Melissa Inglefield
Partner
Phone: 868 299 0981
Mobile: 868 389 6813
Bar Admissions
2011: Trinidad & Tobago
Areas of Practice
- Banking and Financial Services
- Corporate and Securities
- Capital Markets
- Mergers & Acquisitions
- Project Finance
- Real Estate
Profile
Melissa is a Partner in Hamel-Smith’s Transactional Department.
Melissa began her career in the Firm’s Property & Estates Group, where she conducted conveyancing and other property transactions. More recently, Melissa’s passion for achieving her client’s commercial objectives and her keen business acumen has led her to become more actively involved in the firm’s Banking and Finance Group. Her recent experience includes secured lending and securities transactions, loan financing, capital markets transactions and banking and securities regulation. She has acted for local and international commercial, financial and governmental entities.
Recent Experience
- Acted for the Issuer and Selling Shareholder in a TT$1.5B initial public offering of 49% of the shares in Trinidad and Tobago NGL Limited, a holding company whose sole asset consists of 39% of the shares of Phoenix Park Gas Processors Limited, the only natural gas processing and natural gas liquids fractionation plant (and the largest producer and marketer of propane, mixed butane, isobutane and natural gasoline) in Trinidad and Tobago;
- Represented the Lenders to Caribbean Gas Chemical Limited in respect of a US$693MM loan facility for the funding of a greenfield methanol and dimethyl ether project in La Brea, Trinidad;
- Acted as counsel to the Issuer in a TT$400MM issue of Fixed Rate Mortgaged Backed Bonds by Endeavour Holdings Limited;
- Represented KfW and KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH in its participation as lender in a US$1.1B shareholder acquisition of the remaining shares of Methanol Holdings (Trinidad) Limited financed by fixed and floating rate bond issues with consequential amendments required to existing loan facilities;
- Advised RBC Merchant Bank (Caribbean) Limited as Arranger and Massy Holdings Limited as Issuer, as Counsel to the Issue of a TT$1.2B Unsecured Fixed Rate Bond Issue to, inter alia, re-pay existing debt and fund future strategic acquisitions and expansions;
- Represented Intercommercial Bank Limited as Counsel to the Issue of an up to $100M Subordinated Bond Issue to, inter alia, effect a capital restructuring;
- Acted for Sagicor Financial Corporation in a US$50M Short Term Guaranteed Note Issue;
- Assisted JMMB in its takeover and acquisition of the remaining 50% stake of Intercommercial Bank Limited, a licensed bank operating in Trinidad & Tobago;
- Assisted various public companies and connected parties with developing and implementing internal insider trading policies and conducted training in respect of insider trading;
- Acted for a regional franchisee of an international restaurant chain in acquiring four (4) locations in Trinidad for the restaurant; and
- Assisting a local financial institution with the leasing of space for its various branch offices.
Rankings and Accolades – Chambers Global 2020-2021: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business
Melissa Inglefield is featured in this directory with an Up-and-Coming Ranking (2020-2021) among the corporate/commercial lawyers in Trinidad & Tobago. A sample of the commentaries reported by Chambers Global include:
Melissa Inglefield as “someone who has demonstrated impeccable work product, has a good approach and is very commercially minded.” She advises on an array of finance transactions and capital markets issuances, and her name is well known to fellow professionals, who judge her to be” a very good and solid younger lawyer.” – 2021
Up-and-coming lawyer Melissa Inglefield is praised for “her thoroughness – she clearly does very good and wide-ranging research.” She maintains a focus on banking and securities regulation, and additionally handles secured lending and capital markets transactions. One source said: “Her opinion work is of a very high level.” – 2020
Professional Memberships
Publications
Author: “Role and responsibilities of a Director” – featured in the T&T Guardian newspaper on Sept. 29, 2021
Author: “Forms of Financing-Traditional is not always trump” – featured in the T&T Guardian newspaper on April 25, 2021
Author: The Path to Becoming Listed – featured in the T&T Guardian newspaper on December 6, 2020;
Author: Contractual Notice Requirements – It’s in the details… featured in the T&T Guardian newspaper on September 13, 2020;
Author: You Gotta Have (GOOD) Faith, Faith, Faith… Or Do You?, Hamel-Smith Forum Vol. 11 Issue 5, August 2020 and also featured in the T&T Guardian newspaper;
Contributed to the Lex Mundi Chapter on the topic of COVID-19 Insolvency, Bankruptcy and Restructuring with a Focus on Latin America and the Caribbean, May 18, 2020;
Author: A Company Medical – How Healthy Is Your Company? Hamel-Smith Forum, Vol. 10 Issue 6, April 2019 and also featured in the T&T Guardian newspaper
Co-Author: Revisiting Cross Border Secured Financing Part II: The Security Package, Hamel-Smith Forum, Vol. 10 Issue 3, January 2018
Co-Author: The Securities (Amendment) Act, 2014: A Step Forward, Hamel-Smith Forum, November 2014
Co-Author: Access to the Foreign Market – The Securities Act, 2012!, Hamel-Smith Forum, October 2013
Co-Author: Issuers and Investors Beware: The Securities Act 2012 is Here, Hamel-Smith Forum, March 2013
Co-Author: Negligent Valuations… You Stand To Lose, Hamel-Smith Forum, October 2011
Presentations
2014: Provided training to several local entities on the repercussions of insider trading restrictions (contained in the Securities Act, 2012).
2013: Assisted with the preparation of a presentation for a local financial institution regarding the the Securities Act, 2012.
2012: Conducted Mortgage training at a local financial institution.
Workshops/Seminars
2021: Certificate of Participation – Finance for Directors Masterclass (The Board’s Role in Financial Stewardship and Financial Oversight), April 16, 2021;
Education
2010: Legal Practicing Certificate (L.P.C), The College of Law of England & Wales
2009: LL.B (Hons), The University of Manchester, UK