TSL Feature Articles
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The Ins & Outs of DEI Fatigue
Apr 11, 2024Since the DEI “field” is a potpourri of research, advocacy, political ideations,
and personal perspectives from multiple fields, it is difficult for people to know which sources of information to trust. One of the latest urgent fascinations that has captured our collective attention is “DEI Fatigue.” -
Ally and Affinity Groups: Helping to Bring Our True Selves to Work
Industry ally and affinity group members and leaders share their stories and discuss how their organization’s groups began and their benefits.
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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? -
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. -
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 -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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. -
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.
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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AI in Secured Finance: From Hype to Hard Results
Jun 5, 2025Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere in today’s conversations about secured finance - and for good reason. But talk is one thing. The real question is: how do we move beyond the hype and into something that actually works? -
Inside Trade Finance: A Deep Dive with TradeCap’s Bryan Ballowe
Jun 2, 2025In this installment of our series of executive interviews, Charlie Perer sits with Bryan Ballowe, Managing Partner of TradeCap Partners, to hear insights about today’s trade finance/in-transit inventory market and his views on the tariffs, among other things.
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Private Credit’s Ascent: How Nonbank Lenders Are Redefining Secured Finance
Jun 2, 2025
(Editor’s Note: This article was created with assistance from ChatGPT)
In the evolving world of corporate finance, private credit has emerged as a formidable force, challenging traditional banking paradigms. Once a niche segment, it has burgeoned into a $1.5 trillion market as of early 2024, with projections estimating growth to $2.6 trillion by 2029. This surge is not merely a quantitative shift, but signifies a qualitative transformation in how businesses access capital.
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SFNet ILC Conference Highlights Restructuring Corner: What Happens When Trouble Hits?
May 29, 2025The following is an overview of the Restructuring Corner: What Happens When Trouble Hits? Panel held May 13 during SFNet’s International Lending Conference in London.
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SFNet ILC Conference Highlight: Lending on Inventory to a Cross-Border Business
May 20, 2025
The following is an overview of the Lending on Inventory to Cross-Border Business, held May 13 during SFNet’s International Lending Conference in London. David Morse, partner, Otterbourg P.C. moderated. Panelists included: John Boxall, Managing Director, Hilco Valuation Services Europe; Christopher M. Chubb, Partner, Mayer Brown International LLP; Elena Egorova, Head of Operations, DRUM Advisory; and Frank Husken, Managing Director, Finterface.
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SFNet WISF Conference Speaker, Suzy Welch, on Authentic Leadership, Career Clarity, and the Power of Values
May 7, 2025Suzy Welch will be a featured speaker at SFNet’s Women in Secured Finance Conference, held June 11-12 in New York City. She is an award-winning NYU Stern School of Business professor, acclaimed management researcher, and New York Times best-selling author, most recently with “Becoming You: A Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career,” which is also a #1 bestseller on Amazon. -
Middle Market Lending in 2025: Adjustment Amid Uncertainty
May 6, 2025According to LSEG LPC’s Middle Market Syndicated Stats, 2024 closed strong:
- Total syndicated middle market loan volume reached $159.6 billion, a 32% YoY increase.
- New money issuance totaled $78.8 billion, with refinancings at $80.8 billion.
- Institutional middle market volume hit $24 billion, more than doubling YoY.
- Covenant-lite issuance rose by 117%, reaching $3.5 billion. -
Navigating Change: A Preview of SFNet’s 2025 International Lending Conference with Alister Bazaz
Apr 29, 2025SFNet's International Lending Conference, held in London on May 12-13, 2025, is attended by a dynamic community of global lenders, innovators, and dealmakers in the heart of London. We sat down with the chair of the International Lending Conference Planning Committee, Alister Bazaz, head of International Asset Based Lending & Asset Based Digital Innovation at Bank of America, to discuss the planning process and the event. -
Austin Financial Services and Stearns Bank Enter New Strategic Joint Venture
Apr 22, 2025Austin Financial Services, Inc. (AFS), a leading nationwide provider of asset-based lending (ABL) solutions, announced it has entered into a new strategic joint venture with Stearns Bank, a well-capitalized, employee-owned financial services institution committed to helping small businesses, entrepreneurs and communities reach their full economic potential.
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ABL Navigates New Economic Crosswinds
Apr 16, 2025The Secured Finance Network (SFNet) has released its Q4 2024 Asset-Based Lending Index and Lender Confidence Index, offering a snapshot of a resilient ABL market. SFNet’s Data Committee has also published an overview of the market drawing from SFNet’s 2024 Annual ABL Survey, syndicated market data from LSEG LPC, and new macroeconomic insights from KeyBridge Research. This article examines where ABL stands—and where it’s heading—as the lending landscape adapts to a higher-stakes economy.
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