Lending to Municipalities

This webinar has been developed for banks and bankers who are aware of opportunities to serve their community through credit services to municipalities and other local government or quasi-governmental organizations (i.e. volunteer fire departments, emergency health care providers, political subdivisions, etc.). Extending credit to municipal entities requires legal, tax, accounting and credit knowledge, and analysis that can be quite different from conventional commercial lending decisions. There are many issues involved. Governmental entities provide financial information, often using unfamiliar fund accounting. Budgeting constraints have a direct impact on how credit requests are structured. Lease financing is frequently needed. Commercial customers may need financing for contracts with local government entities. Since 2008, municipal bankruptcies have risen, but overall the default risk on municipal bonds is low and interest paid by municipalities and related types of entities is often tax free to the bank.

What You’ll Learn

Who Should Attend
Loan officers, credit analysts, note and credit department personnel, internal auditors, loan review and compliance personnel, or any banker involved in the lending function.

Instructor Bio
Robin Russell has practiced law for 30 years and is licensed in Texas, New York, and Massachusetts. She is a fellow in the American College of Bankruptcy and of the American Law Institute. She combines a depth of experience in bankruptcy restructuring and litigation with financial transactions. She has represented corporate debtors, independent directors, liquidating trustees, bondholders, unsecured creditors’ committees, bank groups, private equity funds, landlords, trade creditors, and bidders for estate assets in Chapter 11 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. She has also represented banks, institutional lenders, and corporate borrowers in commercial loan transactions and debt restructurings.

Russell is the principal author of Thomson Reuters’ Texas Practice Guides for both Creditors’ Rights and Financial Transactions and the Texas Bankers Association’s Texas Secured Lending Guide, Texas Problem Loan Guide, Texas Real Estate Lending Guide, and Texas Account Documentation Guide. She is a frequent speaker on banking, bankruptcy, and financial restructuring-related topics and has served as a Chapter 7 Trustee. Russell received her LL.M. in Banking Law from Boston University and her J.D. from Baylor University where she was Editor-in-Chief of the Baylor Law Review and the highest-ranking graduate in her class. She clerked for the Texas Supreme Court before beginning her legal career.

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