The LMA standard forms that have been modified compared to Czech law are widely used in the Czech Republic, especially for large and complex transactions. Czech lawyers started drafting settlement agreements based on the LMA standard about 15 years ago. Small and medium-sized transactions are usually carried out on the basis of the forms of the respective bank. Banks` internal forms are much simpler and shorter than standard LMA forms and usually contain a reference to the bank`s terms and conditions. If your organization is not a member of the AML, you can still view (but not access) the list of available documents by clicking here. At first, borrowers and bankers struggled to understand the terms of the AML`s standard forms. A negotiation strategy based on the argument that the wording of a clause was an “AML standard” was not well received. Today, while borrowers are still unhappy about having to negotiate a 100-page document, they are becoming more and more familiar with LMA standards. One of the reasons for this is that the Slovak versions of the forms are also standardized to some extent, making it easier for borrowers to negotiate. In 2011 and 2012, the Czech Banking Association (CBA), in cooperation with major Czech banks and law firms with extensive financial experience, developed its own standard based on the LMA standard. The CBA standard was amended in 2013 and 2014 to incorporate the new Civil Code in the Czech Republic. On the basis of the efforts made to establish the ABC, a form for the facility agreement and a form for the implementing agreement (rules of the enforcement procedure between the financial parties) were introduced in Czech and English.

So how is the use of standard LMA forms treated as in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary? We are pleased to announce that following a comprehensive bidding process and in recognition of the growing demand from our members, we have now signed a letter of intent with Allen & Overy and Avvoka outlining our intention to develop a documentation automation platform for certain LMA-recommended form documents, as well as other ancillary services. If there is a sacred book for financial lawyers, at least on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, it would be the standard form of the Loan Market Association (LMA). The standard LMA documentation governs English law. In fact, it is not a single form, but a selection of different forms for different types of transactions, including investment-grade, real estate or leveraged transactions. While Germany, France and Spain have their own LMA-based primary documents that are subject to their respective local laws, the jurisdictions of Central and Eastern Europe are still in the basket of developing markets for which the LMA has prepared its standard documentation for developing markets. Standard forms for developing markets are governed by English law, assuming that international lenders are likely to opt for legal documentation subject to a globally recognised legal framework and not to the law of the borrower`s jurisdiction. The widespread use of LMA documents in EMEA has facilitated the efficiency of primary and secondary loans, reduced documentation risk, and helped members effectively manage their loan portfolios. The Polish standard form was initially announced in November 2016. This will certainly help to unify the different approaches to how the specific provisions of the AML can be transposed into Polish law. Some banks explicitly require that credit documentation be based on the standard “Polish LMA” form. It remains to be seen whether such a standard form will completely replace the many forms previously used by financial institutions and law firms. Members have an extensive library of recommended materials for the primary and secondary syndicated credit markets.

specific documentation for use in real estate finance, commodity finance, export finance, developable markets (including local legal documents for specific African jurisdictions), private placements and promissory notes. With respect to recommended form documents, Members are responsible for ensuring that the exact form and content of the Documentation is appropriate for a particular transaction. Members should therefore ensure that the documents and any amendments thereto are appropriate in the light of the circumstances and economic intentions of the Parties. The goal of the two standard LMA forms is to save time and money by providing a position that reflects current market practices for this type of transaction. Documents should only be a starting point and it is not possible to use documents without making changes or additions. This handy note explains how to use standard form documents and provides an overview of the most important standard form documents to use in leveraged transactions. This is the first part of a series of articles dedicated to the regulation of the LMA standard that are sensitive to jurisdiction-specific issues in thisEC, so stay tuned! According to market participants, the importance of standard LMA forms in Hungary will increase in the coming years, as project funding is expected to increase in Hungary after the prolonged slowdown that followed the financial crisis. For many years, the use of installation agreements based on the LMA standard has been widespread in the Polish market. The LMA standard has been followed in transactions documented under English and Polish laws. For large-cap transactions, where the main consortium includes foreign lenders, in particular international financial institutions such as the EBRD and the EIB, the parties are more likely to use facility agreements governed by English law.

In the case of mid-cap transactions and transactions in which only Polish banks are involved, in particular to avoid additional legal fees, credit agreements, although based on the LMA standard, are often subject to Polish law. Banks and law firms have more or less developed their own models based on the LMA form. With regard to the specific provisions of the AML that need to be amended to comply with mandatory Polish legislation, various solutions are proposed. In Hungary, credit documentation based on the standard LMA form was already used about 10 to 15 years ago, especially for syndicated loans. Today, these standard LMA forms are used in almost all major international and Hungarian domestic financing transactions, although the legal thinking and concepts underlying LMA standards do not always coincide with Hungarian legal terminology and regulatory tradition. In an effort to improve liquidity and efficiency in syndicated credit markets in EMEA, the recommended standard forms developed by the LMA are here to stay. Although it is a non-binding recommended form to serve only as a starting point for negotiations, the standard and other provisions proposed by the AML have become widely accepted market standards. Although these standard CBA forms are now available, banks and law firms prefer to use their own agreements, which they have developed over the years on the basis of the LMA standard, but which reflect Czech legal specificities. The LMA`s investment quality document development project began in 1998 in response to market demand for a standard form of unionized installation agreement. The development of LMA`s leveraged documents also began with the form of the Leveraged Acquisition Financing Transaction Facility Agreement, first published in 2004, followed by the recommended form of intercredit agreement for leveraged acquisition financing transactions (senior and mezzanine) in 2009. The above approach was developed with the development of a Polish standard form of facility agreement based on LMA standard documentation by the Polish Banking Association (Związek Banków Polskich, ZBP).

The ZBP standard form is not an official document of the AML, but was developed with the consent of the AML. This is not only a translation of the LMA form into Polish law, but also a translation of the standard LMA form into Polish. Like the standard LMA forms in Western Europe, the aim was to adapt the LMA documentation specifically to the requirements of local law while retaining as much as possible the form and content of the English legal documents of the AML. Our documentation is prepared after extensive consultation with leading credit practitioners and law firms to present an agreed common vision of documentation structures. Standardizing “boilerplate” areas of documents allows lenders and borrowers to focus on the most important business aspects of individual transactions. .