English version translated by XU Xinyuan (Wayne)

In December 2023, Shanghai LANDING Law Offices, serving as the legal counsel on the banking side, assisted the Frankfurt Branch of the Bank of Communications (“BOCOM”) in completing the refinancing of overseas loans for ship financing for the borrower the Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co. (“BOCOM Leasing”). LANDING lawyers provided comprehensive legal service throughout the whole process.

Founded in October 2007, the Frankfurt Branch of BOCOM is located in the core area of the Finance area of Frankfurt. The Frankfurt Branch is committed to assuming the role of the euro settlement center for the entire bank, serving as the platform for trade settlement and financing business in the EU region, operating 24-hour foreign exchange funds for the entire bank in the European chain, acting as the European base for business innovation, and serving as the reception window in the Europe for all clients. The business scope mainly focuses on wholesale business, covering deposits, remittances, loans, trade and non-trade settlements, funds, guarantees, and consulting services. The Frankfurt Branch strives to implement the BOCOM’s development strategy of “Internationalization and Integration and the goal of building a leading banking group” and the requirement of “Strive for Advancement and Outperforming the Market”.

Founded in December 2007, the Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (“BOCOM Leasing”) is one of the first five financial leasing companies approved by the State Council and is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of Communications, with a registered capital of 20 billion yuan. As the first financial leasing company approved to set up a professional subsidiary in Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, BOCOM Leasing successively achieved several “first order” businesses and innovation achievements, such as the first aircraft financial lease business, the first aircraft operating lease business, the first ship operating lease business, the first aircraft asset transfer transaction, and the first overseas loan business of non-bank financial institutions. In the future, BOCOM Leasing will actively fulfill the mission and responsibilities of a state-owned financial institution, implement the requirements of “new development stage, new development concept, new development pattern, and high-quality development”, provide solid service for the real economy, and give full play to the original characteristics of leasing. The businesses of BOCOM Leasing contain aviation, shipping, transportation infrastructure, energy and electricity, people’s livelihood and consumption, equipment manufacturing and other key industries and fields, and it will spare no effort in serving the dual circulation development pattern, in which domestic and overseas markets reinforce each other, with the domestic market as the main body.

LANDING Senior Partner TANG Xiang and Senior Partner ZHOU Wenjia, acting as the lead attorneys and leading their legal team members Associate YAN yan, Associate GONG Lingxia, Associate WU Xiaowen and Associate WANG Yining, served as the legal counsels for this project. LANDING lawyers provided comprehensive legal services for the whole project, including drafting a full set of transaction documents, issuing legal opinions under Chinese law, reviewing a series of documents provided by the borrower, and assisting the client with vessel registration and mortgage registration. The transaction documents for this project are governed by British law, Marshall Islands law, Chinese law, and Hong Kong law. The project was led by Shanghai Landing Law Offices, in collaboration with Landing UK branch and cooperating lawyers in the Marshall Islands and Hong Kong. Throughout the project, the team worked in English as the working language and completed the overseas refinancing of ship loans project within the shortest time frame.