Paul Kuipers

Paul heads the firm’s Banking practice in Amsterdam, leading a team of lawyers who advise clients on complex domestic and cross-border finance deals. Paul acts for Dutch and international financial institutions and corporates on a range of finance transactions, including project finance, syndicated lending and asset finance deals.

Paul has considerable knowledge of restructuring techniques, advising on some of the most defining restructurings in recent times, including the separation of ABN AMRO into three businesses. He advises corporates, sponsors and financial institutions on debt and equity restructurings, workouts, stressed and distressed reorganisations, insolvency and related litigation.

Paul spent six months on secondment to the firm’s London office in 2009, where he developed relationships with a range of London-based banks.  

Work highlights

Paul has led on a significant number of major finance transactions and almost all restructuring and insolvency deals led by the Amsterdam office. Highlights of his experience include advising:

• Royal Bank of Scotland on the asset separation following the takeover of ABN AMRO Bank, as well as the completion of the legal demerger of ABN AMRO Bank
• ING Bank and ABN AMRO Bank on the €300m refinancing of two landmark hotels in Amsterdam and Rotterdam
• PricewaterhouseCoopers as administrators of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) and all other Lehman entities in administration, which is the largest and most complex insolvency in history
• the lenders to the IJMuiden sea lock project in Amsterdam, a new, tide-independent lock to accommodate some of the world’s largest ships
• the lenders to VolkerWessels, the construction company, to build the new N18 road between Varsseveld and Enschede in The Netherlands
• a bank on the Dutch component of a €1.3bn refinancing of a portfolio of wind farms in Italy and Germany operated by IP Maestrale, an Italian wind energy company
• the lenders, including ING, ABN AMRO Bank and Rabobank, on a facility agreement for the financially distressed Dutch department store Vroom & Dreesmann
• the co-ordinating committee of secured creditors on the restructuring of Van Gansewinkel Groep's syndicated debt facilities
• the coordinating committee on the market-shaping financial restructuring of Estro Groep

Paul lectures on restructuring at the University of Nijmegen and is also a member of the consultation board at Bloemcampschool (a primary school) in Wassenaar.

Paul’s published articles include:

Chapter on the Netherlands, The Restructuring Review, published by Law Business Research, 2016 and 2014

“The Insolvency of Van der Hoop Bankiers: EU banking law in action”, International Corporate Rescue, 2006

“Judicial Comity and Chauvinism: the need to go forum shopping in insolvency matters”, International Corporate Rescue, 2004

Paul studied law at the University of Groningen and for a postgraduate qualification in insolvency on a Grotius course at the University of Nijmegen.

He speaks Dutch and English.