The application of green and sustainable lending principles to the aviation industry has long been a source of controversy and confusion. At the heart of the matter is whether lending to an airline can ever be considered truly “green” and if not, then whether aviation could be considered a transitioning industry with lending practices supporting the move towards lower emissions. The lack of definitive criteria as to what constitutes green or sustainable financing in the context of aviation has led to the inability of airlines and lessors to access this kind of financing. This article considers whether the inclusion of aviation in the EU’s Taxonomy Regulation1 will facilitate the availability of green and sustainable finance products for the finance and leasing of aircraft.
25 March 2024In this article, Georgia Quenby considers the documentary and structural changes that are becoming prevalent in secured lending and special situations documentation to mitigate the impacts of both the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 and the Crown Preference.
25 March 2024Bad wars expose the weaknesses in the international framework of law. The attack by Russia on Ukraine is no exception to this proposition in an area of law often considered to be obscure but of very significant consequences. This is Article VIII 2b of the IMF agreement which allows a member’s exchange controls unilaterally to override its contracts in certain cases. This Article is considered a blot on the otherwise pure parchment of the IMF Agreement and should be removed.
25 March 2024In this article, the authors compare the approaches US and European direct lenders take to certain deal terms and highlight market-specific trends.
25 March 2024The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (the Act) implements the highly anticipated register of beneficial ownership of UK property, forcing overseas entities to disclose details of beneficial ownership in order to transact with UK property. It is designed to improve the transparency of foreign ownership of UK property and clamp down on economic crime. However, the new regime is not faultless, and the new register is at risk of exploitation in certain areas. In this article, we consider key aspects of the Act, the new register, and issues for lenders ahead of the implementation of the new regime.
25 March 2024This article examines the settlement finality in a subtype of blockchains that relies on probabilistic settlement finality. Having studied transaction finality in blockchains, both from a private law and regulatory law perspectives, this article finds that the main difference between settlement in blockchains and those in traditional finance is the absence of intermediaries to whom the legal obligations and liabilities could be assigned in case of settlement fails. In the absence of such intermediaries, the regulatory law may be hesitant to give effect to settlement finality in such blockchains.
25 March 2024This article considers aspects of the recent decision in The ECU Group Plc v HSBC Bank Plc and Ors,1 in particular concerning the difference between legitimate “trading ahead” and illegitimate “front running” in the context of FX spot trading, and issues of causation. The current regulatory framework around spot FX is also considered before some practical conclusions are drawn.
25 March 2024This article explores recent developments in the financial sanctions deployed against Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine with a particular focus on the expanded scope of those measures and the meaning of “connected with” Russia.
25 March 2024In this article, we examine concerns related to the burgeoning sustainability/ESG ratings market identified in policymaker, academic and practitioner research and consider potential regulator interventions that could be on the horizon.
25 March 2024Mandatory margin posting on derivatives portfolios is one of the key elements of post-2008 derivatives policy. Margin requirements are often calculated using risk-based models. These models typically require more margin when markets are more stressed. This can create liquidity burdens on market participants just when they are hardest to meet. There are two main approaches to addressing this: requiring that particular tools to reduce variability are incorporated in all margin models; or placing limits on the variability of margin regardless of how it is calculated. This choice is practically important and leads to insights on differences in regulatory style.
25 March 2024