The banking team from Bristol-headquartered national law firm Burges Salmon has advised long-standing transport client National Express on a ground-breaking finance deal – the first of its kind for the UK banking sector.
National Express’s SONIA (Sterling Overnight Index Average) loan from NatWest is the first in the pilot the bank is running with a small number of customers before launching the product to the wider market later this year. 
The move is in response to calls from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to accelerate the transition away from LIBOR (London Interbank Offered Rate) to risk-free rates by the end of 2021.
Taking methodology already used in the sterling public bond market, SONIA will be applied using daily compounding with a five-day reset lag.
The Burges Salmon team advised National Express on all legal aspects of the deal and was led by head of banking Richard Leeming, with assistance from senior associate Ed Hobbs and associate Christopher Herford.
Richard Leeming said: “We have a fantastic team of banking lawyers that manage a wide range of complex financing transactions for our diverse portfolio of clients.
“However, it’s not every day that you get the opportunity to advise a client on an area of law for a deal that has never been done before.
“We recognise that LIBOR has had its day and we’re therefore delighted to have advised National Express on this banking sector first, as part of our wider work that we carry out for them.”
As well as its bus, coach and rail services across the UK, National Express also operates throughout Europe, North Africa, North America and the Middle East, Last year its passengers completed nearly 900m journeys.
National Express group treasurer David Daniels said: “Helping to lead the charge of markets moving off LIBOR by the end of 2021, we are proud to be the first company in the UK to take a loan using SONIA.
“We’re grateful to the team at our long-standing banking legal advisers Burges Salmon for adeptly helping us get this deal over the line.”
NatWest was advised by Ashurst.
