Steve is a special counsel in the banking and finance group, where he advises on corporate securities law, corporate restructuring, and corporate insolvency. This sees him regularly acting for prominent corporate insolvency practices when they are appointed as receivers, liquidators, and administrators.
In addition, Steve has considerable expertise in international and domestic capital markets and corporate financing. His experience in these areas includes commercial paper programmes, transferable loan certificate facilities, bond and note issues, convertible note and capital note issues, syndicated and bilateral financing transactions, and swaps and derivatives transactions.
Steve also has more than 15 years' experience in local authority financing. He has acted for around 50 local authorities in relation to their debt, hedging, and security arrangements, and established the market-standard documentation for the sector at the time of the 1996 reforms.
- Chambers Global Restructuring & Insolvency 2013 - Leading Lawyer
- Chambers Asia Pacific Restructuring & Insolvency 2013 - Leading Lawyer
- IFLR1000 Restructuring & Insolvency 2013 - Leading Lawyer
- PLC Which Lawyer? Restructuring & Insolvency 2013 - Leading Lawyer
- Asialaw Insolvency & Restructuring 2013 - Leading Lawyer
- The International Who’s Who of Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyers 2013 - Leading Lawyer
- Asia Pacific Legal 500 Banking & Finance 2011 - Leading Lawyer
Examples of Work
- Solid Energy - acting for the directors in the context of the state-owned enterprise's restructuring
- McGrath + Nicol - liquidation of the HIH Insurance Group's New Zealand assets (part of Australasia's largest corporate collapse)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers - receivership of Lombard Finance & Investments and Strategic Finance
- United States institutional investors - acceleration and repayment of US$100 million notes issued by South Canterbury Finance
- Treasury and PricewaterhouseCoopers - receivership of Terralink (the first, and to date only, receivership of a state-owned enterprise)
- New Zealand Oil & Gas - appointing security holder in receivership of Pike River Coal
- Leading (in Singapore and London) the financing of BIL International's successful £627 million cash offer for Thistle Hotels
- BIL International (then Brierley Investments) - US$600 million transferable loan facility
Other Credentials
- Victoria University of Wellington - Honorary lecturer in the Faculty of Law (banking and finance law, and commercial law)
- New Zealand Law Society - Past member, Subcommittee reviewing the Personal Property Securities Act
- New Zealand Law Society - Past member, Committee on Insolvency Law Reform
- New Zealand Law Society - Chair, Continuing Legal Education Intensive on "Businesses in Trouble"
