Legal Floris LLC is an international consultancy firm operating at the crossroads of the legal and financial industry. The firm is founded in 2015 by Floris Alexander and exclusively provides asset and fund recovery services to non-resident, international creditors duped by (offshore) bank failure or investment fraud. Contrary to well-known multinational accounting, advisory and law firms that use the family names of the partners, Floris chose to name the firm after himself to emphasize the desired personal, confidential and trust-based relationship with his customers. In this friendly, yet professional atmosphere, Floris and his team operate in a (cost) efficient way and remove any burdens customers may have for contacting their advisor.
The personal approach of Legal Floris LLC disrupts traditional corporate hierarchies and business infrastructures that allow the owners of the firm to acquire new business and then outsource the execution of important tasks to junior staff, interns and trainees. This is not what our customers need. They need extraordinary assistance when they encounter financial challenges. In general, they cannot afford to retain overly expensive advisers who outsource the most sensitive parts of their defense. A generalist will also not be able to serve their needs. They need a specialist instead! Someone who knows the industry, its insider jargon, and understands how to get things done under extreme pressure.
It is our firm belief that quality, and thus results, can only be warranted when firms do what they can do best. Therefore, our approach to business combines a trilogy of real-life business experience, academic specialization, and a result-based focus to creative and innovative solutions to navigate our customers through the most challenging financial times of their lives.
Legal Floris LLC: Asset Recovery for International Creditors
Financial regulators step in when banks fail or are likely to fail. They seek to mitigate risk for account holders, creditors and taxpayers. Early intervention and resolution procedures maintain financial stability and public confidence. Failure as a result of sudden or severe liquidity shortage requires a different resolution strategy than regulatory violations.
Common bank failures are triggered by short term problems with liquidity that may push the financial institution into bankruptcy. As a result of early intervention, statutory administration is implemented and a moratorium on outgoing payments imposed to preserve the capital of the bank. A sale or transfer of the business to another financial institution or a receivership and winding up procedure is then initiated. The exact procedures, timeframes and expectations differ per jurisdiction and are in particular difficult to understand for foreign creditors and non-resident account holders.
Foreign creditors and non-resident account holders are exposed to local rules and legal systems that often differ from those in their home country. This is furthered by inconvenient administrative formalities when banks fail and things go wrong. Although almost every creditor can use the asset and fund recovery services provided by Legal Floris LLC, foreign creditors and non-resident account holders benefit most. Creditors in bank failure must first understand the exact parameters under which their money is repaid, and then implement the exact requirements for claim filing to qualify for reimbursement. This is not always easy for locals; it is outright difficult for foreigners. Needless to say, there are many stories of successful recoveries by creditors going through the statutory administration and bank liquidation process all by themselves. Unfortunately, there are also many stories of missed opportunities, failed claims and creditor loss.
Creditor loss resulting from bank liquidation is often permanent. It is therefore critical to pay close attention to every detail in the fund recovery process. Following statutory administration and deposit insurance, dissolution and liquidation is the third stage of bank resolution. Creditors, and in particular bank account holders, should maximize the potential of each of these stages to minimize their risk of financial loss. They need predictable and superior strategies and tools that help them to achieve their objectives. That is where Legal Floris LLC comes in because Floris and his team translate unfamiliar, difficult and opaque requirements for creditors of failed financial institutions into easy, workable and most of all predictable strategies for fund recovery.
From Bank Failure to Bank Liquidation
Financial institutions are a vital part of any economy. They provide access to payment systems, financing and liquidity as well as retail services. Disruption of the financial system may therefore impact society at large. As a result, bank regulation has a focus on safety and soundness of the sector and the protection of depositors. However, the voluntary character of the free market economy does not create an unfair advantage for bank customers. Their assets are insured up to the limits of local deposit guarantee schemes, whilst an account surplus is considered risk capital and subject to bank resolution planning and local insolvency laws.
Insolvent companies exit the market in an orderly manner. Financial institutions, however, were traditionally often rescued with taxpayer input. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, these rescue missions became undesirable and new resolution, recovery and insolvency scheme were introduced. Banks fail when they are unable to meet their (financial) obligations to their creditors and the facilities of the lender of last resort, such as emergency liquidity assistance, are unavailable. The most common trigger of banking failure is a lack of short term and readily available liquidity to repay depositors on demand caused by a mismatch between deposits and illiquid assets. Recently, a sizeable number of banks have failed for alleged violations of bank regulation. Different approaches to fund recovery are needed to safeguard creditor interest.
As the international banking landscape is over-complex, and financial institutions are interconnected, the failure of an international banking group often has far-reaching consequences. Timely intervention and resolution plan is therefore crucial to avoid that the failure of a financial institution leads to a shortage of liquidity, disruption of the payment system, and the interruption of production and reduced social welfare. A logical first step is therefore to place the bank under statutory administration, suspend convertibility by placing a moratorium on outgoing payments and activate the applicable deposit guarantee scheme. In this short period of intervention, the regulator aims to find the most appropriate solution to restart the banks operations, relinquish the affected business units, sell the banking operations to another financial institution, or liquidate and dissolve the bank.
Reimbursement of bank account holders after the failure of a financial institution is a staged process. Statutory administration and deposit insurance are elaborated elsewhere on this website. Bank liquidation is the process to wind up and dissolve the bank and discharge its liabilities by collecting in and realizing the assets. Broadly speaking, bank liquidation is similar to any other corporate liquidation. It separates prioritized (secured) claims from subordinated (unsecured) claims and follows the applicable creditor and insolvency hierarchy for repayment. Prioritized and secured claims are first paid in full. If there is still value left, a common fund is then formed for equal distribution (this is called pari passu) to all the creditors with subordinated and unsecured claims. This group of creditors includes the account holders, bond holders and investors in the bank.
Result Based Strategies and Onsite Assistance
Bank regulators, bank shareholders and bank customers have different, and often conflicting objectives. The regulator acts in the public interest to protect the financial system and avoid losses for tax payers. Shareholders wish to protect their investment and bank customers want their money back. In this chaotic interplay of distinct needs, Floris and his team help customers to understand the mechanics of maximum reimbursement by complying with the needs of the statutory administrator and, at a later time, the liquidator. Our mission is to minimize your risk and maximize your repayment. To achieve these predictable results we use proven and time tested strategies.
All around the world banks fail. The claims process always requires creditors to submit a proof of debt and evidence of their claim. Prior to reimbursement, the statutory administrator, deposit insurance scheme, or the liquidator must also verify the identity of the claimant. For foreign creditors it can be difficult to comply with unclear procedures and opaque requirements from those in charge of repayment. Especially when the timeframes are tight and a physical visit is required. This is the main reason why Floris and his team are always on site together with their customers. Whether it is Cyprus, the Bahamas, Latvia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, or Malta (to name a few), Legal Floris LLC is on location to ensure appropriate claim filing in every stage of the recovery process.
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Unfortunately, there is some pressure on creditors involved in bank insolvency and liquidation procedures. Urgency in the early days and first mover advantage allow creditors to make up their mind and decide on the best approach to minimize risk and maximize their outcome. Do not procrastinate and miss out on opportunities that have a statutory limitation, have difficult administrative requirements or wait until the deadlines to submit a claim with the liquidator becomes impossible to reach. But contact us today to discuss your case. There is no need to retain our services today as long as you know what to do to secure your position in the bank liquidation procedures. Just contact us by completing the form below, email us at [email protected] or call us at 646 513 2855 (USA) or 25 057 544 (Cyprus) and start your recovery…