Practice areas
Banking, finance and payment services
Legal assistance in matters relating to financing, agreements with banks and other financial institutions, security, and banking and payment services. It covers the preparation of documentation and the negotiation of financing terms, matters concerning accounts and payments, payment services activity, and disputes with banks, payment institutions and other financing entities.
Legal assistance in banking, finance and payment matters
The terms of financing follow not only from the amount of the funds made available, the interest rate and the repayment schedule. Equally important are the conditions for drawdown, the parties' obligations during the term of the agreement, the events of default, and the extent of the security established.
At the stage of concluding an agreement, assistance may concern credit, a loan, leasing, factoring or another form of financing — the analysis of the draft, the agreement of the terms and the negotiation of the documentation. Where financing is already in place, the matter may cover its amendment, refinancing, early repayment or new rules for performing the agreement.
Matters connected with bank accounts and payment services are of a different character. They may concern the execution of a transaction or the refusal to execute it, access to the account, the blocking of funds, a disputed or unauthorised payment, the fees charged, or the ending of the relationship with the service provider. This area covers businesses and companies as well as individual clients.
On the side of an entity providing, or planning to provide, payment services, the starting point is the correct classification of the business model. The requirements applicable when the activity is commenced and when it changes, and some of the obligations to be performed while it is carried on, depend on the type of services actually provided and on the provider's status.
I provide legal assistance to businesses, companies and individual clients — both before a financial transaction is concluded or amended and where a problem has already arisen in the relationship with a bank, a payment institution or another financing entity.
Financing
Financing agreements and terms
Credit, loans, leasing, factoring and other forms of financing — documentation, analysis of the terms and negotiations.
Security
Security and settlement instruments
Mortgages, pledges, sureties and other forms of security, and guarantees and letters of credit connected with financing and transactions.
Accounts and payments
Banking services and payment transactions
Accounts, access to funds, the execution of payments, blocks, and disputed or unauthorised transactions.
Regulated activity and disputes
Payment services and relations with institutions
Commencing and changing payment services activity, and selected ongoing regulatory obligations. Separately — disputes with banks, payment institutions and other financing entities.
When can I help?
01
You have received a draft credit agreement or other financing agreement
The draft you have received determines how the financing will work in practice — what rights and obligations arise from the document and what powers the bank or other financing entity retains. Reviewing the draft makes it possible to assess the risks associated with the proposed shape of the agreement and to identify the provisions worth changing or clarifying before it is signed.
02
You are negotiating the terms of planned financing
Until the documentation has been closed, the terms of the financing can still be shaped, not merely assessed. Assistance consists in agreeing the structure of the transaction, establishing the priorities and the order in which points are to be agreed, and preparing proposed amendments. It also covers developing a position vis-à-vis the bank or other financing entity and taking part in the discussions.
03
You want to change the terms of existing financing
Where financing is already in place, what may be needed is a change to the schedule or to other terms of performance of the agreement, refinancing, or early repayment. What can be done depends on the documentation in force, the current indebtedness and the security established. Once the available solution has been identified, the amendment to the agreement and the documents needed to carry it out can be prepared.
04
You are establishing, changing or releasing security
Security for financing may take various forms and should correspond to the obligation with which it is connected. Assistance may concern the preparation or analysis of documentation relating to a mortgage, a pledge, a surety, an assignment of receivables by way of security or other forms of security, and their amendment during the term of the financing. Once the obligation has been performed, steps may be needed to release the security or to have the relevant entry removed.
05
You need a bank guarantee or a letter of credit
A guarantee may be needed where a counterparty requires security for the performance of particular obligations, and a letter of credit where the parties wish to use a banking instrument to settle a transaction. The instrument itself should match the transaction in which it is to be used and the function it is to perform in it. In preparing or analysing the documentation, what matters are the conditions for calling the instrument, the documents required for payment, the period of validity, and its connection with the transaction being secured or settled.
06
You have a problem with an account or a payment transaction
The problem may concern access to the account, the blocking of funds, the execution of a payment, the fees charged or the settlement of a particular transaction. Payments disputed by the client, including transactions the client did not authorise, require a separate assessment. What matters then is the course of the event, the manner of authorisation, the provisions of the agreement and of the terms and conditions, and the communications with the bank or other service provider.
07
You are planning to commence or change the provision of payment services
Before the activity is commenced or significantly changed, it is necessary to establish what services will actually be provided and what regulatory model may apply to them. That classification determines the requirements concerning entry in the register, authorisation or other steps vis-à-vis the supervisory authority, and some of the obligations connected with carrying on the activity afterwards. The individual categories of providers are subject to different requirements.
08
You are in dispute with a bank or another financial institution
The bank has terminated the financing, rejected a complaint, or a dispute has arisen concerning the settlement of the agreement, the fees, the security, the account or a payment service. Assessing the matter requires the documentation to be set against the actual course of the business relationship, the settlement history and the correspondence to date. The further steps may cover a complaint, negotiations, the appropriate out-of-court procedure, or pursuing or defending rights in court proceedings.
Scope of assistance
The financing documentation sets out the conditions for drawdown of the funds, the parties' obligations, the repayment rules and the consequences of events that may occur during the term of the agreement.
- preparation or analysis of a credit, loan, lease, factoring or other financing agreement, including a draft submitted by a bank or other financing entity;
- the conditions for drawdown and use of the funds;
- the schedule and the rules for repaying and settling the financing;
- the information, financial and documentation obligations connected with performance of the agreement;
- events of default and the consequences arising from them;
- the conditions for termination on notice, termination or early ending of the financing;
- preparation of proposed amendments and participation in negotiating the financing documentation.
A planned change has to be assessed in the light of the documentation in force, the current indebtedness and the security connected with the financing.
- analysis of the financing terms in force before the planned change;
- preparation or analysis of the annex and other documents amending the agreement;
- refinancing of existing indebtedness;
- early repayment of the financing and its consequences under the documentation;
- a change to the schedule or to other repayment rules;
- agreement of new terms for performing the agreement;
- obtaining or preparing the documents connected with the financing party's consent to the planned change, where such consent is required;
- amendment or release of security connected with the amendment or ending of the financing.
Security protects the performance of the obligations arising from the financing, while guarantees and letters of credit serve to secure or settle particular transactions.
- a mortgage connected with financing — preparation or analysis of the documentation;
- a pledge and other forms of security in rem for financing;
- a surety and a guarantee;
- an assignment of receivables by way of security and other contractual forms of security;
- the establishment, amendment or release of security;
- analysis of the scope of the secured obligation and of the conditions for enforcing the security;
- a bank guarantee — preparation or analysis of the terms and documentation;
- a letter of credit and the documentation connected with opening or using it.
In matters concerning an account or a payment, the course of the particular event must first be reconstructed and set against the agreement, the terms and conditions and the communications with the service provider.
- a bank account or payment account agreement — analysis of the parties' rights and obligations;
- the execution, refusal to execute or defective execution of a transaction;
- a disputed or unauthorised transaction;
- the blocking of funds or a restriction on access to the account;
- termination on notice or ending of the account or service agreement;
- the manner of settling a transaction and the fees connected with the provision of the service;
- the terms and conditions on which banking or payment services are provided;
- a complaint and analysis of the reply from the bank or other service provider.
Assistance may concern both preparation for commencing payment services activity and its subsequent changes and selected ongoing obligations.
- classification of the planned business model and of the scope of services, and an assessment of the regulatory status appropriate to it;
- assessment of whether authorisation must be obtained, an entry in the register made, a notification submitted or other requirements satisfied before the activity is commenced;
- preparation or analysis of the documentation required when the activity is commenced or changed;
- preparation or analysis of the terms and conditions, agreements and information addressed to service users;
- obligations concerning the safeguarding of users' funds, where they apply to the model in question;
- the use of agents or the outsourcing of particular activities to external entities — an assessment of the requirements applicable to the model in question;
- changes to the scope of services, to the data or to the manner of carrying on the activity that require notification, an update of the register or another step vis-à-vis the supervisory authority;
- selected ongoing information and reporting obligations and other regulatory obligations connected with the supervision of payment services activity;
- correspondence and proceedings before the Polish Financial Supervision Authority connected with payment services activity.
In a dispute, what matters is both the provisions of the agreement and of the terms and conditions and the way they have been performed, the settlement history and the parties' communications to date.
- analysis of the grounds and subject matter of a dispute with a bank, a payment institution or another financing entity;
- matters concerning the performance or settlement of a financing agreement;
- disputes concerning fees, commissions or other amounts due under the agreement;
- matters connected with the establishment, scope or enforcement of security;
- disputes concerning an account, access to funds or the ending of the relationship with the provider;
- matters concerning the execution, refusal to execute or settlement of a payment service;
- preparation of a complaint, a demand or a position, and analysis of the institution's reply;
- negotiations and the appropriate out-of-court procedure;
- representation in court proceedings.
Financing, payments and payment services activity — where to start?
In a matter concerning financing, the basis is the documentation setting out the terms of the relationship with the bank or other financing entity. In addition to the agreement itself, what matters are the schedules, the terms and conditions, the documents relating to the security, subsequent annexes and the correspondence connected with performance of the agreement.
If the problem concerns an account or a payment transaction, the course of the event needs to be reconstructed as precisely as possible: the date and the manner in which the transaction was executed, the messages and confirmations, the reaction of the bank or other provider, and the course of any complaint procedure.
Where the provision of payment services is planned, the analysis begins with the business model, the type of services offered and the actual way in which funds flow.
To begin with, prepare
- the agreement, the draft agreement or other documents directly connected with the matter;
- the terms and conditions, schedules, repayment plans and the documentation of the security established;
- subsequent annexes and the correspondence with the bank, payment institution or other financing entity;
- the account history, transaction confirmations and the complaint together with the reply — if the matter concerns an account or a payment;
- a description of the planned service and of the way funds are to flow — if the matter concerns payment services activity;
- a short description of the expected result and of the nearest deadlines relevant to the matter.
How I handle the matter
01 /
I establish the state of the matter and the objective
I establish what the matter concerns, what stage it has reached and what result is to be achieved. Depending on the problem, the point of reference is the terms of the financing, the security, the account or transaction history, or the payment services business model.
02 /
I analyse the documentation and the legal position
I assess the parties' rights and obligations, the significance of the individual provisions and the solutions available at that stage. In regulatory matters I also establish the nature of the planned services and the requirements connected with providing them.
03 /
I set out the variants and a recommendation
I set out the possible courses of action, their consequences and limitations, and then recommend a further direction that takes account of the client's objective and the state of the matter.
04 /
I prepare and conduct the agreed steps
I prepare or review documents, take part in negotiations, draft positions and pleadings, and represent the client within the agreed scope.
Legal support for businesses and corporate matters
Where financing also requires resolutions, changes on the company's bodies or in the rules of representation, or other corporate steps on the company's side, that falls within legal support for businesses and corporate matters.
Capital markets and investment services
Where the matter concerns financial instruments, brokerage or investment services, the issue of securities or capital market obligations, it belongs to a separate area of practice.
Civil and commercial disputes
Where a dispute does not arise from a specialist relationship with a bank, a payment institution or a financing entity, but is an ordinary contractual or commercial dispute, it may fall within the area of civil and commercial disputes.
Tax law
Financing, security or a planned transaction may require a separate analysis of the tax consequences or of the way it is to be accounted for.
Contact
Discuss your financing, your agreement with a bank or a payment matter
Get in touch to discuss the documentation, establish the nature of the matter and the scope of the assistance needed.