Loan Documentation

Essential resources for anyone contemplating negotiating loan finance documentation for a borrowing company

Before you start to negotiate loan documentation

The loan documentation for investment-grade borrowers

The April 2013 Guide explains the LMA investment grade loan facility documentation with particular emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages for borrowers and points for negotiation. It is a substantive update of previous versions of the Guide and includes new material on a range of topics as well as consolidating all the previous periodic updates. It also describes and comments on the implications of certain newer areas of law and regulation which are not yet reflected fully in the LMA template, including the implications of Basel III, regulatory changes affecting derivatives and reforms to LIBOR and other benchmarks. The June 2014 Supplement further brings the Guide up to date to reflect subsequent changes made by the LMA following discussions with the ACT.

The guide is published by the ACT and Slaughter and May and was sponsored and produced by Slaughter and May (www.slaughterandmay.com) for the ACT

The loan documentation for leveraged transactions

This guide is in two parts:

  • Part I contains an overview of the Leveraged Facilities Agreement. It also contains a summary of certain key points for negotiation (which are explored in more detail in Part II).
  • Part II is a commentary on certain key provisions of the Leveraged Facilities Agreement (and an explanation of some key omissions). It provides background to the most commonly negotiated aspects of the document and includes a series of "Borrower Notes" highlighting particular issues which Borrowers may wish to discuss with Lenders.

About Slaughter and May

Slaughter and May is a leading international law firm, which is well known as an advisor to corporate treasurers in their dealings in the domestic and international banking markets. Stephen Powell, a partner of Slaughter and May, is a member of the ACT Policy and Technical Committee.

2013 amendments to LMA primary documents

Withdrawal of the Mandatory Costs Schedule

From 1 April 2013 the LMA has ceased to publish its Mandatory Costs Schedule which provided a recommended form for calculating certain regulatory costs that apply within loan agreements. The LMA has published an explanatory note on mandatory costs This topic is further covered in the June 2014 Supplement to the ACT Guide.

Further Information

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