TSL Feature Articles
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2024 Threats to Manufacturing and Industrial Businesses – Lenders Beware
How will reduced consumer spending and increased leverage cost stress manufacturing & industrial companies in the year ahead?
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Perfection of Security Interests in Electronic Bills of Lading Under the UCC
Feb 21, 2024In an increasingly paperless world, electronic bills of lading are garnering attention as an industry choice for cross-border commercial and shipping transactions. This article provides an overview of the legal framework prescribed by Articles 7 and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code for a secured lender seeking to perfect its security interest in electronic bills of lading.
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Gauging Credit Risk for 2024
Feb 8, 2024The credit risk panel at SFNet’s 79th Annual Convention focused on challenges such as consumer headwinds, the higher cost of capital, looming refinancing deadlines, and the prospect of more downgrades, bankruptcies and defaults. Overall, though, panelists were optimistic about credit appetite and the ability to negotiate risk through tighter deal structures and more in-depth borrower and sector analytics.
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Interview With Holland & Knight ABL Team Members
Feb 5, 2024TSL’s editor-in-chief sat down with key members of Holland & Knight’s ABL team, including Wade M. Kennedy, partner and co-lead of the Asset-Based Lending Team; Christopher S. Dillon, partner and co-lead of the Asset-Based Lending Team; Hamid Namazie, financial
services partner; Yoojin Lee, financial services partner; and Mark Spitzer, financial services partner. Here, they discuss H&K’s strengthening of its finance practice, how they got their start in this specialty and the threats facing lenders in 2024. -
Secured Finance Executives Predicting Modest Growth in 2024
Jan 22, 2024Despite economic headwinds and higher costs of borrowing, secured lenders are expecting a profitable year ahead
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The Saga of Serta: The Next Chapter—Subordination of “Non-Participating” Lenders Upheld by Bankruptcy Court
Dec 18, 2023“Liability Management Transactions” continue to grab headlines. Companies in distress are turning to the out-of-court restructuring of their debt in ways that leave lenders who made loans on the basis of a senior secured position either with certain assets no longer available as collateral pursuant to a “drop down financing” or subordinate to new tranches of debt pursuant to an “uptiering transaction.” This article takes a look at the arguments being made in some of the litigation that has often followed on such uptiering transactions and in particular the June 2023 decision of the Bankruptcy Court in the Serta case.
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Dealing with the Volatility of Commodities
Dec 11, 2023Commodity producers face volatile market swings due to factors such as macroeconomics and supply chain stability, creating risks for secured lenders. Understanding each commodity’s nuances, risk-management strategies, and regulatory considerations is crucial. To navigate these challenges, secured lenders must maintain strong industry knowledge, adapt lending structures, collaborate with third parties, and balance risk and return for their clients.
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Interview with SFNet’s New President Barry Bobrow
Nov 30, 2023Barry Bobrow is a managing director and head of credit markets for Regions Business Capital. He is a widely respected leader in middle-market leveraged finance and asset-based lending. He has spent the past 38 years working in banking, most of it as a debt capital markets professional, primarily in leveraged lending and supply chain finance. Bobrow is the creator and chairman of the Asset Based Capital Conference (ABCC), an SFNet sponsored conference focusing on the middle-market leveraged and asset-based markets, now in its 16th year. Here, Bobrow discusses his career trajectory, his outlook for the industry and his goals for SFNet in 2024.
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Seeking Growth, Small-Business Owners Can Tap a Variety of Loan Options
Nov 20, 2023What are the credit needs and opportunities for today’s small-business owners? This article explores results from Pathward’s new survey.
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Floating Charges: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly - The Evolution of the Floating Charge
Nov 16, 2023The capacity for a lender to take effective security over a changing pool of assets is of critical importance to the asset-based lending market.
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The Story of LaSalle Business Credit
Nov 13, 2023In this feature series, Charlie Perer sits with the key entrepreneurs and executives who have built leading commercial finance companies. This feature is about LaSalle Business Credit, told by some of the key executives who played seminal roles in the 1990s. The core team at LaSalle went on to be leaders throughout the entire commercial finance industry. Here to tell the story are Mike Sharkey, Marty Battaglia, Bob Corsentino and Bruce Sprenger.
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TLC For Your Dutch Collateral: Some Practical Considerations
Nov 9, 2023When a U.S. lawyer and a Dutch lawyer talk about anti-assignment clauses, each might misconstrue what the other is talking about. This is caused by differences in law.
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Interview with Courtney Jeans, Head of Regions Business Capital
Nov 7, 2023Courtney Jeans is executive managing director and head of Regions Business Capital. Jeans joined Regions Business Capital in January 2022. With nearly 30 years of experience in the financial services industry, his career has focused on lending activities within the middle-market and large corporate sectors in both banking and specialty finance, where he has held positions in business development, portfolio management and risk management.
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Lending on Government Receivables and Contracts
Nov 2, 2023Government contractors’ performance and lending requirements can change with the slightest turn due to financial regulations, acts of nature and geopolitical occurrences. Knowing you are secure in lending to, or financing, government contractors starts here.
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Transportation Factoring in a Freight Recession
Oct 30, 2023Factoring for trucking companies and brokerages has skyrocketed in the last 10 years. An estimate on factoring company purchases is $90 billion annually. There are about 250,000 active for-hire carriers with 96 percent having six trucks or less. Factoring remains a necessary and viable tool for smaller carriers who have limited access to bank lines of credit or asset-based lenders. The transportation factoring company fills this void through the built-in elasticity of its offering – helping companies expand when the transportation industry is booming and sustain business when the industry is down.
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The State of Retail: How Did We Get Here and What’s on the Horizon?
Oct 25, 2023While retail data reported at the mid-summer mark pointed to a strong labor market, steady consumer spending in certain categories and retail sales up from last year for several straight months, the data only tells one side of the story. The numbers are merely inching forward, as growth across many sectors has been sluggish, if not altogether fl at. This year has unexpectedly been a mixed bag for the retail and credit market, and with continued volatility and an overall lackluster economic forecast, businesses and lenders must be prepared for any scenario.
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Staffing: An Industry with Many Facets
Oct 23, 2023In May of 2022, when the author became CEO of Access Capital, the Company already had a long history of being a leading non-bank lender to the staffing industry. In this article, written with the help of Raphael Torres, head of business development, and Jessica Sanchez, director of marketing, Terry Keating will share some thoughts about the industry that he has learned through his journey over the past 18 months.
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Navigating the Future: Exploring Opportunities in Healthcare Asset-Based Lending
Oct 17, 2023Healthcare is an industry that is constantly changing. Lenders wishing to lend into the space need to develop expertise pertaining to the unique financial needs and challenges of the sector. This article explores the opportunities to lend into this space.
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A Framework For Championing Securitization in Africa to Mobilize Capital and Drive Economic Development
Oct 12, 2023The potential of securitization to meet a range of financing needs in African markets is yet to be fully realized.
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Anatomy of a Deal: Entrepreneurial
Oct 10, 2023Joseph Heim and Jamie Franz of Culain Capital illustrate a recent deal and how being creative is critical to victory.
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The UK Government Moves Closer to Potentially Damaging Legislation Impacting the UK ABL Industry and Its Clients
The UK Government announced 11th July 2019, through the publication of the Draft Finance Bill, that it is going ahead with the reinstatement of Crown Preference in respect of VAT and PAYE.
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PNC Bank Provides Financing to Receipt & Labeling Solutions Provider
May 30, 2019
PNC Bank, National Association, announced the closing of a $90 million senior secured credit facility for Iconex LLC (Iconex), a portfolio company of Greenwich, CT-based Atlas Holdings. PNC’s facility was provided in conjunction with a $67.5 million term loan and a $30 million delayed draw term loan provided by Cerberus Business Finance.
Click on the link below to meet some of the “difference makers” in the secured finance community. This issue of The Secured Lender celebrates those who are having a profound impact on both their communities and their organizations.
Previous TSL Articles
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Breaking the Glass Ceiling Together: Stories of Cross-Gender Mentorship
Mar 18, 2024TSL’s editor-in-chief explores the transformative power of cross-gender mentorship, especially in a male-dominated industry where there might be a shortage of female mentors. Read on for stories of female leaders who had male mentors and how they played pivotal roles in advancing their careers, dismantling biases, and cultivating inclusive workplaces.
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An Interview with Bobby Bans, Managing Director of Western Region Originations at Wells Fargo Capital Finance (WFCF)
Mar 12, 2024In this installment of our series of executive interviews, Charlie Perer sits with Bobby Bans to hear his views about his new role at Wells Fargo Capital Finance, the future of ABL, executive development and competition, among other things.
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Interview with Jim Hudak, President - Commercial Finance, First Citizens Bank
Mar 5, 2024
In June 2023, First Citizens Bank named noted commercial banking executive Jim Hudak as president of its Commercial Finance group, which it acquired in its merger with CIT Group in early 2022.
With more than 20 years as a commercial finance executive, Hudak is known throughout the industry for his leadership capabilities and strong commitment to client support and satisfaction.
Hudak oversaw CIT's commercial finance businesses from 2008 to 2019, during which time many grew to become leading lenders in their industry verticals.
Today, settled back into an expanded version of the role he once occupied, he discusses the state of the business, the impact of the First Citizens merger and his strategy for 2024 and beyond.
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SFNet’s Asset-Based Capital Conference: Industry Uncertainty Presents Threats and Opportunities
Feb 22, 2024SFNet’s Asset-Based Capital Conference (ABCC), now in its 16th year, was held February 6-7 in Las Vegas. Attendees experienced thought-provoking discussions on the economy, geopolitics, talent retention, credit quality and industry dynamics.
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Wolters Kluwer’s Regulatory & Risk Management Indicator Survey – Key Takeaways
Feb 13, 2024TSL Express’ senior editor sat down with Tim Burniston, senior advisor, Regulatory Strategy, for Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions to discuss the results of Wolters Kluwer’s Regulatory & Risk Management Indicator survey. Burniston advises Wolters Kluwer’s Financial & Corporate Compliance divisional leadership team and clients on emerging issues, legislative and regulatory developments, and regulatory strategy.
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SFNet’s Mentoring Program: Continuing to Guide Growth
Jan 30, 2024SFNet’s second iteration of the program nearly doubled its participants and is proving to be an invaluable resource for members.
The application period for our Spring 2024 Mentoring Program is January 10 through February 23, 2024. The program will run March 19 through June 4, 2024. -
How Today's Economic Pressures Will Affect Tomorrow's Consumer
Jan 16, 2024The consumer product industry is facing rapid, unprecedented change, and today’s economic challenges are creating ripple effects that will shape American shoppers for years to come. With data mining, there’s a path forward.
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Muskets and Drones: The Need for Super Regional Banks
Jan 8, 2024In 2023 the SVB crises brought Super Regional Banks into the national spotlight. Countless stories were run speculating on the viability of many, but few addressed the how and why many of these banks came to be. The rise, creation and further consolidation of Super Regionals is a story worth telling and one that will likely continue to play out in 2024 in a meaningful way.
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Doing What We Do Best: Current Economic Environment Provides Opportunities
Dec 21, 2023“Geopolitical concerns, maintaining strong credit quality, and the constant impacts of inflation and interest rates are all top issues to watch in 2024,” said ABCC Conference Chair, Barry Bobrow, who serves as managing director and head of Credit Markets for Regions Business Capital. “ABCC’s panels and networking events are designed to provide education and key insights on these topics and more. The Conference is a great opportunity to help attendees set their business strategy for the coming year. We look forward to welcoming everyone in February.”
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An Interview with MidCap Business Credit’s Steven Samson and Seth Cooper
Dec 12, 2023Steven Samson, president, has been with MidCap for more than 10 years and is responsible for the oversight of all functions of the business. Steve has more than 30 years experience in commercial banking and asset-based lending including senior roles at People’s United Bank, GE Capital, and RBS Citizens Business Capital.
Seth A. Cooper is senior vice president, sales manager, business development officer – Northeast, is responsible for new business development throughout the Northeast. He has spent the last 20 years building asset-based businesses for both large regional banks and independent commercial finance companies.
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The Secured Lender
SFNet's The Women in Secured Finance Issue