Feature

This article analyses a line of Canadian case law that addresses the liability of a receiving bank in negligence to a third party payor. The decision of the Ontario Court of Justice, Royal Bank of Canada v Stangl [1992] 32 ACNS (3d) 17 (Stangl), suggested that the bank may in some circumstances owe a duty of care to the payor in crediting and paying out sums it receives. This article concludes that the ratio in Stangl is not supported by other Canadian or English case law, nor sound in principle, and therefore unlikely to be followed.

In this article Hin Liu explores the meaning of a “linked” or “exogenous” cryptoasset and analyses whether holding a token (in this case non-fungible tokens (NFTs), security tokens and physical goods tokens) that is purportedly linked to an underlying asset or right carries substantive legal effect(s). Where the token is linked to legal rights outside the blockchain, he analyses whether the token itself constitutes property.

The author considers the origins, purpose and implications of a very particular machine – the European Commission’s proposed “consolidated tape” for bonds.

This article summarises the position of landlords and their funders, and of tenants, under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022.

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.

In this article Hin Liu explains why it is uncertain whether commercial parties can transfer their equitable interests under certain digital asset arrangements. He suggests the need for statutory reform to maintain the necessary confidence that transactions in the digital asset world can take effect as intended.

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.

The extent, if any, to which the liquidator of a corporate trustee is under duties in relation to trust property has received very limited attention from the English courts. The point is important since corporate trustees collectively hold property worth trillions. If such trustees cannot be placed in special administration proceedings or if the administrator of a corporate trustee is unable fully to deal with trust property prior to the end of the special administration, the absence of any duty on the liquidator to deal with such property in some appropriate way would open up a serious lacuna in the efficacy of the liquidation regime. This article sets out tentative and exploratory considerations that may assist a court asked to address this question.

This article considers the issues that it is suggested finance lawyers should have in mind if asked to advise on a proposed loan where the interest payable is to be linked to the Bank of England bank rate, the base rate of another central bank, or the base rate of the lender. The author focuses on key differences between different methods of calculating interest, how interest rates can be structured and various practical issues that arise.

For marketing purposes, the complex and multiple risks of a fund are often summarised in catchy terms which ultimately are inaccurate or incomplete. This can lead to a charge of misrepresentation and censure by the regulator and litigation by the investors.