Laura Taaka

Background

Laura is a legal trainee with the Banking and Finance team. She focuses on banking, finance, securities, and property conveyancing.  Laura acts for various lenders in relation to the perfection of securities as relates to financing of working capital, asset financing, property acquisitions and the subordination of shareholders and/or directors’ loans.

Laura advises both domestic and international clients on a variety of transactions across a range of sectors including but not limited to banking and finance, corporate and commercial law, and insolvency. 

She holds an Upper Second-Class LL. B (Hons.) degree from Makerere University. 

Membership in Professional Societies

• Uganda Law Society

Professional Qualifications

• Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Law Development Centre, Uganda
• LL. B (Hons.), Makerere University, Uganda 

Career Summary

• July 2024 – Date                   Associate, MMAKS Advocates, Kampala
• May 2022 – June 2024       Legal Trainee, MMAKS Advocates, Kampala
• Jan 2022 – March 2022      Clerkship Student, Signum Advocates, Uganda             
• June 2019 – Aug 2019        Legal Intern, Refugee Law Project, Uganda

Areas of Expertise

• Banking and Finance
• Commercial Transactions
• Corporate Advisory
• Real Estate

Language

• English

Top Matters

• Advising an international payment service provider on the national payments regulatory framework in Uganda, licensing requirements for an intermediary payment services provider, and licensing requirements for partnerships with licensed payment service providers in Uganda.
• Advised an international bank intending to offer offshore banking services to Ugandan residents on the general licensing requirements and business considerations. This related to lending, capital markets, national payments systems, and trade finance, among others.
• Advising British International Investment in a financing to a Nigerian entity (Afex Fair Trade Limited Nigeria) and certain of its Subsidiaries in various African jurisdictions including Uganda, operating more than 200 warehouses serving more than 450,000 farmers. The transaction involved review of an English law governed Facility Agreement, review of the Ugandan entity’s constitutional documents, as well as its corporate authorizations and preparation of the security documents. The transaction also involved issuing a legal opinion on the capacity, validity and enforceability of the documentation from a Ugandan law perspective.
• Advising Sailing International Leasing Limited, an entity based in Hong Kong and the financing arm of Yutong HongKong Limited, an entity that sells buses, on the validity and enforceability of a proposed receivables purchase agreement to be entered into by the two companies and a Ugandan purchaser, as well as advising on the proposed collateral to be provided by the Ugandan purchaser. The transaction also involved issuing a legal opinion and reviewing the transaction documents.
• Advising Crowd Credit Inc. a Japanese online marketplace lending platform on a financing transaction to a micro-lending entity in Uganda through its parent company based in Lithuania. The micro-lending entity provides loans to its borrowers who are engaged in the motorbike transportation business.  Our role involved reviewing the finance documents and drafting Ugandan law security documents. 
• Advising Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (“M&M”) an original equipment manufacturer based in India but with operations in various countries, including Uganda on their standard distribution agreement. This transaction involved advising on the consumer protection laws, the anti-trust laws and the homologation procedures applicable in Uganda to an original equipment manufacturer.
• Advising ODDO BHF SE, on a payment guarantee to be issued by a Ugandan SPV company in its Favour as security for a loan to an entity in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for the financing of equipment deliveries to the Ugandan SPV company, which is expected to execute the project in Uganda.
• Advising international lenders - Oiko Credit, Beyond the Grid Solar Fund LLC (managed by Mirova SunFunder Inc.), responsAbility Access to Clean Power Fund S.A., SICAV-SIF (formerly responsAbility Energy Access Fund S.A., SICAV-SIF) and Global Climate Partnership Fund S.A., SICAV-SIF, all represented by SunFunder Inc. as security agent, on their rights against the Ugandan borrowers that are in default of their obligations under the facility documents, and the remedies available to the lenders the against the other obligors in the facilities documentation.
• Advising Varian Medical Systems Inc. on the Ugandan regulatory framework governing the provision of remote oncology medical services to persons in Uganda and advising on the law governing the corporate practice of medicine in Uganda. 
• Advising KfW Development Bank, Uganda Office on a financing to the government of Uganda for the implementation of projects in various sectors such as the energy sector. This transaction involved issuing a legal opinion on what amounts to valid execution by the government and government agencies/ministries of the various transaction documents including the grant agreements and the project agreements. 
• Advising and reviewing the Country Manual on Private Banking in Uganda for BRP Bizzozero and Partners SA, a Swiss company assisting banks and financial institutions in managing regulatory cross-border risks.
• Advising Credible a digital banking platform with operations in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, on the specific licensing requirements required for its business operations in Uganda.
• Reviewing and advising on transaction documents including facility agreements, intercreditor agreements, guarantees and other security agreements.
• Drafting and reviewing security documents on a day-to-day basis for several commercial banks in Uganda.
• Perfecting securities, including registration of mortgages, chattel mortgages/pledges, debentures, charges, guarantees, and any form of securitization required.