Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Corporate borrowing: practical checklist for lawyers on preparatory steps, due diligence, security, governance, AML/KYC, budgeting and lender negotiations

Published by a LexisNexis Banking & Finance expert

Checklists

Constitutional and other documents

Scrutinise the borrower’s constitution and ancillary papers to confirm clearly, at the outset, that:

the borrower holds adequate authority under its constitutional instruments and governance documents (ie articles of association or partnership deed, etc) to incur debt and grant security interests, and
no separate contract currently binding the borrower prevents or otherwise limits fresh/further borrowing or the creation of security interests (check any negative pledge wording in other finance, leasing or security papers)

Lessons learned

After verifying both the borrower’s powers and authority, locate and examine any current loan files and documentation for lessons learned, to determine what succeeds (avoid reinventing the wheel!), what fails (do not repeat known issues), and what might be refined or strengthened. Hindsight invariably makes everyone wiser. Consult the COO and CFO (as a minimum). Pose the following:

who are the current bankers to the business? What is the character of the relationship?

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Web page updated on 20/05/2026

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