Financial Strategy, Rating and Loan Agreements 2022 | Schwabe, Ley & Greiner | 29 March 2022 | TBA , Mannheim - Online

Creditworthiness as the basis of financial strategic considerations and their influence on financing options and contract content.
The way to the right financial strategy leads through the topic of creditworthiness. It is the central control parameter for all financial strategy considerations and influences not only the conditions but also the financing options and contract content. Certain financing instruments are only reserved for companies with a good credit rating. But the design of the content of the financing contract is also crucially dependent on the creditworthiness of the borrower.

This seminar deals with fundamental questions about financial strategy, creditworthiness and rating, but also current issues such as the situation on the finance market, credit agreement clauses with adequate creditworthiness or third-party comparable intercompany interest rates.

Main topics:
• Financial strategy.
• Regulations.
• Examples of listed companies.
• Creditworthiness and rating.
• What rating levels are there?
• What do investment grade and non-investment grade mean?
• How do ratings differ from banks and rating agencies?
• How can credit default swaps (CDS) be used to indicate creditworthiness?
• What role does the liquidity reserve play in the rating?
• Which quantitative models can be used for the credit rating?
• What role do qualitative factors play?
• Which creditworthiness is used?
• Where is the optimal creditworthiness for a company?

Financial instruments:
• What types of bank loans are relevant for businesses?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of borrower's note loans and hybrid capital instruments?
• Bilateral loan vs. syndicated loan: Which type of contract is more suitable for which situation?

Financing terms:
• What is the current market environment like?
• Transfer prices and intercompany interest.
• What does the “Base Erosion and Profit Shifting” (BEPS) Initiative of the OECD mean?
• How can third-party comparable intercompany interest rates be determined according to the "at arm's length" principle?
• Loan agreement documentation.
• What role does creditworthiness play in drafting the loan agreement?
• What are the typical components of a loan agreement and what should be taken into account?
• What design options are there for critical loan agreement clauses?

Group of participants:
• Employees and managers who work in or are responsible for corporate finance, negotiate financing with banks or manage internal financing

Goals:
The basis of all financial strategy considerations is the creditworthiness. Accordingly, the seminar starts with the topic of rating (meaning, rating procedure, target creditworthiness) and then presents the essential financing instruments and the respective contract components (including critical points and stumbling blocks).

2022 Speaker

Dr. Edith Leitner
Partner, Schwabe, Ley & Greiner