Boyanov & Co. reports having advised the European Investment Bank on several loan transactions throughout 2014 to local Bulgarian banks.
The firm, the Bulgarian arm of the new SEE Legal alliance, was appointed to the legal panel of the EIB and the Allied Irish Banks. According to a Boyanov & Co. press release, the firm “advised EIB on several loan transactions with local banks whereby EIB provides loans to the local banks secured with domestic governmental bonds, which the local banks use to on-lend to SMEs in Bulgaria.”
According to the firm, difficulties arose when the EIB wanted the collateral to be held at Clearstream Luxembourg and to be pledged as financial collateral under Luxembourg law, which presented a legal challenge under Bulgarian law, which required that domestic governmental bonds be held at registers with the Bulgarian National Bank and that the financial collateral of such bonds be registered with the registers of the BNB. The firm “helped solve this challenge by consulting with the BNB and the Ministry of Finance of Bulgaria, and advising on amendments to BNB regulations to align them with the EU Financial Collateral Directive.