199 Bay St, Suite 4000, Commerce Court West, Toronto, ON
Year called to bar: 1997; 1998 (New York)
Lara’s practice focuses on advising major Canadian and international financial institutions and institutional investors on tax issues relating to capital markets products (including derivatives, securities lending, repos, prime brokerage and linked notes), corporate finance (including credit facilities and securitizations) and pension plan investments. Lara was a partner at a large Canadian law firm for many years. She then joined the Canada Revenue Agency, where she drafted advance income tax rulings and technical interpretations and provided advice to auditors in respect of capital markets, corporate finance and partnership issues. Lara worked closely with the federal Department of Finance on drafting and policy aspects of proposed tax legislation and was a member of the GAAR Committee. Before joining Blakes, Lara was vice-president of tax planning and advisory at one of Canada's largest banks. She advised on legal and reputational risk issues, collaborated with business partners in developing capital markets products and transactions and worked extensively with US and UK taxation teams on capital markets issues. She also led significant tax litigation matters and worked closely with industry peers to consider legislative proposals.
On January 22, 2010, Ford Credit Canada Limited (FCCL) completed a retail loan securitization transaction, receiving proceeds of approximately $510 million.
Golden Credit Card Trust completed a public offering of $950 million 4.159 per cent credit card receivable-backed senior notes, series 2003-1, and $50 million 5.069 per cent credit card receivable-backed subordinated notes, series 2003-1.
