In Moscow, the annual conference “Legal aspects M&A: best practices” took place under the auspices of the publishing house Kommersant (Коммерсантъ) and with the support of PNB Banka. The event brought together professionals in the market of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), representatives of the banking industry, specialists of financial and legal practices, managers of large companies.

Dmitrii Kalmykov, a board member of PNB Banka, took part in the conference as a speaker and told the attendees about the requirements set by the European banks to transactions under the M&A. Dimtrii noted that over the last years the role of banks has changed, the control and monitoring functions of financial institutions have been expanded significantly. For instance, banks have to monitor closely the compliance with sanction laws, consider laws and regulations of countries of the parties to transactions, and obey the European Union’s directives.

According to Dmitrii, the use of the bank’s expertise is of great importance when conducting complex transactions, in particular, when a detailed examination of their structure is required, as well as the analysis and assessment of risks. Such transactions normally include the acquisitions of bad assets and assets with a complex structure, the sale of shares of businesses and real estate assets, as well as the actual M&A transactions. Moreover, Dmitrii pointed out that banks should be involved at the earliest stage of structuring.

“The key task of a bank is to conduct transactions considering the in-depth analysis of a transaction, as well as individual terms and needs of a client, and to mitigate risks for all the parties to the transaction”, highlighted Dmitrii Kalmykov.

At the end of the presentation, Dmitrii noted that PNB Banka had made a list of priorities that require attention when discussing transactions. To sum up, the main focus of businesses is the velocity of execution of a transaction, while banks focus on the protection of clients against risks.