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Banking & Finance

Our team by your side in a world of innovation

Our clients operate in a changing and international environment, seizing opportunities. Digital and technological developments, economic, financial and health crises, the ecological transition, and the internationalisation of exchanges and practices are having a major impact on players in the banking and finance sector and are contributing to these fast-paced changes, which require significant expertise.

Our Banking & Finance team is a recognised leader in the sector, both in France (35 lawyers) and abroad (550 lawyers). Our lawyers are reliable partners, who are on-hand to offer first-rate technical expertise to set up and finance innovative projects and help our clients overcome their difficulties.

Our team to support the development and financing of your projects

Based on our wealth of experience with financial institutions, corporates, asset managers, funds and public entities, we have an open approach to your challenges and share with our clients our knowledge of the market, its players and its practices. Our flexible and international team operates in more than 40 jurisdictions around the world, enabling it to respond to all your needs, for your domestic and multi-jurisdictional transactions.

Our business lines are organised as specialist global teams

Quotes 2023

Chambers Global & Europe

Banking & Finance: Financial Services Regulations

CMS' recognised banking and finance practice is well equipped to act on a wide range of financial regulatory matters, including compliance, fund structuring and corporate reorganisations. The team also excels in the setting up of French payment institutions and investment entities. The lawyers have recent experience advising on post-Brexit mandates, including the incorporation of subsidiaries.

Chambers Global & Europe

Capital markets : Debt

Capital markets : Structured finance

CMS is particularly highly regarded for its debt and structured finance expertise. The law firm assists with the drafting of German or English law-governed security agreements. The team advises issuers or arrangers and dealers on a range of transactions involving Euro PPs, green bonds, the issuance of covered bonds and the establishment of EMTN programmes. The practice offers further experience in trade receivables securitisation, leveraging close ties with offices in the network to advise major French and international banks.

Chambers Global & Europe

International & Cross-Border Transactions

CMS Paris is a well-respected practice which offers clients a solid range of transactional capabilities, characterised by a strong focus on capital markets work and top-ranked tax law expertise. The law firm's international appeal centres on strong domestic foundations in France coupled with a credible pan-European platform, providing clients with a valued network of offices, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. The French office also houses a significant proportion of the firm's Africa experts, who regularly work on cross-border issues involving North Africa.

Legal 500 EMEA

Derivatives and structured finance

The Paris CMS Francis Lefebvre derivatives and structured finance group remains a force in the marketplace, bringing strength to advising major domestic and international financial institutions and private equity firms (Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, Société Générale, BNP Paribas, My Money Bank/Cerberus) and corporates in gases, retail and mining, on a comprehensive range of matters. The practice utilises two dedicated groups: securitisation and structured finance (led by Grégory Benteux, who brings extensive experience counselling clients on the arranger or originator’s side, and Alexandre Bordenave, a specialist in distressed financings and banking litigation) and derivatives (part of the capital markets team, led by Rosetta Ferrère, who handles share equity and equity-linked products, and capital markets head Marc-Etienne Sébire). Counsel Pauline Larroque brings expertise to ESG derivative instruments.

Legal 500 EMEA

Capital markets : Debt capital markets

The Paris debt and capital markets team at international law firm CMS Francis Lefebvre brings strength to high-value cross-border transactions involving major financial institutions, real estate investment trust companies, insurers, asset managers and corporates in such sectors as logistics and healthcare. Euro private placement market expert Marc-Etienne Sébire heads the practice, which assists with matters ranging from EMTN programmes and covered bonds to hybrid securities and liability management. Other key figures include Rosetta Ferrère, who has expertise in structured bond issues and debt restructuring, and senior associates Yaël Fitoussi and Myriam Issad.

Legal 500 EMEA

Banking & Finance : Bank regulatory

CMS Francis Lefebvre' team advises bank and non-bank financial institutions, asset and fund management companies and insurers, on regulatory aspects of such matters as market entry, authorisation processes, internal organisation and governance, regulatory reporting requirements, Brexit impacts and relocations and AML/CFT policies and litigation before regulators. Jérôme Sutour heads the practice; he specialises in new regulations as they relate to the financial sector or blockchain.

Choose area

Financement de Projet
Notre équipe Financement de Projet intervient dans le domaine de l’énergie, des infrastructures et des télécommunica
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Banking
MIFID, compliance, dematerialisation, Basel II, deregulation, disintermediation, removal of barriers: the financial sector is undergoing rapid and pro
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Capital Markets
The Capital Markets team advises issuers (public and private), financial institutions and other participants on all types of capital markets transacti
Financial Services
MIFID, compliance, dematerialisation, Basel II, deregulation, disintermediation, removal of barriers. The financial sector is changing rapidly and rad
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Real estate financing
Although access to bank financing is subject to significant regulatory constraints, various financing disintermediation alternatives are emerging, cre
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Securitisation & Asset-Backed Finance
Global expertise in securitisation & asset-backed finance. Our team is involved for over twenty years in a wide range of securitisation and asset-
financements-structurés-Hong-kong-finance-stock-market-display 925
Structured financing
From globalisation and market sophistication to fiercer competition at a domestic and international level, greater regulatory pressure and increasing

Feed

18/04/2024
Real estate finance law in France
A. Mortgages 1. Can security be granted to a foreign lender? Yes, as a general principle there are no restrictions on the ownership of land by foreign parties and the taking of security over land or...
02/04/2024
ESMA feedback statement on shortening the EU settlement cycle reveals widespread...
The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has released a feedback statement summarising comments received from market participants during its consultation on shortening the EU settlement cycle.Under...
27/03/2024
LEGAL 500 EMEA 2024
The 2024 edition of the Legal 500 EMEA guide is out. We would particularly like to thank our clients for putting their trust in us! Our law firm’s rankings in France France 1 en Tier 1 : The Regions 7...
07/03/2024
Euro PP Observatory – Septembre 2021
You can access the December 2020 edition of the Euro PP Observatory from CMS Francis Lefebvre Avocats via the link below. Our Observatory includes both listed Euro PPs (part 1) and unlisted Euro PPs...
06/03/2024
Knowledge on information and communication technology and security are...
On 21 February 2024, the European Central Bank released a supervision newsletter on new policy / its expectation for more bank board expertise on information and communication technology (“ICT”) and...
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Chambers Global 2024
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EU legislative initiatives on recovery and resolution planning for insurance...
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New EBA guidelines to manage AML risks as part of the activities of crypto-asset...
EBA released guidelines amending ML/TF Risk Factors Guidelines to include crypto-asset service providers within its AML framework.On 16 January 2024, the European Banking Authority (EBA) released its...
01/01/2024
Happy new year 2024!
We wish you all the best for the New Year. In 2024, we will continue to be guided by out values: commitment, excellence, team spirit and goodwill. Watch our wishes for a happy and prosperous New Year...
29/12/2023
Tackling the misuse of crypto-assets for ML-TF purposes
As a constantly evolving sector, the crypto-assets ecosystem presents continuous challenges, particularly in terms of money laundering and terrorist financing (ML-TF) risks.To tackle the misuse of crypto-assets...
21/12/2023
EU's Cross-Border Overhaul: Unveiling the Legal obligations and Initial...
Directive 2019 /2121 governing cross-border reorganisation operations (mergers, demergers, transfers of registered offices) was implemented during 2023 into the domestic laws of the various countries...
13/12/2023
Finalisation of CRD6/CRR3 and the Article 21c third country branch requirement
On 6 December 2023, the finalised texts of the EU banking package known as CRD61and CRR32 were published following the conclusion of negotiations between the EU co-legislators. In this article, we set...