In an environment where Australian issuers, especially from the infrastructure sector, are actively seeking diversified funding options, two Allens Partners – James Darcy and Scott McCoy – discuss the key structuring considerations for issuers and sponsors wishing to establish debt platforms to access longer-term financing options. This article was first published in the Oct/Nov 2017 edition of KangaNews.

Allens Partners Ben Farnsworth, Michael Ryan and Tim Stewart were part of the global panel analysing the boom in renewables in the Australian project finance market. In Getting the Deal Through’s third annual issue focusing on the global project finance markets, Ben, Michael and Tim look at the trends over the past year and what they anticipate unfolding over the next year, including any proposed legal and regulatory changes that may give rise to new opportunities.

Allens Partner Michael Morris authored the Australia chapter of The Privacy, Data Protection and Cybersecurity Law Review. The year ahead is likely to bring increased attention to connected devices, autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big-data analytics and predictive algorithms. This article originally appeared in The Privacy, Data Protection and Cybersecurity Law Review.

Allens Partners Michael Ryan and Ben Farnsworth discuss some of the issues relevant to project finance in an Australian context (including security packages, navigating the Personal Property Security Register, and foreign investment issues) in their contribution to this global project finance roundup. This article originally appeared in Project Finance 2018.

Trustees who incur expenditure or liabilities have proprietary rights to use the trust assets to recoup that expenditure and discharge those liabilities – rights that are often described as a ‘lien’. This article explores the issues that may arise when a trustee that has those rights is replaced by another trustee that has such rights of its own.This paper was originally presented at a colloquium of the Academic Committee of the Banking and Financial Services Law Association.

We have seen in recent years an increasing level of activity in the Australian regulatory landscape. The current Banking Royal Commission is just one example of many dominating boardrooms and newsfeeds.

Partners Ben Farnsworth and Michael Ryan outline the main trends and significant developments in Australian project finance. Among other factors, they discuss restrictions on foreign investment, bankruptcy and restructuring proceedings, tax, and political risk in relation to changes in law.

Fund financing activities in Australia remained strong in 2017, with particular focus on infrastructure, private equity funds and private debt funds, which have taken advantage of the additional liquidity and funding flexibility in this market. Allens Partner Tom Highnam, Managing Associate Rita Pang and Senior Associate Victoria Johns provide an overview of the funds landscape in Australia, key developments and the outlook for the next 12 months.

After four years in the making, the first commercial waste-to-energy project in Australia has achieved financial close, but what opportunities and challenges lie in store for waste-to-energy in Australia?