Major Assignments - Banking & Finance

Seven Bombardier CRJ900-type aircraft owned by Transpordi Varahaldus OÜ (TVH) are now fully financed by LHV Bank, while Estonia’s national airline Nordica continues as their lessee. Government-owned TVH refinanced its previously issued bonds with a 23 million euro loan from an Estonian LHV Bank. TRINITI attorneys Ergo Blumfeldt, Ain Kalme, Tõnis Tamme ja Sten Veidebaum were advising TVH in drafting the legal documentation of the transaction and related negotiations, necessary changes in the civil aircraft registry, amendment of the existing aircraft lease agreements as well as in other legal documentation. Read moreIn 2017 and 2018, TVH issued bonds for a total of 35 million euros which were purchased in equal parts by LHV Pension Funds and LHV Pank. TVH used the financing to purchase additional CRJ900-type aircraft and lease them to Nordic Aviation Group AS (Nordica). The outstanding amount of the bonds was now refinanced with a bank loan obtained from LHV Bank. Indrek Nuume, Head of Business Banking at LHV Pank, said that the local bank and the local aircraft owner were a perfect match. “Our cooperation with TVH has been long-standing, successful and reliable. We’re glad to be involved in their investment plans. As LHV Pension Funds are always on a lookout for new investment opportunities with a higher rate of return, we agreed on new suitable bank financing terms with TVH. We can see that the sector is recovering well and wish all the success to Estonian aviation,” Nuume added. According to TVH the two past years have been exceedingly complicated for aviation but due to reliable and long-standing cooperation with the lessee and the financiers alike, the assetco has weathered the crisis well, managing to keep its current commercial activities profitable.

Katri Tomson and Ramil Pärdi, sworn advocates within the TRINITI financial team, are participating in the preparation of the Estonian national money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment. A national risk assessment is a sector-specific study which aims to identify, assess, and raise awareness of the risks, threats, and vulnerabilities which may be associated with money laundering and terrorist financing both at national and sectoral levels. Read moreThe risk assessment highlights the most common ways in which illegal income may be laundered or terrorist acts could be financed within Estonia. It also serves to analyse situations which require improvement (including at the legislative level), and deduce where more resources may be required in terms of providing risk prevention for the private sector entrepreneur, as well as covering situations in which the allocation of additional resources is not justified. The results of the national risk assessment make it possible for the country to divide sectors into risk classes, while assigning simplified measures to sectors in which the risk of money laundering and terrorism is assessed to be lower, and paying more attention to areas in which the risk is assessed as being higher. The preparation of the Estonian national money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment is coordinated by the Ministry of Finance and will be completed by the end of 2020.

TRINITI has advised for years and is continuing to advise also during the COVID-19 crisis SA KredEx (a financing institution established by the Estonian State) on state aid rules related to state guarantees and other measures to make sure that the measures provided by KredEx do not constitute unlawful state aid.

Estateguru tagatisagent OÜ acts as the Security Agent being responsible for maintaining and realization of securities (mortgages) for investments made through the EstateGuru’s crowdfunding portal estateguru.co. EstateGuru is a leading European online marketplace established by property and FinTech professionals facilitating short- and mid-term property loans to businesses.

TRINITI is providing management services to Estateguru tagatisagent OÜ as well as represents the client in numerous disputes in court related to security interests.

In co-operation with Norton Rose Fullbright Frankfurt, we advised Deutsche Bank to launch cross-border payment services. Triniti advised on Estonian law matters  pertaining to the T&C of the service.

We advised DeRoyal Estonia, a company with US background, in the compliance process performed by the bank in meeting the requirements for keeping the bank account open. DeRoyal Estonia belongs to DeRoyal group. DeRoyal is a US-based international manufacturer and marketer of healthcare products. DeRoyal’s portfolio includes, for example, surgical equipment, orthopedic softgoods and wound dressings. DeRoyal has manufacturing assets on three continents, operations in six countries and a total of 1,900 employees.

Attorneys of TRINITI have advised on matters concerning anti-money laundering compliance, including companies from different sectors (from accounting providers and real estate agencies to creditors and banks). We have helped our clients to assess money laundering risks in their entities and determine risk appetite, as well as establish rules of procedure and internal control. We have consulted and represented companies also in supervisory proceedings of Financial Intelligence Unit.

Karmen Turk, Katri Tomson and Maarja Pild, lawyers in the TRINITI Law Firm, represented their client in the European Union’s first ICO case. In the case regarding Santiment ICO (Bloomberg in the crypto world), the parties reached a mutually acceptable compromise. In the event of a dispute, whether and how can the other party be required to transfer the crypto assets (tokens), whether a default interest can be charged for delay (if no money is involved), and what are the bailiff’s tools for enforcing a judgment rendered in a crypto asset dispute – those were some of the topics hotly debated.

TRINITI’s lawyers have also discussed the risks and disputes related to crypto assets and ICOs in the Äripäev Radio broadcast “TRINITI eetris” (TRINITI On Air).

TRINITI provides the security agent’s service to the investors of the Alexela Tanklad OÜ bonds. The bond securities provided by the issuer are held in the interests of the investors by TRINITI’s 100% subsidiary company

We provide Collateral Agent service for the acquisition of Sanoma Baltics AS, a company operating advertisement portals auto24.ee and kuldnebors.ee. The company was acquired by leading private equity and venure capital investor BaltCap and the Estonian management of the company. The transaction was partly financed by LHV pension funds under the bonds issued