In this article the authors review the current status of the various “legislative fixes” for dealing with agreements which refer to USD LIBOR but which cannot be actively amended to remove those references before the benchmark ceases to exist.
13 June 2024This article will discuss the new service and its eligibility criteria, the formalities of bringing a complaint, and also how complaints will be determined. Comparisons will be drawn against the Financial Ombudsman Service as we touch upon the relationship between the two schemes. We will finally consider the appeals procedure and the potentially litigious issues that may arise after a final appeal.
13 June 2024The European payments ecosystem is currently undergoing significant changes, due to the emergence of new technologies, new market participants as well as an evolving regulatory environment. To keep abreast with these changes and their potential implications and challenges whilst ensuring a continued smooth functioning of the payment system, the Eurosystem had launched until end December 2020 a public consultation1 on a new holistic and forward-looking harmonised oversight framework for electronic payment instruments, schemes and arrangements (PISA).
13 June 2024In this article, the authors explain the Law Commission’s provisional proposals for legislative reform to provide that certain trade documents in electronic form have the same effect as paper trade documents.
13 June 2024In this article, we discuss that in relation to making sustainability disclosures, if companies are able to unpick and rationalise the alphabet soup of standards, requirements and frameworks, many will find a set that suits their particular business model or industry. However, as the number of different reporting frameworks increases this is fostering confusion, lack of comparability and reporting fatigue. Greater global convergence may help to alleviate these issues.
13 June 2024In this article the author highlights cases where third-party activists seek to harness the securities markets through exploitation of investment manager ESG policies, to weaponise their own political agendas. In circumstances where the information they disseminate (before and after trades) is erroneous, biased, or demonstrably influenced by material interest, he argues the need for urgent regulatory focus to prevent market manipulation and protect market integrity.
13 June 2024Clive Wolman explains why there may no longer be a valid legal basis for a company to be able to restrain the presentation, advertisement or pursuit of a winding-up petition against it merely by showing that it is genuinely and substantially disputing the petition debt. Changes in UK insolvency and company legislation, reinforced by changes in accounting standards and by judicial rulings, have led to a broader definition of a “contingent” debt or liability. It now includes the contingency of a court finding that the disputed debt or liability does exist.
13 June 2024In this article the authors consider the structure of loan buybacks with a consideration of the documentary changes made by the Loan Market Association (LMA) as well as some of the approaches that have evolved in the market to address buybacks.
13 June 2024Traditionally, in a financial product mis-selling context, claims against financial institutions involving allegations of fraud, LIBOR manipulation and unlawful means conspiracy have not been amenable to strike out or summary determination. However, the English courts are increasingly demonstrating a willingness to deal with opportunistic claims against banks (and other third parties) involving allegations of fraud without the need for a full trial, in “appropriate” cases. Two recent High Court judgments provide guidance on when the court will consider it appropriate to do so: Boyse (International) Limited v Natwest Markets plc & Anor3 and Elite Properties and Ors v BDO LLP.4
13 June 2024The impact on the aviation sector of the COVID-19 pandemic and governmental restrictions on air travel and other movement controls has been severe and has resulted in a number of airline restructurings. This article examines the use by an airline of a scheme of arrangement under Pt 26 of the Companies Act 2006 (2006 Act), as a mechanism for effecting a compromise with certain of its creditors, and the interplay between a scheme and those creditors’ rights under the Cape Town Convention and associated Aircraft Protocol (CTC), as implemented in the UK by The International Interests in Aircraft Equipment (Cape Town Convention) Regulations 2015 (Regulations). These considerations arose in the decisions of the English court in MAB Leasing Limited.1
13 June 2024