Banking on good advice

In the practice area of banking and finance, five Western Australian lawyers were singled out as leading their field.

John Poulsen heads the Minter Ellison finance practice in WA, supervising a team of 16. He is also state president of the Committee for Economic Development of Australia and a member of its National Board.

Some of Mr Poulsen’s recent work includes acting for Alcoa with respect to the financing aspects of its acquisition of a 20 per cent interest in the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline; acting for Westpac Institutional Bank for the $37.5m project financing to Nustar Mining for the Paulsens Gold Mine Project; acting for Macquarie Bank with respect to the Port Geographe Development; acting for CBA with respect to the financing of the acquisition by Glenmont Properties as Responsible Entity of the Glenmont Retail Property Trust of shopping centres in Queensland; and acting for Westpac Institutional Bank and National Australia Bank with respect to a $135M syndicated facility.

Blake Dawson Waldron’s Andrea Rezos came from a property law background and heads the firm’s property and projects section.

Ms Rezos mainly advises corporations, financiers and developers in relation to property development and subdivision, property financing, business acquisitions, joint venture agreements, sale, purchase and leasing of office buildings, shopping centres, hotels, commercial and retail property.

Philip Wilson from Corrs Chambers Westgarth heads the WA Banking and Finance division, and has acted for two of the big four banks as well as several private companies.

Mr Wilson also specialises in property and mining finance, advising organisations in the negotiation and execution of joint venture agreements and the acquisition of significant property and mining interests.

Two lawyers from Clayton Utz, Cameron Belyea and Peter Wilkes, were put forward in the banking and finance area.

Mr Belyea principally acts for banks, insolvency practitioners, and distressed of reconstructed corporate groups effecting recoveries or acting reconstruction workouts.

Mr Wilkes practices in the area of corporate and securities law, debt and equity raisings, financing, asset acquisition and disposal, resources and commercial projects and privatisations.