available in Ireland in 2010 had a distressed element and the firm was involved in Bank of Scotland's withdrawal of its Irish operations in August 2010. A newly formed company, Certus, which comprised more than 700 members of the Bank of Scotland Ireland's management team, was set up to manage the bank's Irish loan books. Banking partners Kevin Feeney and Ross Moore were retained on behalf of Certus to advise on all aspects of the transfer including, UK and Irish financial regulatory issues, UK FSA requirements and multi-jurisdictional analysis of consumer credit issues. The firm signed the deal in November 2010.

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A mark of a firm's quality can be seen in the calibre of its clients and Arthur Cox has long been the preferred council of the Government. Challenging times for the country has meant an abundance of complicated mandates for the firm which, when allied with a wealth of positive references from clients and competitors, secures the firm's premier placing.... [more]

A mark of a firm's quality can be seen in the calibre of its clients and Arthur Cox has long been the preferred council of the Government. Challenging times for the country has meant an abundance of complicated mandates for the firm which, when allied with a wealth of positive references from clients and competitors, secures the firm's premier placing.

"Cox's have a very good corporate banking practise," observes one competitor, who cites practice head Grainne Hennessy as an impressive figure among the firm's banking partners. In a deal of extreme magnitude, Hennessy acted for the state in negotiating the terms of €44 billion in funding from the EU, the European Financial Stability Facility, the UK, Sweden and Denmark, which was extended to the country in December 2010.

Headline deals are common for the firm, and the loans extended to property developer Bernard McNamara, some of the first to be assumed by Nama (National Asset Management Agency), required some significant restructuring with the assistance of the firm. Partners Kevin Lynch, Brendan Cooney and Shane Fraher advised Ulster Bank Ireland on the deal, which involved the enforcement of security, in January 2011.

The firm prides itself on being one of the Irish firms that has cross-border capabilities and partners Kathleen Garrett and Ruth Lonergan acted for the Guernsey based Northern Trust which signed off on a $250 million multicurrency revolving credit to Stenham Asset Management in October 2010.

Regulatory advice has become integral to Irish corporations in the last 12 months. The firm's financial services regulatory department is headed by partners Orla O'Connor and Robert Cain. The latter has advised both Postbank and Bank of Scotland Ireland on winding down operations in Ireland and assisted the capital markets team in advising the Department of Finance and the Nama on restructuring the country's banking sector. Cain is consistently praised by clients as pragmatic and responsive: "He has got a very commercial approach, he knows a lot about method; he was at the FSA on secondment, so he has got a good grounding in European legislation so he's very good to work with," says one.

Clients value the practice as a whole for its excellent level of service: "I really think they're good, incredibly approachable, always responsive, very commercial and pragmatic. I really like working with them," one says

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Matheson Ormsby Prentice (MOP) remains in the first tier. Some commentators see the firm as primarily focussed on structured products but with 27 international banks and all the domestic institutions on its books even those sceptical competitors admit the firm is active across the banking sphere.... [more]

Matheson Ormsby Prentice (MOP) remains in the first tier. Some commentators see the firm as primarily focussed on structured products but with 27 international banks and all the domestic institutions on its books even those sceptical competitors admit the firm is active across the banking sphere. “They do pick up significant banking roles. They were involved in the recent central bank work that was looking at capital requirements of the Irish banks, but they wouldn't be seen as having the strongest corporate banking practice,” remarks one peer.

The departure of partner and aviation finance specialist Ken Rush to Irish newcomer Walkers is considered a blow by some competitors and the firm has since moved to fill any gap left with the promotion of Marie O’Brien, who was made up in January 2011.

One partner at the firm who is regarded as visible on the market and receives plaudits from peers is Patrick Molloy: “On general finance, Patrick is someone who I would describe as a technically excellent lawyer who always has a lot of drive to close the deal,” remarks one lawyer.

Partner Libby Garvey is one of the team’s members who has been involved in some significant transactions recently, and in one notable deal advised Marine Harvest in relation to the Irish aspects of the refinancing of a €600 million revolving loan it had in place with DnB NOR Bank, Nordea Bank Norge, Coöperative Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank and Fortis Bank.

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Heavily admired by competitors, McCann FitzGerald warrants a tier of its own according to some: "In my mind McCann's are ahead of the rest in terms of the banking space. In terms of quality of the work they do.... [more]

Heavily admired by competitors, McCann FitzGerald warrants a tier of its own according to some: "In my mind McCann's are ahead of the rest in terms of the banking space. In terms of quality of the work they do. They've got an awful lot of good people on a lot of good deals," says one peer. Another lawyer values the range of experts they have with a variety of competencies: "Derivatives, lots of the different types of financing, they would have specialisations across the board," remarks the lawyer.

Competitors single out Niall Powderly, who was active for Wells Fargo in 2010, as an exceptional lawyer: "Excellent and decent to be on the other side of a deal with," is one lawyers assessment. Powderly advised the US bank on providing financing for the $130 million acquisition Trintech to Spectrum Investors.

Aviation finance, a lucrative niche which is central to several of the leading banking practises, is an area where McCann FitzGerald is extolled: "I would say McCann FitzGerald have a premier aircraft practice. Hilary Marren is technically excellent with a very broad industry knowledge which makes her practical and reasonable and excellent to deal with," remarks one competitor, adding: "Catherine Deane would also certainly be very well respected as an aircraft lawyer and be regarded as very effective." The team has been advising on several deals in this area, which at the time of writing were confidential.

A highlight deal came for the firm in September 2010 when Fergus Gillen led a team advising the Electricity Supply Board on a €970 million syndicated loan with 15 international and Irish banks. The facilities consist of an acquisition loan of approximately €970 million which was used to part-fund the acquisition of the Northern Ireland Electricity networks business from Viridian Group.

A team comprising partners Roy Parker, David Lydon, David Byers and Adrian Farrell advised long-standing client Anglo Irish Bank on a succession of promissory notes in 2010. The first at a value of €8.3 billion and two subsequent increases of €2 billion in May 2010 and €8.6 billion in August.

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Not as diverse as those ranked above it, but more experienced with broader capabilities than those below it, William Fry is placed accurately according to the market.Peers say the practice has undergone a reshuffle lately: "I think Fry's have now brought their banking group back in to their corporate group essentially.... [more]

Not as diverse as those ranked above it, but more experienced with broader capabilities than those below it, William Fry is placed accurately according to the market.

Peers say the practice has undergone a reshuffle lately: "I think Fry's have now brought their banking group back in to their corporate group essentially. It was never really a stand-alone banking department it was made up of a funds department and insurance group and it was mainly for corporates who are borrowing rather than for banks who are lending," explains one competitor.

Clients emphasise the influence of practice head Elaine Hanley and see her as the most prominent figure. "Elaine Hanley is very good. She has an excellent depth of legal knowledge and the level of service we get is absolutely top draw," says one. Clients also remarked that the associates at the firm were of a high standard. One says: "They are very focussed, very careful and they move quite quickly." Despite clients noting that the firm are one of the most expensive in Ireland they consider it value for money.

Hanley led a team advising packing company Ardagh Glass on securing the financing for the €1.7 billion the acquisition of Impress Cooperative and refinancing some of its existing debt via the issue of €1.68 billion notes in September 2010. In other notable work Hamley advised Barclays, BarCap and JPMorgan as joint lead arrangers for the €5 billion refinancing of senior and second lien loans for the Ineos group, the world's third largest chemical company, which closed in May 2010.

The firm is part of Nama's (National Asset Management Agency) legal panel and have been active for the agency on the largest single enforcement of loans ever executed at one time.

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Eversheds has a good presence in mid-market deals and is consistently regarded as one of the more active players in this sphere. The practice is headed by Steve Rodgers who has been advising Bank of Scotland (RBS) Ireland, which has withdrawn from the country, on restructuring major loans for various borrowers still on its books.... [more]

Eversheds has a good presence in mid-market deals and is consistently regarded as one of the more active players in this sphere.

The practice is headed by Steve Rodgers who has been advising Bank of Scotland (RBS) Ireland, which has withdrawn from the country, on restructuring major loans for various borrowers still on its books.

A significant acquisition finance deal saw the firm act for IFG Group on its purchase of UK SIPP Provider James Hay Holdings from Santander Private Banking.

Swedish company SEB Life also mandated the firm to assist on the purchase of Irish Life International, a subsidiary of Irish Life & Permanent, for €26 million.

The firm's regulatory practice, which operates under the guidance of Peter Fahy, has also been active for Northern Rock, Friends First and several UK institutions on Irish financial services law.

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The banking partnership at LK Shields has expanded in the past 12 months with the addition of recently promoted Neil O'Keeffe.Nama has provided some of the firm largest deals in the last 12 months.... [more]

The banking partnership at LK Shields has expanded in the past 12 months with the addition of recently promoted Neil O'Keeffe.

Nama has provided some of the firm largest deals in the last 12 months. Back in May 2010, practice head Richard Curran and O'Keeffe acted for Bank of Ireland in the review, remediation and transfer of assets to the state agency.

More recently, in April 2011, the pair acted for Nama conducting due diligence on €3 billion worth of bank assets it was targeting for acquisition.

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Although crisis-driven work has largely dominated the deal-list of Eugene F Collins, the firm has also completed new finance mandates recently.

An area of the economy which has remained resilient in the crisis in Ireland is the export driven industry and banks are willing to finance companies operating in this sector.... [more]

Although crisis-driven work has largely dominated the deal-list of Eugene F Collins, the firm has also completed new finance mandates recently.

An area of the economy which has remained resilient in the crisis in Ireland is the export driven industry and banks are willing to finance companies operating in this sector. In line with this, Laura MacDermott advised agricultural food supplier Kepak on securing a long-term club financing with revolving credit facilities with Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks and Rabobank in April 2011.

In an ongoing refinancing, MacDermott and fellow partner Mark Walsh acted for Ulster Bank Ireland on the revision of facilities to an Irish and UK property group, which involves utilising Isle of Man, Jersey and Luxembourg structures.

The firm have also been assisting The Truvo Group, a multinational company specialising in directories and advertising, in the post Chapter 11 refinancing of its subsidiaries, which had not gone in to insolvency. [hide]

Dillon Eustace’s seven-partner banking and finance team, headed by Mark Throne, have been predominantly occupied with international clients in the last 12 months.

Acting as Irish counsel, a finance team led by Conor Keaveny is advising a Russian bank on various debt funding structures for asset purchases, derivative transactions, and secured and unsecured credit facilities.... [more]

Dillon Eustace’s seven-partner banking and finance team, headed by Mark Throne, have been predominantly occupied with international clients in the last 12 months.

Acting as Irish counsel, a finance team led by Conor Keaveny is advising a Russian bank on various debt funding structures for asset purchases, derivative transactions, and secured and unsecured credit facilities.

A further ongoing matter sees Keaveny, Karen Jennings and Claire Kennedy acting for a South African asset manager on various banking deals, including secured credit facilities and derivative transactions.

Closer to home, Keaveny, Kennedy and Adrian Benson advised a UK based bank on providing a secured credit facility for promoters of a trading company in the security industry. Closing in Q3 2010, the facility will be used to finance its expansion in Mexico and the US.

On the domestic front, the firm has continued to advise the National Assets Management Agency (Nama) on the transfer of assets to it from Irish institutions.
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Walkers poached partner Ken Rush from Mattheson Ormsby Prentice to head the asset finance group in its Dublin office which launched in 2011.

Rush focuses on aviation finance and leasing and has a solid track record in this area.... [more]

Walkers poached partner Ken Rush from Mattheson Ormsby Prentice to head the asset finance group in its Dublin office which launched in 2011.

Rush focuses on aviation finance and leasing and has a solid track record in this area. Walkers has also added former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer associate David McGovern to Rush’s team. [hide]

Maples and Calder continues to expand and in May 2010 the firm welcomed a new addition to its banking practice – former Arthur Cox finance partner Liam Carney. As well as from acting on a substantial confidential matter, Carney also advised RBS Citizens as the joint arranger for the syndicate providing a $150 million facility and $30 million sub facility to Penn Engineering in April 2011.... [more]

Maples and Calder continues to expand and in May 2010 the firm welcomed a new addition to its banking practice – former Arthur Cox finance partner Liam Carney. As well as from acting on a substantial confidential matter, Carney also advised RBS Citizens as the joint arranger for the syndicate providing a $150 million facility and $30 million sub facility to Penn Engineering in April 2011.
 
The firm has also been active in the aviation a finance sector. One notable deal sees David Maughan assisting Investec in the establishment of Irish aircraft leasing platform. [hide]