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Data privacy in a retail CBDC system built on a public blockchain
This article examines the data protection and privacy concerns arising from the use of retail Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), specifically in the context of a system built on a public blockchain, such as Ethereum. It examines the extent to which the risks and concerns can be minimised by building in privacy-enhancing technologies in the governance framework of the retail CBDC as set out in documents and legislative provisions explaining the operation of the digital pound and the digital euro.
25 October 2025Risky business: brokers and platforms in the UK’s crypto regime
Once the UK’s draft regime regulating the conduct of certain activities in “qualifying cryptoassets” takes effect, firms offering particular services in the UK will need to decide whether to do so as a trading platform or a broker. Both are permitted options, but these are often pursued separately (and future crypto regulation in the UK might make them mutually exclusive). This article analyses and compares the commercial costs and benefits of offering services via on-platform trading in cryptoassets as operators of cryptoasset trading platforms (CATPs) and via over-the-counter activities as cryptoasset brokers.
25 October 2025Reassessing the Quincecare duty: anti-money laundering obligations and the boundaries of authorised payments
The UK Supreme Court’s decision in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc has clarified the nature and scope of the so-called Quincecare duty, but significant uncertainties remain. This article explores two aspects of the duty: first, how anti-money laundering obligations intersect with the Quincecare duty; and second, in what circumstances a payment should be treated as properly authorised.
25 October 2025The FCA’s safeguarding reforms for payments and e-money firms: an update
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) believes clients of payments and e-money firms are exposed to unacceptable risks due to poor safeguarding practices across the sector. The FCA has now published final rules and guidance to address these in PS25/12. The interim-state rules have been modified in several respects, including removing the need for reconciliations on non-working days and exempting firms who have not safeguarded relevant funds from the audit requirement. The implementation period for these changes has been extended from six to nine months. The end-state rules, which included a statutory trust and abolition of the so-called “D+1 rule”, have been paused due to stakeholder concerns.
25 October 2025Security interests in digital assets under uniform law
This article discusses the treatment of security interests in digital assets under uniform law and highlights the lack of a harmonised international legal framework for their use as security for credit. Digital assets inherently transcend national borders, and the absence of a unified regime creates obstacles to their cross-border use, hindering international trade. While various uniform law texts address aspects of security interests in digital assets, they fail to provide comprehensive global unification due to differences in scope, terminology and operative rules. The UNCITRAL Model Law on Secured Transactions (STML) offers a general framework for security interests in movable assets, but it requires updates to address specific issues related to digital assets. The article emphasises the importance of updating the STML to remove barriers to the use of digital assets as security for credit and to facilitate international trade.
25 October 2025Misrepresentation and the constructive trust: a hunt for clarity
This article addresses the debate which has arisen from Lord Browne-Wilkinson’s much cited dictum that equity imposes a constructive trust on a fraudulent recipient whenever property is obtained by fraud. It explores the rationale for the imposition of a constructive trust in the context of the underlying legal principles and considers how those principles have been approached in the key authorities. In an effort to identify a coherent rationalisation of the authorities, it then focuses on the decision in Halley v Law Society and addresses whether that decision can be reconciled with other authority, particularly the recent Supreme Court decision in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK plc .
25 October 2025Arbitration and insolvency in a sliding, multi-creditor context: Sapura and other common law approaches
A recent Singaporean case, Sapura Fabrication Sdn Bhd and Others v GAS and Another Appeal [2025] SGCA 13, provides welcome guidance on when arbitral proceedings can be carved out from a domestic restructuring and insolvency process. Continuing the debate about the clash between arbitration and insolvency, Sapura adds two new dimensions: the multi-creditor context and a sliding timescale. This article examines how best to interpret these novel elements in light of the spirit of the insolvency regime, namely facilitating the fair administration of assets according to creditors’ legal entitlements rather than a free-for-all favouring the most well-resourced and well-advised.
25 October 2025Walking away: lessons from the Vietjet litigation for retiring security trustees
In this article, Rebecca Zaman considers lessons to be learned from the recent VietJet litigation for a security trustee navigating its retirement and replacement as trustee, particularly in the context of a sale or other change of control of the lending.
25 October 2025Securities lending in the age of PISCES
The UK’s capital markets are eagerly awaiting the implementation of a new private company secondary trading platform following the adoption of the final rules for the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) in June 2025. In the next six months, the London Stock Exchange and potentially other operators are expected to have PISCES platforms up and running, thereby marking the debut of the first regulated market for the intermittent secondary trading of private company shares.1 The timing seems auspicious: public listings in the UK and Europe have fallen to historic lows as private companies increasingly pursue alternative routes to liquidity.2 As private markets mature and investor demand grows, the PISCES framework may unlock opportunities for private company share lending, although such arrangements raise significant questions around valuation, settlement, transfer restrictions and alignment with existing share lending market practices.
25 October 2025Uniform prospectus liability rules for Europe now!
The harmonisation of the rules on prospectus liability should be put on the agenda of the Savings and Investment Union (SIU) as a matter of urgency. The International Working Group on Harmonisation of Prospectus Liability in Europe (IWGHPLE), a private group of academics and practitioners from different EU member states and beyond (led by the authors of this article), has recently drafted a concrete blueprint for uniform European prospectus liability rules. The blueprint could serve as a model for the European legislator in its efforts to overcome the current fragmentation of the EU’s legal framework. The blueprint covers all aspects pertaining to prospectus liability.
25 October 2025
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