BLN'S WEB SITE HAS BEEN RATED BY ALEXA.COM
AS ONE OF THE MOST VISITED LEASING WEB SITES IN THE WORLD!

A Message From the Publisher, David G. Mayer

1. Western Union Pays Big Fine Under USA Patriot Act: Are Lessors and Lenders Next?

Western Union has eight million new reasons to be patriotic. According to a recent press release, the New York Banking Department fined the company $8 million for violating the USA Patriot Act of 2001, Public Law 107-56, effective October 26, 2001 (the "Act"). The Banking Department alleged that Western Union failed to file certain Currency Transactions Reports (CTRs) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) under the federal Bank Secrecy Act, Public Law 91-508 (31 U.S.C. 53) regarding currency transactions aggregating over $10,000 per day.

Although transactions for most lessors and lenders differ from the Western Union situation, this enforcement action serves as a wake-up call for the financial services industry. The powers created by the Act will change the way many financial institutions and their customers do business. The critical issue here is whether the Act covers financial transactions of lessors and secured lenders, and, if so, what reporting, due diligence and other requirements the Act may impose on you, as a lessor, lender, or as a lessee or borrower.

*Technical Point: A "financial institution" is a very broad term that includes institutions subject to Federal regulations (such as banks, mutual finds and hedge funds), loan or finance companies, trust and insurance companies, investment banks, sellers of vehicles (automobiles, aircraft and vessels), persons engaged in real estate closings and settlements, and even casinos. See: Section 352 of the Act and 31 U.S.C. Section 5312(a)(2) and (c)(1). This definition leaves little doubt that most (if not all) lessors and lenders qualify as financial institutions. See: 31 U.S.C. 5312(a)(2)(P).

Basic Framework of the USA Patriot Act

The Act is sometimes referred to by its formal name: the "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001." While this name is a real mouthful, it describes the fundamental intent of Congress to create comprehensive measures to combat domestic and international terrorism. 18 U.S.C. 2331. See: Section 802 of the Act.

These measures include:

• Enhanced bank account, electronic and other surveillance procedures (Title II)
  
• More controls on accounts and transactions to prevent money laundering and funding of terrorism (Title III)
  
• Increased access to financial records allegedly arising out of illegal activity (Title III)
  
• Improved immigration enforcement (Title IV)
  
• Expanded powers to gather and use information to stop funding for terrorism (Title V)

The Act consists of ten "Titles" covering more than 340 pages of complex changes and additions to over 15 existing laws and regulations affecting financial institutions. For a detailed analysis of the Act by the Congressional Research Service, see: The USA PATRIOT Act: A Legal Analysis. 

*Tip: On October 11, 2002, the Treasury Department issued a press release stating that it will "provide financial institutions with a reasonable amount of time in which to come into compliance" with certain regulations. The Treasury Department should issue more regulations in the next few months.

Western Union Caught by Broad Powers of USA Patriot Act and Bank Secrecy Act

Even without complete regulations, the broad reach of the Money Laundering Act creates or enhances the power of the Federal government to identify and interrupt terrorism-related financial transactions, dismantle financial infrastructures of terrorism, and potentially confiscate funds or assets used by terrorists or for their benefit. In Western Union's case, the authorities used this power to allege multiple failures by the company to document transfers of cash around the globe, as required by the Act. Such funds could have been used to fund terrorism. Western Union has agreed with the New York Banking Department in a consent agreement to provide missing information and initiate training programs.

A "Square Peg in a Round Hole": The Application of the Act to Leasing and Lending

The financial services industry (including lessors and lenders) should focus on Title III of the Act, called the "International Money Laundering Abatement and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act of 2001." See: Sections 301 to 377 of the Act (the "Money Laundering Act"). For a more detailed summary of how the Act affects financial institutions, see a Federal Reserve Bank article titled: "'Patriot' Law Aims to Deter International Money Laundering" and "Bank Secrecy Act: Changing Environment."  This title "sunsets" (that is, terminates) on October 1, 2005 if Congress enacts a joint resolution to that effect.

Despite the different circumstances of the Western Union case, leasing and secured lending transactions may still fall within this scope of the Act. In essence, if a leasing or secured lending transaction of a financial institution (which includes lessors and lenders) constitutes a money laundering transaction or other violation of the Money Laundering Act, the lessor or lender may become subject to the reporting, due diligence and sanctions of the Act. Sanctions include fines and forfeitures of leased property or collateral.

For example, as a lessor or lender, say you enter into a printing press lease with a non-U.S. person or make a secured loan to a non-U.S. person. For funds flow and/or additional security for rent/loan payments, you establish a blocked, controlled, reserve, deposit or other account to receive and disburse funds. You take a security interest in the account. Absent a default, your lessee or borrower pays funds to the account and can receive funds from the account when appropriate. The funds can be wired to a non-U.S. account. This part of the transaction alone could cause money laundering concerns, and trigger compliance requirements of the Act. See Section 312 of the Act regarding policies and controls of accounts for foreign persons.

*Technical Point: "Money laundering" in general refers to the flow of cash or other valuables derived from, or intended to facilitate, the commission of a criminal offense (including terrorism). The USA PATRIOT Act: A Legal Analysis, at page 24.  An "account" seems to refer to any type of arrangement to hold or transfer money, but the term has not been completely defined. See: Section 311(e) of the Act and 31 U.S.C. 5318(i) and (j).

Beyond the use of accounts in your deals, does the Money Laundering Act apply to your transactions? Does applying the law to lessors and lenders seem like trying to fit a square peg (leases and loans) into a round hole (bank account regulation)? For the moment, no clear answer exists to the question of whether or to what extent the Act applies to leasing or lending deals. However, the sweeping nature of the law, the seriousness of its goals, and the powerful nature of its sanctions merit close attention by lessors and lenders.

*Warning: Your failure to comply with the Act (if it does apply to you) may result in potentially serious penalties, including confiscation of leased property or collateral and fines. Exercise caution and diligence if your lessee or borrower (including its owners/controlling persons) is not a U.S. citizens or resident or if you have any suspicion that funds or property in your deal may be used by your lessee or borrower to engage in or control acts of terrorism. Should you face an inquiry, you may be able to use the so-called "innocent owner defense" to avoid forfeiture of your property and/or collateral (including proceeds). You may potentially use this defense if you do not know of a violation, and structure your deals properly to exercise appropriate and immediate remedies. See: 18 U.S.C. 983(d)(6) and Sections 106, 316 and 806 of the Act.

Taking Action To Comply with the Act

Given the likely expansion of efforts to enforce the Act and to combat terrorism in the United States, if you qualify as a financial institution, you should consider taking the following actions.

• Develop a compliance program that includes: (1) creating an internal policy, procedures and controls relating to the Act, (2) appointing a compliance officer, (3) initiating training, and (4) establishing independent audit procedures. See: 31 U.S.C. 5318(h)  and Section 352 of the Act.
  
  
• Perform due diligence on each cross-border, foreign or other transaction in which you have any money laundering concerns, especially if your lessee or borrower is not a U.S. citizen or resident. Use due diligence to check appropriate lists to identify known or suspected terrorists.
  
  
• Draft representations, warranties and covenants for your loan and lease documentation that enables you to identify and take immediate action that may remedy violations of the Act.

*Remember: This complex law may already include requirements that apply to you and affect your transactions. The focus of the Act is to stop domestic and foreign terrorist acts against US interests. Because compliance with the Act is not optional, you should evaluate the Act (if you have not done so) and comply with it early in 2003 to protect your interests, assets and operations.

[Top]

2. Leasing Prospects Improve for 2003 Despite Credit Concerns

The U.S. economy has been remarkably resilient in the face of corporate scandals, terrorism, a down stock market and record bankruptcy filings.  According to Bankruptcy.com, 186 public companies filed bankruptcies in 2002 (with $368 billion in debt). These filings take second place in the record books for the highest number of public company bankruptcies compared to 2001 (with 257 public company filings). Bankruptcy casualties in 2002 included United Airlines, Kmart, Global Crossing, WorldCom and Conseco, Inc.

It's no surprise to anyone that banks and other financing entities reported the negative impact of major bankruptcies and defaults in the fourth quarter of 2002. The losses involve retailing, energy, airlines, finance and telecommunications businesses.

The write-offs of investments by lessors and lenders in United Airlines and US Airways alone hit an array of luminaries in finance including Bank of America ($1.2 billion), The CIT Group ($41 million), Pitney Bowes ($100 million including US Airways), and even Walt Disney Co. ($114 million). Each of these lessors/lenders took major write-offs in the fourth quarter.

Morgan Stanley has $4.8 billion of aircraft exposure, with impairment write-downs in excess of $74 million already this year. This exposure makes Morgan Stanley one of the top players in financing aircraft along with General Electric Co., Boeing Capital Corp ($1.3 billion) and American International Group, Inc. See: Morgan Stanley Could Take Hit On Leasing Unit, The Wall Street Journal (S.W. Ed.), December 19, 2002; Section C:5, Col. 4.

Despite this bankruptcy trauma and the shaky economy, signs of an economic rebound and renewed capital spending have started to emerge, with the exception of commercial aviation. The following diverse points support this bit of optimism:

1. According to Alan Greenspan, the economy is still soft, but any significant fall in the current geopolitical uncertainty about Iraq in the future should noticeably improve capital outlays. He also has said that such spending is the "indispensable spur to a path of increased economic growth." See: Economy Still Soft, Greenspan Warns.  The Bush administration wants to prime the economy with a comprehensive "stimulus" package. This package would, in part, include depreciation and other write-offs to increase spending on equipment. Also see a summary of President Bush's growth and job plan: Taking Action to Strengthen America’s Economy (January 7, 2003).

2. Chief financial officers have responded in surveys with improved expectations about capital spending. Fleet Capital arranged for a survey of 673 CFOs of middle-market companies. In that study, 61 percent of the CFOs said that the economy did not alter their growth plans, while 87 percent reported that capital spending would remain stable or increase. CFO.com conducted a survey of 214 CFOs worldwide. The results of that survey suggest that the "U.S. economy is once again poised to take a run at a recovery." Most CFOs believe the expansion in the economy affecting them would show up in the second half of 2003.

3. According to its press release issued on January 2, 2003, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said that: "The manufacturing sector rebounded in December…Of the 20 industries in the manufacturing sector, 11 industries reported growth: Food; Leather; Instruments & Photographic Equipment; Printing & Publishing; Textiles; Furniture; Electronic Components & Equipment; Paper; Wood & Wood Products; Transportation & Equipment; and Chemicals." These industries include some significant prospects for the leasing industry.

4. Martin Barnes, a widely quoted authority on forecasting and the editor of the Bank Credit Analyst (a Montreal based forecasting journal), has analyzed the current trends: He recently said: "For the first time in 50 years the stock of installed equipment and software in U.S. business is shrinking because it's wearing out faster than it is being replaced. The U.S. economy has become more capital intensive in the last decade because of the spread of information technology, which turns obsolete quickly and requires continuing investments…Companies have actually under-invested, so there should be enormous pent-up demand for capital spending." See: Inside a Shaky Economy, Signs of Rebound Emerge, The Wall Street Journal (S.W. Ed.), January 3, 2003; Section A:1, Col. 4.

*Tip: Spending on new equipment has continued to lag for several reasons, including concern about a possible war with Iraq. As a lessor or a lender, you may benefit by promptly formulating and implementing a marketing strategy that includes visiting CFOs at middle-market and other companies within the industries mentioned above by ISM. Look for opportunities to finance and lease equipment in the most capital-intensive companies mentioned by ISM, particularly those which may have obsolete technology equipment in mission critical operations. Though the leasing market may not rebound early in 2003, efforts made now should help increase your bottom line when the pent-up demand for equipment turns into real deals.

[Top]

3. Community Banks Increase Competition with Small-Ticket Lessors

According to recent Fitch Ratings, US community banks will rebound in 2003, even if the economy has a slow start this year. Although interest rate margins remain under pressure, asset quality remains sound. See: US Community Banks & Thrifts to Rebound over Next Quarters: Fitch Ratings, Press Release (December 9, 2002), and community banks stand ready and able to compete with small ticket lessors.

Community banks can readily identify leasing opportunities with trained personnel or by entering into collaborative efforts with brokers and other lessors. Although their potential for sourcing deals is significant, some experts in leasing believe that leasing products do not fall within the purview of the typical community bank. Rather, these banks often stick to typical consumer loans, mortgages and other small business loan products.

Small-ticket lessors do not seem to feel threatened by community banks for several reasons:

• Community banks often lack the expertise to create, price and market leasing products;
  
• The infrastructure to form a leasing group requires time and investment outside of core bank products and business models; and
  
• A typical bank may not be willing to take residual value and other equipment-oriented risks in leasing.

See: What Lessors are Saying About... Community Banks (ELA members only)

Before small-ticket lessors dismiss community banks as competitors, lessors should consider that community banks also possess large amounts of available capital, maintain extensive marketing contacts with small businesses, and can expand on existing or form new relationships with brokers and other lessors.

One of the more interesting ways for community banks to engage in leasing and avoid the infrastructure costs is a product called a "lease-loan program." In these programs, a leasing company with the required infrastructure helps identify and market equipment leasing to the community bank's best commercial customers. The bank then funds the lease by making a loan to the lessor. In turn, the lessor enters into a lease with the customer as the lessee. On funding, the bank effectively gains a commercial loan to its own customer with recourse to the customer and the lessor. The structure of this transaction looks like a back leveraged lease or a syndication. However, this application of the structure by community banks gives them a significant ability to compete with small-ticket lessors without deviating too much from typical bank products or business models. See: How to increase loans with your best commercial credits, by David R. Frank, Co-Chairman  of BancLeasing, Inc. 

According to David Frank, the banks win three ways. They:

1. Earn fees for funding the lease;
2. Earn interest income from the loan to the lessor; and
3. Share in the upside residual value at the end of the lease.

Despite taking on risk management, the lessor also wins. The bank has a high level of confidence in funding leases for the benefit of the bank's best existing customers; therefore the lessor increases its deal flow and acquires a built-in funding source familiar with the customer.

*Deal Opportunity: Though lessors may not feel the impact of community bank competition in the near future, this group of banks could become formidable competitors in small-ticket leasing in the future. Perhaps independent lessors should engage in more business with community banks as a source of deals and funding, which the leasing business needs in the current economy, and beat the competition in doing so.

[Top]

4. Merchant Energy Firms Tap Parent Utilities for Economic Power

With limited refinancing available to pay $90B of industry debt in the next few years, merchant energy companies have started to tap into their regulated utility affiliates for cash and balance sheet support. See: Energy Firms Have Limited Refinancing Prospects for $90-Bil. Debt, Says S&P, Global Power Report (Nov. 7, 2002).

Parent companies recognize that their regulated utility units have successfully provided energy to homes and businesses. The utilities have largely survived the traumatic downfall of the $200 billion energy sector. The unregulated energy companies have started to tap into the boring but steady regulated units to shore up their sinking fortunes. Through a variety of strategies, utilities have cut capital expenditures in order to redirect capital to parent companies, which, in turn, bail out their merchant energy units. See: Beleaguered Energy Firms Try To Share Pain With Utility Units, The Wall Street Journal (S.W. Ed.), December 26, 2002; Section A:1, Col. 3. In other cases, regulated utilities have absorbed operating costs and other obligations of unregulated affiliates.

Credit agencies have begun to recognize that "utilities are vulnerable to their parent's woes." Consequently, Fitch Ratings has cut more than two dozen utilities to junk status. According to Fitch Ratings, the economic slowdown has devastated the wholesale power industry. Some merchant generators and other power players face imminent bankruptcy. BusinessWeek online predicts that NRG Energy Inc. (XEL) is a likely bankruptcy candidate early in 2003 followed closely by Mirant Corp. (MIR) and Allegheny Energy Inc. (AYE), each of which issued recent bankruptcy warnings. See: The Bankruptcy Run Isn't Slowing (January 2, 2003). 

In what other ways do the energy companies cope with their mountain of debt? They:

• Sell assets, including various power plants and service businesses, to raise cash and pay debt
  
  
• Abandon power plants to pay their debts by handing the keys over to lenders
  
  
• Tap cash reserves of their regulated utility to pay debt of the independent power units
  
  
• Defer building power plants; see: Energy Firms Defer Building Power Plants, The Wall Street Journal (S.W. Ed.), November 6, 2002; Section B:5B,Col.1
  
  
• Refinance debt by increasing interest rates and sweetening the terms to win forbearance agreements

*Warning: Some experts suggest that time is running out for merchant companies. As a lender or a lessor, you no doubt have been watching this saga develop. Signs of trouble at power/utility companies include:

See: Is time running out for merchant companies? Platts Energy Business Technology, by Peter Rigby.

*Tip: Where economic crisis exists, look for indications (even small ones) of recovery and related financing opportunities. If you have a taste for risk, you may find some interesting opportunities to finance asset purchases or to lease mission critical equipment. Signs of a turnaround include a combination of successful asset sales, cancellations or delays of construction plans, cost and staff reductions, winding down or eliminating business lines, capital restructuring, debt repayments, and issuance of equity.

[Top]

5. FASB's Delays Final Interpretation on SPE's

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announced December 30, 2002 on its web site that "Interpretation 46, Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities, is being reviewed by the FASB staff, the Board, and a group of persons outside the FASB." After considering these comments, the FASB expects to publish the final document in early January 2003 and to make it available electronically by mid-January. The FASB has apparently moved toward adopting a variable interest model. This model tests the variable interests of one party in the subject entity, which may be a special purpose or other entity and may be called a "VIE" (a variable interest entity).

*Comment: This long-awaited Interpretation has led commentators to say that off-balance-sheet financing (including synthetic leases) has been discredited. See an article in CFO.com titled: Off-Balance-Sheet Deals: C'est la Vie?  The lack of a final Interpretation by the FASB has promoted such commentary and virtually chilled (some might say, frozen) the use by financial markets of special purpose entities and even non-SPE synthetic leases. It's time for the FASB to publish a responsible and comprehensible document, even if it must narrow the scope of its project to do so.

[Top]

6. Leasing 101: What is a "Vendor Leasing Program"?

A "vendor leasing program" is an organized way for suppliers of goods (including software) and services to increase their sales. Vendors accomplish this objective by arranging or providing financing for their customers to acquire these goods and/or services. The customer uses the financing to pay the purchase price to the supplier and then repays the financing over time under a lease or loan arrangement. Vendor leasing programs primarily involve leasing of equipment and/or software, including technology equipment, tractors and trailers, construction equipment and even aircraft. For more on vendor leasing, see: Tapping Diverse Markets: Vendor, Venture, and e-Leasing, in Chapter 21 of my book, Business Leasing for Dummies (BLFD)®.

[Top]

7. Events and Speeches; Training Offered

How the New (Accounting) Rules Will Affect Lease Financing Transactions. Sponsor: Infocast. Event: Unwinding, Restructuring & Consolidating Special Purpose Entities Under the New FASB Guidelines. Dates and Times: Wednesday, February 12, 2003; 3:15 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. in New York City (location to be announced). For information/registration, contact Infocast or call (818) 888-4444.

Training Offered. To help improve your business functions, I offer private training seminars tailored to your specific needs at your designated location. My interactive and informative approach relies, in part, on my book, Business Leasing for Dummies (BLFD)® and subjects I cover in BLN. We can customize a format for your training needs ranging from a three-hour seminar to a two-day course. For example, we can discuss such topics as the FASB's changes in accounting rules affecting synthetic leasing. Feel free to call me at (214) 758-1545 if you would like to discuss your needs or interests. Even if you don't train with me, perhaps I can recommend another training program that works for you. Training is critical in any event!

[Top]

8. BLN Briefs: New Tax Bonuses, Boeing Tanker Update and Streamlined Tax Project Agreement

BLN Brief presents short-takes and updates of current issues. For more information on these stories, just email me at dmayer@pattonboggs.com:

More "Bonus Depreciation" Proposed for 2003. The Bush "growth" or "stimulus" plan may include a temporary increase in the "bonus depreciation" from 30 percent to 40 percent or more in first-year depreciation. For a description of the law and how it works, see my article titled: New Federal Tax Law Changes Can Help Your Business Grow, in the April 2002 edition of BLN.  In addition, the plan may increase to as much as $75,000 the immediate write-off for certain new equipment purchases as a business expense. See article 2 above.

*Tip: Jeffrey Taylor, Founder of Executive Caliber, recently analyzed the impact of current bonus depreciation on the leasing market. Taylor concluded that the bonus spurred larger transactions involving 7-year and 10-year property. However, a technical problem with passing the tax benefits through to investors in syndications, together with a slow economy, has inhibited the volume of transactions created by the bonus depreciation. He also noted that bonus depreciation has not significantly helped increase leases of 3-year and 5-year property. See: The Impact of Bonus Depreciation on Leasing Activity, Journal of Equipment Lease Financing (Vol. 20, No. 2 - Fall 2002). It remains to be seen if the bonus depreciation gets a boost in Congress in 2003. Any such boost is expected by The Equipment Leasing Association to include a correction of the syndication glitch to foster new business in big- ticket leasing deals.

Boeing's Tankers Won't Fly…Yet. In a setback for The Boeing Company, senior Pentagon officials again questioned in December 2002 whether the Air Force should enter into the $17 billion lease of 100 Boeing 767 aircraft to be converted to fuel tankers. Originally, Boeing intended to charge around $26 billion for the lease. However the lease cost has already dropped significantly. See: Pentagon Delays Decision to Use Boeing Tankers, The Wall Street Journal (S.W. Ed.), December 20, 2002; Section B:4, Col. 3.

*Comment: While I would hardly count this as a dead project, Boeing's persuasive abilities, Arizona Republican John McCain (a member of the Armed Service Committee) has long criticized the arrangement as a corporate bailout and thus made it a political matter. Stay tuned for more developments in this deal.

Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement Becomes Final. The Equipment Leasing Association under the leadership of its Vice President of State Governmental Relations, Dennis Brown, has actively engaged in negotiations of the terms of the "Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement." The Agreement is now in final form (as of November 12, 2002). The fundamental purpose of the Agreement is "to simplify and modernize sales and use tax administration in the member states in order to substantially reduce the burden of tax compliance." In other words, the Agreement simplifies sales and use tax collection and other administration for sellers of personal property. It does not, however, prescribe the amount of the tax to be set by a member state.

*Tip: When adopted and in effect, the Agreement will drastically change how states approach all aspects of sales and use tax administration. All state tax departments, sellers of goods and services and other state tax experts should closely follow the implementation of this Agreement.

[Top]

A Message From the Publisher, David G. Mayer

Happy First Anniversary to Business Leasing News!

With this issue, Business Leasing News (BLN) celebrates its first anniversary. The past year has been one of amazing growth for BLN. Your interest expressed online, by telephone and in person has encouraged me to continue this significant effort of writing BLN. My primary goal is to offer strategies for your success through articles that you can use to make money or to stay out of harm's way in business. In short, I aim to do much more than report the news about leasing and finance. Stay with us as BLN grows and evolves! Encourage others to subscribe. Please continue to send BLN or me your comments. Your input is always welcome.

The Start of a New Year: Resolving to Reach Higher Standards

As is customary this time of year, most of us make New Year's resolutions. Our resolutions should be more than the idle promise to hit the gym, go on a diet or give up a bad habit. Our resolutions in business should form the foundation of our year to come.

On December 31, 2002, Carol Hymowitz wrote in The Wall Street Journal an article worth reading titled: "Resolving to Let 2003 Be the Year of Leading With Higher Standards." (Page A:9, Col. 1). After the difficult year we faced in 2002, which included corporate scandals and far less than a stellar business results for many of us, here are three of her suggestions for leadership to ponder as you start the New Year:

• "Stand up for your beliefs and your dreams.
  
• Set goals that are reasonable but that stretch you to do your personal best…
  
• Win your staff's respect-and motive them to work harder and better-by eliciting their thoughts and opinions. Encourage them to identify, nurture and trust their talents and to try new things…."

I bet you have some resolutions of your own. Start by writing them down. Aspire to higher standards in 2003, as a leader and as a follower. Learn from the dramatic events of 2002 and apply those lessons this year. I wish you all the best for a successful, prosperous and happy New Year!

Feedback From You

Most months I share with you some comments I receive of what you think of Business Leasing News. In December, you responded eloquently and sincerely to my holiday message and I would like to print two messages that I received.

One reader wrote: "I have enjoyed BLN and have found it to address topics impacting leasing in a timely and informative manner. I was particularly taken by your heartfelt "I am blessed" comments. I applaud your willingness, at this time of year and in these economic times which are difficult for so many, to turn the spotlight, for just a moment, from the accounting, tax, legal, and political issues which make the leasing business challenging, interesting and fun, to … the real source of inspiration, happiness and thankfulness." Another reader wrote: " Thanks for the informative newsletter. I too am very "blessed" for a variety of reasons. It helps to keep everything in proper perspective and keep our priorities in line."

As always, thanks for reading BLN and for your feedback.

About Patton Boggs LLP and My Practice

As you may be aware, I am a part of the Patton Boggs LLP business transaction group in the Dallas office. Patton Boggs LLP is a law firm of almost 400 lawyers located in several US cities with extensive capabilities in over 50 areas of legal practice that include leasing, secured transactions, project and mezzanine financing, bankruptcy, public policy, technology law and much more.

Patton Boggs engages in the legal aspects of buying, selling, financing and leasing real and personal property of all kinds, including aircraft, energy, facility, technology and other transportation assets. We also structure, negotiate and close fractional ownership of business aircraft, vendor programs and underlying transactions, tax-exempt and federal leasing deals, portfolio acquisitions, syndications of all sizes, and much more. Given the state of the economy, we often assist our clients with troubled deals and bankruptcies.

Please feel free to call me at (214) 758-1545 or e-mail me at dmayer@pattonboggs.com for information about any of these areas or the many others available at Patton Boggs LLP or to discuss anything I have written in Business Leasing News. I welcome opportunities to build relationships with you.

Thanks to the BLN Staff

I extend a special thank you to my editors at Patton Boggs LLP for their comments on this edition: Adrian Nicole McCoy, Julie Rivard, Sheila Pedersen McCoy and Steve Reagan. The technical team of George Barber and Winston Jackson continues to provide invaluable support. Last but not least, Patton Boggs has selected some partners to look over BLN before it is posted to our website to make it the best it can be for you. I appreciate their guidance and assistance.

[Top]

All the best, 

David

David G. Mayer
Patton Boggs LLP
2001 Ross Avenue
Suite 3000
Dallas, Texas 75201
(214) 758-1545 (phone)
(214) 758-1550 (fax)
E-Mail: dmayer@pattonboggs.com

© David G. Mayer 2003

NOTE: You may receive BLN from other people and that often occurs. To SUBSCRIBE, change your address or to change your e-mail format, simply click here. To UNSUBSCRIBE, click here. To correspond with BLN, send your message to bln@pattonboggs.com. Thanks.

The "For Dummies" part of my book, Business Leasing For Dummies (BLFD)®, is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc.

[Top]