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What does it take to break the proverbial glass ceiling in secured finance? What does the journey to the “top” look like for women in financial services? We interviewed four C-Suite women and here is what they had to say. The women we spoke with are Meredith Carter, president and CEO, Context Business Lending; Miin Chen, COO, Siena Lending Group; Deborah Monosson, president & CEO, Boston Financial & Equity Corporation; and Jennifer Yount, partner, Paul Hastings LLP.

From the second quarter Phoenix Management “Lending Climate in America” survey results reveals optimism in the U.S. economy with results for the near-term economy exceeding pre-pandemic predictions for the first time since the country shutdown due to COVID.

Since reaching an 11-year record low in Q2 2020, confidence in the near-term economy (next 6 months) has steadily climbed quarter over quarter to a 2.79 weighted average GPA in Q2 2021. Additionally, lender confidence in the U.S. economy in the long-term increased (by 7 percentage points) to 2.36 from the previous quarter’s results of 2.29.

Mountain Ridge Capital (“Mountain Ridge”) and Great Rock Capital (“Great Rock”), today jointly announced the closing of a senior secured credit facility for HOP Energy, LLC (“HOP”).  Founded in 1995 and headquartered in White Plains, NY, HOP Energy is a market-leading home services provider serving ~90,000 customers across two primary areas:  distribution of home heating oil and the installation and servicing of HVAC systems, heat pumps, and other critical non-discretionary home services.  HOP Energy is majority-owned by Delos Capital.

Thompson Coburn LLP, a national law firm with six offices across the country, has announced its combination with New York-based Hahn & Hessen LLP, a 44-attorney firm with nearly a century of experience representing financial institutions and other financial market participants in commercial finance, bankruptcy, workouts, and complex litigation.

The combination, effective July 1, 2021, will create a combined firm with more than 400 attorneys across seven offices: Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., and Southern Illinois.

PNC Bank, National Association, announced today the closing of an $18.5 million senior secured credit facility for Sandusky, Ohio-based August Corso Sons, Inc. (Corso). PNC Bank, N.A., served as administrative agent.

TSL Express’ senior editor sat down with Capstone Business Credit’s managing member, Joseph Ingrassia, and Romulus Entertainment’s founder and CEO, Brad Feinstein, to discuss a unique partnership in film finance. 

North Mill Capital LLC (d/b/a SLR Business Credit) (the “Company” or “SLR-BC”), today announced that it acquired Fast Pay Partners, LLC.    Based in Los Angeles, CA, Fast Pay Partners enables clients to accelerate receivables and access liquidity through its asset based lending and factoring platform which primarily services media firms in the United States.

What if I don’t want to come back?  Do I have to disclose whether I was vaccinated to my employer? What are the impacts of remote operations from a commercial real estate perspective? How does corporate culture survive in a remote or hybrid environment? What is the impact on career mobility? How are new technologies being deployed to revolutionize workflows and the customer experience in the equipment finance industry?

As the country continues to make its comeback after more than a year of fear and uncertainty from COVID-19, we are left with a lot of questions on what this all means about the work world—returning to offices and what the future will look like. In response to this, SFNet will host its first Innovation Conference, focusing on The Future of Work on July 14 and July 21, 2021 from 12:00-3:00 EDT each day. The Conference will focus on what the world of secured finance will look like as we emerge from the crisis. Attendees will walk away with the knowledge of whether their business is leading, adapting or falling behind.

Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get.” Partnering with other lenders can be similar. You don’t know what you are going to get if you jump into partnerships without doing your due diligence and establishing alliances with the best partners.

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

The annual number of bankruptcies peaked at 60,837 in 2009, but the financial and bankruptcy experts expect the level of bankruptcy filings to explode well over that peak during the next twelve to twenty-four months. During the first six months of 2020, there were 3,604 business bankruptcy filings, which is up 26% from the 2,855 filings during the first six months of 2019 (Epiq/Aacer). June year over year chapter 11 bankruptcy filings increased 43% from 2019 to 2020. The June increase is expected to be the start of a wave of business bankruptcy filings as the economic impact of the Covid-19 virus manifests itself in lost businesses.

This anticipated increase in bankruptcy filings means lenders will be challenged to manage an increasing number of borrower relationships during the bankruptcy process, including developing or evaluating various liquidation scenarios.

Lenders will be challenged to anticipate recovery values under different liquidation strategies – ranging from different bankruptcy proceedings, to receiverships, to ABCs, to out of court wind down processes.

Newbridge Global Sourcing (“Newbridge”), a leading capital provider to small and medium-sized businesses with supply chain and purchase order financing needs, announced a $50 million partnership with a Canadian-based originator of receivables. The technology-enabled specialty lender provides receivables financing to companies with strong end-debtors. The partnership expands Newbridge’s scale and diversifies its customer base and sector exposure.

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).