Barry Ryan is a partner in the firm's Toronto office and leader of the National Financial Services Group. His practice is focused on corporate finance as well as mergers and acquisitions in the financial services sector, debt financings, credit restructurings, project finance and the regulation of financial institutions.
Mr. Ryan has extensive corporate finance experience, in both the Canadian and international capital markets, in relation to public and private financings. He has extensive banking experience in relation to both lending and restructuring matters.
Mr. Ryan regularly acts for a number of the major Canadian banks, major non-Canadian financial institutions, near banks and various large institutional investors in relation to M&A transactions, capital market activities, regulatory affairs and various credit and financial restructuring matters. He has acted as counsel on more than $12 billion of innovative tier 1 capital by Canadian banks and life insurance companies. Mr. Ryan has acted on bond market offerings by subsidiaries of numerous Canadian public sector pension plans. He acted for the six largest Canadian banks in relation to the $3 billion capital loan to Manulife Financial and acted for the five largest Canadian banks in relation to the restructuring of the $32 billion third party non-bank asset backed commercial paper market in Canada.
He appears in the 2004-2011 editions of Chambers Global: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business as a leading lawyer in the area of banking and finance and in the 2011 edition of the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, a guide to the leading law firms and practitioners in Canada, as a leading lawyer in the areas of asset securitization, corporate commercial law, corporate finance/securities and project finance. He is also listed in the 2005-2010 editions of LEXPERT/The American Lawyer Guide to the Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada, as a leading lawyer in the area of banking and financial institutions. Mr Ryan is also recognized in Best Lawyers in Canada as a leading lawyer in banking, finance and corporate law.
He has spoken on numerous occasions about various banking and corporate finance topics at both public conferences and private seminars.
Mr. Ryan received his BA and his MA from the University of Toronto and his LLB from Dalhousie University. He was called to the Ontario bar in 1983.