SFNet's International Finance and Development Committee has recently announced the launch of its ABL Cross-Border Database.  The database is a comprehensive compilation of information from publicly available credit agreements in large cross-border asset-based loans. The database currently includes 61 transactions, representing all ABL cross-border transactions closed and filed with the SEC from 2011 to present (excluding those transactions involving only the United States and Canada), and will be updated regularly to cover new transactions. 

The data summarized in the database promises to be of particular use to ABL lenders because it  focuses on issues of special interest to these lenders, including: 

• The country in which each borrower is domiciled
• The countries in which collateral is located
• The asset classes comprising the collateral
• Country-specific borrowing base reserves
• Country-specific guarantee limitations
• Limitations on up-stream and cross-stream guaranties mandated by the laws of the guarantor's country
• The currencies in which loans are made
• Whether a consolidated borrowing base is used
• Whether the lenders are banks or non-banks

The database also includes links to the actual credit agreements, providing easy access for lenders wishing to see how specific issues were addressed in the loan documentation.

The information in the database may be searched by key word and may be filtered by the jurisdiction of the borrowers, administrative agent, currencies in which advances were made, or a particular ABL issue.  For example, if you are interested in knowing whether a consolidated borrowing base was used in loans to UK and Dutch borrowers, the database can answer that question.

Although the database only includes public transactions, the information in the database will also be relevant to private and smaller transactions.  It is also hoped that, over time, the database might be expanded to include information relating to non-public loans.

Development of the database was spearheaded by the International Finance & Development Committee's Data Task Force, headed by William Starshak of Goldberg Kohn Ltd.  The database was compiled by Laura Jakubowski at Goldberg Kohn and a team at Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs LLP led by Jonathan Bush and Veronica Macias, and was made available through the SFNet website with substantial assistance from SFNet's IT staff.  According to William Starshak, "The Committee hopes that, by pulling together ABL-focused data from public ABL cross-border deals in an easily searchable way, we have provided a highly useful tool to lenders and lawyers engaged in cross-border lending."   

“For lenders working on cross-border transactions, this database will be an incredible resource to see how the asset-based industry is structuring such transactions and dealing with the unique elements of the laws of the different jurisdictions, even being able to easily access the actual agreements used to find the answers,” observed David Morse of Otterbourg P.C., vice-chair of the  International Finance & Development Committee.

The database is available at no cost and on an unlimited basis to SFNet members, and also to attendees at the SFNet International Lending Conference and the SFNet Cross-Border Lending Summit, and can be accessed through the SFNet International Finance Committee webpage (SFNet International Finance & Development Committee | Secured Finance Network) using your SFNet log-in credentials. 

The Committee's web page is currently being populated with other helpful resources, including key UNICTRAL texts, archived articles on cross-border lending subjects in The Secured Lender, and slides from presentations given over the years at the SFNet International Lending Conferences and Cross-Border Lending Summits.  A future project is a listserv for readers to post questions and answers on specific cross-border lending issues.  According to Richard Kohn, Chairman of the Committee, "Our goal is that the Committee's web page will become a go-to resource that significantly advances the exciting ongoing conversation about cross-border lending."

The Committee urges you to give the ABL Cross-Border Database a try.  Also, please send any suggestions for improving or enhancing the database to Laura Jakubowski (at  Laura.Jakubowski@goldbergkohn.com).