Feature
719
Go to page
of
72
The UK’s bank ring-fencing legislation: legal uncertainties and potential solutions
This article is based on the FMLC’s Report on UK bank ring-fencing legislation, published in November 2021, in which the FMLC recommended amendments to the legislative framework. It delves into four of the eight issues examined by the FMLC’s Report, providing the legislative context, the impact of the uncertainty and the proposed solution by which each issue may be mitigated.
25 March 2024A comparison of re-proposed SEC Rule 9j-1 and the UK/EU Market Abuse Regulation
Despite industry criticism of the Rule 9j-1 originally proposed in 2010, the SEC recently re-proposed Rule 9j-1 with even further reach in antifraud, anti-manipulation liabilities for security-based swaps. In particular, the re-proposal lowers the standard of mental state requirement for insider trading liabilities, adds a new prohibition on acts and attempted acts of price manipulation, and seeks to apply similar expanded violations to assets underlying or related to the security-based swap. Compared to the re-proposed Rule 9j-1, the UK/EU Market Abuse Regulation has a different scope and is not specifically designed to apply to swaps and derivatives, but contains prohibitions in the same categories as those under the re-proposed Rule 9j-1.
25 March 2024Sanctions test illegality clauses in financial contracts
The recent sanctions imposed in response to the war in Ukraine have meant that the consequences of illegality under financial transactions such as derivatives, repo and securities lending have again been in the spotlight for financial institutions and their clients. The legal position varies across different market standard agreements. This article considers the relevant provisions in the ISDA aster Agreement (2002 version) (ISDA Master Agreement), the Global Master Securities Lending Agreement (2010 version) (GMSLA) and the Global Master Repurchase Agreement (2011 version) (GMRA), in each case assuming that the governing law is English law.
25 March 2024Non-fungible tokens: select legal issues
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have captured investor attention as an emerging asset class, with the value of the relevant market estimated at US$10.7bn (third quarter of 2021). Although there is nothing new about their underlying technology (blockchain), what is novel is its use by artists, athletes, and public figures to commercialise their creative work, and to monetise their brand name. We explore three of the plethora of legal issues that NFTs throw up: (i) the nature of NFT holders’ rights; (ii) whether NFTs can qualify as “securities”; and (iii) the extent to which they are covered by crypto-asset-specific regulation in select jurisdictions.
25 March 2024Developing policies for green and sustainable finance for the aviation industry
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 2024The impact of the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 and the Finance Act 2020 on drafting Loan Documentation and Practice: update
In 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 2024Russia and Ukraine: the end of Article VIII 2b?
Bad 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 2024Across the pond and back again: what direct lenders should know before deploying historic dry powder
In 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 impact of the new Economic Crime Act on loan documentation
The 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 2024Regulating cryptocurrency by policing advertisements: the approach in the UK, Singapore, India and Spain
In this article the author considers the regulatory approach of four jurisdictions to the policing of cryptocurrency advertisements.
25 March 2024
Go to page
of
72
