NBA-SBL trains 100 young lawyers in banking

The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), on Monday, began the training of 100 young Nigerian lawyers in banking practice as part of its effort in upgrading the legal profession. The event, held in Lagos, was organised by the NBA-SBL in conjunction with a UK-based non-governmental organisation, International Lawyers For Africa (ILFA). The […]

The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL), on Monday, began the training of 100 young Nigerian lawyers in banking practice as part of its effort in upgrading the legal profession.

The event, held in Lagos, was organised by the NBA-SBL in conjunction with a UK-based non-governmental organisation, International Lawyers For Africa (ILFA).

The 3-day event scheduled for March 25 to 27, is aimed at keeping young lawyers in tune with the modern practice of law as it relates to banking and finance.

Speaking at the opening ceremony on Monday, Chairman of the NBA-SBL, Mr Seni Adio, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the event was the maiden edition of such programme for which about 100 participants would undergo training.

According to him, “in about six months’ time, we will have another session, and we do this based on objective criteria and background in banking and finance.

“As a threshold matter, it is very critical; the major reason the NBA-SBL was established is to enhance capacity building in commercial law practice and to foster lawyers in becoming specialists and not just generalists.”

Adio said the idea of the training is to enhance the capacity of as many Nigerian lawyers as possible in commercial law practice, especially banking.

On his part, Chairman of the NBA-SBL Banking Committee, Dr Tominiyi Owolabi, said the Banking, Finance, and Insolvency unit of the section is a sub-committee aimed at developing legal skills, and which focuses on banking and finance.

He said lawyers are extremely important in the financing process, since they are engaged in legal drafts and transactions.

Owolabi added that the committee realised the need to keep developing Nigerian lawyers for purposes of financing.

“The challenge, however, is that most Nigerian lawyers do not have the key exposure or the sophisticated financing which the “market” requires,” he said.

According to him, a lot of the transaction you see in the market involves massive structuring skills, and the panacea for these projects are foreign lenders.

He said that when foreign lenders come into the market, they expect lawyers, who are already in the market to understand the basic terms and structures for financing the transactions.

The Executive Director of ILFA, Mrs Cynthia Lareine described Nigeria as a fantastic place with some of the most established and sophisticated law firms across Africa, adding that this has attracted international interest.

According to Lareine, Nigeria has become the biggest beneficiary of the programme in Africa till date as there is so much enthusiasm for knowledge in the country. (NAN)