When first submitted for publication in February, this article predicted a recession of unknown origin. COVID-19 answered the question in March.  While we don’t know how long the current health and economic crises will last, we know they are here, and that a meaningful number of lawyers and businesspeople have not encountered a widespread economic downturn. 

Attorneys from McMillan LLP discuss the differences between the personal property security regimes between the U.S. and Canada. 

As more and more companies look at integrating sustainability into their business processes and strategy, there is still much room for growth in the green and sustainable finance market. The Covid-19 crisis is only expected to increase interest in this area.

Significant disruptions in credit quality have facilitated the need for field examiners to be on alert for situations that are generally not prevalent in a more stable environment. 

Jones Day partners provide details on a cross-border restructuring case over many foreign and U.S. jurisdictions.

The pressures brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic have increased the likelihood of borrowers breaching their financial covenants. Secured lenders should be aware that force majeure clauses in contracts might be invoked by companies. Here, industry executives provide their views on this concern. 

Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring, and investment firm, announced today the appointment of Kyle Shonak as Managing Director in the Retail division.  In his role as Managing Director, Shonak will have many responsibilities, including managing retail client engagements and working with the team to enhance the group’s retail growth strategy.

Ares Commercial Finance (“ACF”) announced that Mitch Drucker has joined as a Partner. Mr. Drucker will be a part of the ACF leadership team comprised of Mitch Goldstein, Ryan Cascade, John Nooney and Oleh Szczupak.  He will also sit on the Investment Committee for ACF and be involved in all aspects of the business from origination to portfolio management.

During the Secured Finance Network’s webinar on the healthcare finance sector, streamed May 15, Allen Wilen of EisnerAmper, described a future scenario affected by human longevity, geographic location and how COVID-19 affected you. New trends relevant to finance executives are accelerating out of necessity because of the sudden impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the weaknesses it illuminated.

Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring, and investment firm, announced today that it has provided a $20 million secured term loan facility to Brooks Brothers Group, Inc, the prototypical American apparel retailer headquartered in New York, New York.  A family business founded in 1818, the company has grown into a truly global brand with stores across the United States and Canada as well as a footprint that spans over 70 countries.  

Monroe Credit Advisors (“Monroe Credit”) announced that Marc Pressler has joined the firm as a Managing Director in its Chicago office. Marc will be responsible for originating middle market debt and lease transactions for the firm.

Marc has over 30 years of experience in commercial banking and structured finance. Prior to Monroe Credit, Marc was the Commercial Banking Segment Leader at Associated Bank, where he was responsible for leading the origination, underwriting and portfolio management teams in the Southeast Wisconsin region. 

Although experts generally agree that networking is important to career success, a surprisingly large number of professionals dread the process to the point that the mere mention of the word makes them anxious and irritated. Lynn Tanner of Winston and Strawn provides a detailed “cheat sheet” for taking the pain out of networking.

I trust you are safe and well as we begin to enter a new phase of this crisis, that of slowly reopening our economy. While the devastation we have experienced has been profound on both a personal and professional level, our community has played a crucial role in weathering this storm and will continue to do so as we emerge stronger and more resilient than before. I am moved by examples of how our members are keeping essential supply chains intact, funding providers of critical services and responding to the surge of funding requests from businesses that have pivoted away from their usual products to manufacture PPE to ease the shortage, not to mention those who are donating and raising funds for groups being adversely affected during this unprecedented time.

The Company entered into an incremental 364-day $200 million term loan (the "364-Day Loan") among several banks and other financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent. The additional financing provided under the 364-Day Loan enhances the Company's liquidity during the unprecedented global impact of COVID-19. 

The Post-COVID New Normal For Store Closing and Strategic Sale Events. Reflections by SB360’s Scott Bernstein.

“Why aren’t you in the water?  Nobody’s going in.  Please… get in the water.”  Those pleading words uttered in the 1975 blockbuster movie “Jaws” were part of an ill-fated effort by Mayor Larry Vaughn to save his fictional sleepy beach town from financial ruin.  Those of us who saw the movie or have binged watched Shark Week re-runs know how that worked out for the reluctant residents of Amity.

House Democrats unveiled a massive $3-trillion virus-relief bill Tuesday, combining aid to state and local governments with direct cash payments, expanded unemployment insurance and food stamp spending as well as funds for voting by mail and the U.S. Postal Service.  A vote is likely on Friday.

While the bill is not supported by House Republicans (or expected to become law), it is the opening salvo for the next COVID-19 relief package, which will likely face protracted negotiations between the White House and Congress.

House Democrats prepared the below summaries, which make a number of changes to programs in the CARES Act, including  to the Payroll Protection Program (PPP).  

After careful review, the Advocacy Committee of SFNet  determined that we should provide additional comments to the Fed and Treasury in an effort to make the Main Street Loan Programs better suited to ABL lenders.   Among key issues raised were (i) making it available to nondepository lenders so that they may, in turn, serve their borrowers; (ii) reducing the minimum on the MSELF from $10 million to $1 million; (iii) eliminating the requirement that any Main Street loans be pari passu with the ABL facility and collateral; (iv) ensuring that participation in the loans is guaranteed to be in the program prior to lender funding and (v) eliminating EBITDA as a metric for both eligibility and loan sizing. Please click here to view the letter.

Fifth Third Bank, National Association, announced today that Mitchell Feiger, the chairman and CEO of Fifth Third Bank (Chicago), will retire on May 29, 2020. Succeeding him as the leader of the Chicago region will be Mark Hoppe, who had been named to the post of regional president in July 2019. Feiger had served in his current role since the merger of Fifth Third Bank and MB Financial in March 2019. He previously had served as president and CEO of MB Financial. 

White Oak Commercial Finance is pleased to announce that Martin F. Efron has joined the firm as the portfolio manager in New York, serving the Northeast region. He will report to Bob Grbic, CEO and president of White Oak Commercial Finance.