Addressing funding requirements and advising on the most appropriate structure for large financing arrangements require in-depth expertise in corporate law, tax and accounting rules, security interests, insolvency law and a variety of legal, regulatory and operating issues, frequently across multiple jurisdictions.

Our fields of expertise

Simont Braun's banking and finance team deals with all aspects in Belgian law of general corporate, (syndicated) asset-based financing and real estate financing.

We assist Belgian and foreign clients (both as borrowers' and as lenders' counsel) in the drafting and/or negotiation of credit documentation, including the security interest and guarantee package required to secure the financing. We are notably familiar with the LMA models.

We are recognised for our expertise in:

Setting up security interest packages in a complex legal environment, including cross-border matters;

• Assisting banks or investors in the structuring, drafting and negotiation of security packages relating to movable or immovable assets, such as real estate property, financial instruments held in the Euroclear System or otherwise, claims portfolios, cash or securities accounts, commodities, gold, works of art, etc;


• Advising clients taking into account conflict of laws issues and providing legal opinions on security interests governed by Belgian law;


• Assisting clients in enforcing their Belgian security interests to ensure full compliance with Belgian regulations;


• Covering the impact of insolvency regulations on credit, security interests in cross-border situations, from both a structuring and an enforcement perspective;


• At the request of financial institutions, issuing legal opinions to confirm the validity and enforceability under Belgian law of credit agreements, security interests and guarantees in the complex cross-border legal environment.

Some recent projects

• Advising a foreign bank on a pledge on commodities held by a third party pledgeholder in a warehouse in Antwerp. We drafted the pledge agreement and negotiated with the pledgor and third-party pledgeholder to ensure a valid and enforceable pledge.


• Advising a foreign bank on the most appropriate security interest to be created over sovereign bonds held in the Euroclear System.


• Advising a Belgian listed company on negotiating an LMA.