Feature
734
Go to page
of
74
“Red flags” and ostensible authority: reflections on Republic of Mozambique v Credit Suisse & Ors
The question of when an agent has ostensible authority to bind their principal has been the subject of several important decisions in recent years. That question arose again in Republic of Mozambique v Credit Suisse International & Ors [2024] EWHC 1957 (Comm) (Mozambique) in relation to whether the Mozambican finance minister had authority to enter into sovereign guarantees on behalf of the Republic of Mozambique (the Republic) with various lending banks. This article analyses some of the issues that arose in Mozambique in relation to ostensible authority and considers the “red flags” of financial crime relied upon by the Republic as putting the banks on inquiry that the finance minister did not have authority.
02 March 2025Waiver and estoppel arguments against debt enforcement
This article considers arguments of waiver, estoppel and variation that borrowers may raise to resist debt enforcement action, and their interaction with so-called “no oral modification” provisions typically found in finance documentation. It also considers some practical implications of the principles in the banking and finance context.
02 March 2025Derivatives for private capital managers: hot topics and predicted trends for 2025
This article explores the hot topics and predicted trends for 2025. It is not focused on one particular strategy or sector and will be of interest to private capital managers using English law derivatives documents and/or those which are subject, directly or indirectly, to EU regulation (which includes US managers active in the EU).
02 March 2025The LMA sovereign immunity clause and enforcement proceedings
Benedict Tompkins considers the Loan Market Association’s standard sovereign immunity clause in light of recent case law on enforcement against defaulting sovereign debtors.
09 February 2025Secured lending: when is the lender put on inquiry in a “hybrid” transaction?
In One Savings Bank plc v Waller- Edwards the Court of Appeal advanced a test to be applied to determine whether the lender is put on inquiry in a secured lending “hybrid” transaction where the relationship between the two borrowers is non-commercial. This article argues that there are problems with the test advanced by the Court of Appeal and that a preferred test is discoverable in the judgment of the House of Lords in Royal Bank of Scotland plc v Etridge.
09 February 2025Schrödinger’s property? D’Aloia and the legal superposition of digital assets
In this article, the authors argue that courts must deepen their understanding of digital asset technologies to avoid perpetuating ambiguities evident in the D’Aloia judgment.
09 February 2025Climate-related disasters, why insurance is not the solution and what is
We are in the Age of Climate Superlatives: all seven continents have experienced rolling record temperatures and floods, unprecedented glacier retreats, massive forest fires and more. The consequences have been expensive in terms of lives, livelihoods, economic losses and disruption. In 2024 alone, tropical cyclones caused over $100bn in financial loss and damage and hundreds of lives in the Caribbean, southern United States, and southwest Asia. Floods in China, Brazil, Spain, Germany and across Africa cost about half of that and also killed hundreds. Multi-year droughts across sub-Saharan Africa and Central America claimed even more lives and lost livelihoods. A knee-jerk response has been that we need more insurance or insurance instruments like “cat-bonds” and regional risk pools for these climate disasters. This response is understandable but mainly wrong, as I explain below. We need alternative approaches and emerging instruments.
09 February 2025Identifying the place of performance in English law transactions involving foreign banks
The rule in Ralli Bros will excuse non-performance of an English law obligation where performance necessarily involves an act prohibited by the law of the place of performance. However, the courts have not given clear guidance on identifying the place of performance where a foreign bank plays an ancillary role in the performance of such an obligation. While there is good reason to consider that payment of liabilities in a foreign currency, or to a foreign account, necessarily involves performance in a foreign country, each contract or instrument must be carefully examined to determine what precise acts fall to be performed, and where.
09 February 2025Conflicts of laws and the ratification of unauthorised acts by agents
The decision in Republic of Mozambique v Credit Suisse [2024] EWHC 1957 is part of a wide-ranging dispute arising from alleged corruption in Mozambique sometimes referred to as the “Tuna Bonds” or “Hidden Debts” affair. This article focuses on the conflict of laws issues raised by the claims brought successfully by Mozambique in these proceedings.
09 February 2025National Security and Investment Act 2021: three years later
In this article, Adam Eckersley-Waites reviews some outstanding issues relating to the National Security and Investment Act 2021 relevant to finance practitioners and two recent noteworthy developments.
09 February 2025
Go to page
of
74
