Our finance and projects lawyers advise on all aspects of financing, across borders, sectors and financial products.
We share knowledge and skills in deals involving, for example, lending and borrowing, debt securities, derivatives, funds, portfolios and fintech solutions, as well as energy, infrastructure, transport matters and other projects.
With an established presence in Africa through DLA Piper Africa, we help our clients to realize and develop their financial strategies and projects in whichever markets they do business.
Experience has included advising:
- A Mauritian subsidiary of the Libyan Investment Fund which is itself a subsidiary of the Libyan Sovereign Fund in its restructuring.
- China Development Bank Corporation as to matters of Mauritian Law in connection with the financing of a wind power project in Pakistan.
- Agence Française de Developpment in connection with an issue of shares and share exchange involving the African Guarantee Fund Ltd.
- Tier 1 in Project Development (IFLR1000 2019)
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has issued a Consultation Paper in relation to the introduction of a regulatory framework for Robotic and Artificial Intelligence Enabled Advisory Services (hereinafter RAIEAS). RAIEAS was coined in the National Budget of 2019/2020 and the Finance (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2020 added RAIEAS as a financial business activity in Schedule 2 of the Financial Services Act requiring a licence from the FSC. The aim of the Consultation Paper, which is inspired from approaches and models implemented by other jurisdictions, is to invite views and comments from relevant professionals, the industry and the public at large.
P2P lending has, worldwide, been hailed as an innovative solution that democratises financing. Start-ups and small entrepreneurs have typically relied on bank finance to grow. But they present risks that banks are not always prepared to take — at least not cheaply. Online platforms that connect borrowers directly with investors bypass the problem of getting bank financing.
The Court of Civil Appeal of the Supreme Court of Mauritius has recently opined in the case of Essar Steel Ltd v Arcelormittal USA LLC [2020 SCJ 191] that the directors of a company, which has been placed in administration retain no residual power to initiate proceedings on behalf of the company.
The Financial Services Commission (“FSC”), the integrated regulator for non-banking financial services and global business sectors, which is highly supportive of Fintech-related initiatives, issued on 15 June 2020, pursuant to section 7(1)(a) of the Financial Services Act 2007, guidance notes on a common set of standards for Security Token Offerings and the licensing of Security Token Trading Systems.