Professional biography
Martin James is a partner in our Sydney office where he specialises in project finance in the resources, power, energy and infrastructure sectors, and structured finance and structured derivative transactions. He also advises on derivatives, commodity financing, financial engineering and risk management products (including the OTC markets for electricity, weather, REC and emissions derivatives in Australia), and in relation to margin lending and securities lending products. Martin prepared the National form of ISDA based electricity and REC derivatives documentation and advises the market in relation to trading and documentation matters. Martin is at the leading edge on derivatives market developments, particularly in energy, emissions and equity based products.
Martin brings to his practice extensive legal and commercial experience. This includes a period with BZW Mining Finance in London.
While at BZW Mining Finance, Martin had a senior or lead banking role in a number of transactions, including providing financial advisory services to and arranging the debt for RJB Mining PLC in connection with the acquisition by RJB Mining of the principal coal mining activities of British Coal. BZW was the sole arranger of £500 million of debt facilities for the acquisition, and the technical bank for the bank syndicate. Martin also arranged the US$185 million refinancing of the IFC debt of Ashanti Goldfields.
He counts among his clients some of the world's leading project finance debt arrangers and providers.
Martin is one of the Australian lawyers ranked in successive Euromoney publications Guide to the World's Leading Project Finance Lawyers and Guide to the World's Leading Energy and Resources Lawyers. Martin has also been ranked by Asia Law Profiles as one of few Australian lawyers recognised as leading practitioners in the project finance area, was highly rated in a number of practice areas in Legal Profiles and has been recommended as a leading lawyer in Chambers Global - The World's Leading Lawyers and in PLC Which Lawyer?
T +61 2 9296 2198
F +61 2 9296 3999
M 0428 441 248
Areas of expertise