In-House Insights: managing risk with Natalie Coates

Starting her career in the credit crunch, Natalie had the unenviable task of learning her trade whilst witnessing first-hand what it was like for financial institutions and corporates struggling to stay afloat, with numerous insolvencies becoming commonplace. Early experience in the Banking & Finance and Restructuring & Insolvency teams at Blake Morgan were eye-opening.

“Working on projects to finance solutions for banks and businesses, many of whom faced insolvency (including the banks!) and the risk this posed to jobs and individuals’ livelihoods, was grounding to say the least,” commented Natalie. “I started working with the experienced Kath Shimmin during the raid on Northern Rock and the Icelandic banking crash which highlighted the importance of really understanding your industry and legal area.” With many clients and multiple deadlines looming as a transactional lawyer, Natalie is keen to labour the need for technical skill, commerciality, as well as the benefit for lawyers of being able to communicate and project manage.

What drives you?

Whilst the economic climate has not meant that it has been plain sailing for a finance lawyer, a common theme throughout the chat was Natalie always strives to do her best, for herself, teammates and clients, so that each in turn could do more than just keep their heads above water, and instead, thrive.

“I would measure my own personal best by having worked on a deal with a fulfilled and happy team around me and a satisfied client who is able to understand the risks of a particular deal but who is equipped to deliver their best for their business to enable it to grow sustainably,” explained Natalie.

“For me, the goal is to use my experience as an accomplished and trusted adviser to support companies and in-house legal teams in the asset finance and ABL sectors to help them achieve profit through cost effective legal advice that is communicated sensibly.

“My objective is aligned with Counsel+, where the aim is to deliver advice that the client finds of value.”

Understanding commerciality

Moving in-house helped Natalie gain more skills, which helped her gain a greater understanding of commerciality. The next step in her career was to work in the UK leasing arm of the French bank BNP Paribas, where alongside the general advisory role of a senior in-house lawyer, Natalie specialised in asset and receivables financing. During Natalie’s career, she has also had several secondments with large corporates in defence and finance, all which have contributed to allow Natalie to advise businesses with a deep understanding of analogous credit and financial risk appetites, as well as understand the commercial drivers of each business.

Commerciality is key for Natalie. “Having worked on both sides of the legal fence it helps you understand what a business wants, and how they might get there whilst mindful of what a business’ real legal risks are,” she commented.

“You need to understand what CEOs, CFOs and senior stakeholders are trying to achieve for their business. What is the risk appetite for a bank? Probably far less than it is for a new fintech. You need to understand how a business operates to be able to give effective advice to them that does not unnecessarily stop or slow down their operation.

Overcoming challenges in the sector

“There is a lot of change in the asset finance industry at the moment,” commented Natalie.

Post Brexit and with the implementation of consumer duty, increased regulator focus on all funders including from the FCA the ICO in the UK, increased monitoring and control by Companies House following corporate governance changes and funders querying the effectiveness of the Financial Ombudsman Service, the increase of Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Bribery and Corruption and sanctions guidance and regulations, as well as the need to fund businesses and assets in a green and sustainable way, Natalie identifies just a few of the considerations for the UK finance community and the legal teams operating in this sector. Effective horizon scanning for new and upcoming legislation and constraints on business operations remains a critical requirement for how organisations in any sector work. Natalie and her team are happy to support clients with this mammoth task.

“In-house legal teams quite often know there is a problem that needs navigating, but they may need a trusted adviser to help manage their senior stakeholders and business and to steer them through that journey,” said Natalie.

“As a full-service law firm here at Blake Morgan, we have commercial and private client including family, succession and tax offerings to support our clients personally and professionally where our teams can work closely together, as appropriate.”

That is a crucial part of Counsel+, enabling our contacts, and showcasing our own offering, to work collaboratively to achieve the best possible results.

“It is a helpful platform for our contacts to be able to share stories,” commented Natalie. “The higher echelons reached in-house can be a lonely, and certainly a more secluded, place to be, and where ‘Legal’ becomes a cost to the business and the benefits of their advice to key stakeholders are not always so easy to see. At Counsel+, we enable our legal community of lawyers to come together to discuss how to manage teams, how to manage costs and, how to manage legal risks. These themes are not isolated to one company or industry, clarity is out there and support can be found within Counsel+.”

The importance of networking

Building your network is another key component of Counsel+. “Networking is so important,” stated Natalie. “You create a reputation through meeting people, doing work and gaining their trust. Those friendships and professional networks don’t happen overnight. I would encourage people to go to events. If you want to build a practice and raise a profile, it can only happen over time.”

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