18 August 2020
Baker & McKenzie (Gaikokuho Joint Enterprise) advised Japan Finance Corporation (JFC) in connection with the implementation of its cross-border loans.
At the 201st ordinary session of the Diet held in 2020, the Bill for the Act for Partial Revision of the Act on Facilitation of Management Succession of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises for Promotion of Business Succession of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and Other Acts (Bill for the SMEs Growth Promotion Act) was enacted. As a result of this amendment, the JFC is scheduled to commence direct lending (cross-border loans) to overseas subsidiaries of Japanese SMEs.
In order to facilitate the smooth implementation of the cross-border loans by JFC, Baker McKenzie advised JFC on the local regulations related to the cross-border loans (e.g. requirements of licensing for lending business and external loan registration, agreement execution procedures, regulations related to interests and withholding taxes and regulations, debt collection and insolvency procedures, and laws and regulations related to overseas representative offices etc.) and the way of operation of business taking into consideration of the local practices in the countries and regions where the cross-border loans take place.
The Baker McKenzie team was led by Kosuke Suzuki and Hiroshi Kasuya, partners at the Baker McKenzie Tokyo office, assisted by associates Takuya Wada, Kensuke Oki, Lene Someno and Kazuaki Tsukahara. They were also supported by a multijurisdictional team composed of 56 lawyers in total.
Baker McKenzie is one of the world's largest global law firms, with 77 offices in 46 countries. Through this global network, we support cross-border loan projects, including overseas project finance by Japanese financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies. Recently, we advised Japanese financial institutions on legal matters in relation to cross-border loans, including overseas project finance in Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Hong Kong and other countries. We will continue to support Japanese financial institutions to challenge in the global market.
For further information, please contact:
Jeremy Pitts, Partner, Baker & McKenzie
jeremy.pitts@bakermckenzie.com
