Feature

The Moveable Transactions (Scotland) Bill was recently introduced to the Scottish Parliament. The reforms were proposed by the Scottish Law Commission in December 2017 and the author and Dr Andrew Steven, the Scottish Law Commissioner responsible for the Commission’s report, outlined the proposed new regime in the February 2018 edition of this journal (2018) 2 JIBFL 71. It is not proposed to repeat that analysis, but instead to discuss in a little more detail some of the opportunities which arise from the Bill.

This article considers whether stablecoins such as USD Tether (USDT) which do not present the same volatility risks as Bitcoin might be a satisfactory alternative to either payment into court or a guarantee from a first-class London bank.

This article deals with the proposals of the City of London Law Society (CLLS) Financial Law Committee to the Law Commission in connection with their review of the law on deeds, likely to be one of the projects in their 14th Programme of Law Reform. Proposals focus on resolving a number of issues related to the execution of deeds, including in the form of electronic documents, as well as resolution of some conflict of laws issues, clarification of when a deed is required and of the status of a “failed” deed.

In this article, the authors consider the benefits of, and legal issues with, Exchange 4.0, a model that addresses current questions about how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can change market infrastructure, clearing, settlement and custody systems.

In this article the authors consider the impact of the UK Supreme Court decision in Lloyd v Google LLC on banks and other financial institutions which typically control vast quantities of (typically) relatively sensitive financial data.

In this article, Paul Mousel considers the methods for protecting investors’ rights in securities under Luxembourg law.

In this article, Antony Hainsworth considers the interrelation between the UK’s proposed Green Taxonomy with the EU Taxonomy Regulation and other national green taxonomies.

On 4 October 2021, the Privy Council delivered its 85-page judgment in Broad Idea International Ltd v Convoy Collateral Ltd [2021] UKPC 24, which considered the jurisprudential nature of freezing orders. The majority decided that it was necessary and appropriate to depart from the House of Lords’ decision in Siskina v Distos Cia Naviera (The Siskina) [1979] AC 210. They held that freezing orders are explained by the need to facilitate the enforcement of judgments; and that they can be granted even where there is no pending claim before any court and where the applicant’s cause of action is incomplete.

In this article the authors unpack recent unitranche trends, identify reasons for the rising popularity of jumbo unitranche facilities and discuss what it may portend for the syndicated loan market.

The National Security and Investment Act 2021 (NSIA or the Act) is a complex and wide-ranging piece of legislation with the potential to impact many acquisitions and other corporate transactions. It empowers the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (the Secretary of State) to review and where appropriate, intervene in investments in qualifying entities and assets that have given, or may give rise to a risk to national security. Since the NSIA came into force at the beginning of 2022, its practical implications have inevitably come to the fore. This includes how the Act’s mandatory pre-notification requirements apply to creditors taking security over shares in entities operating in qualifying sectors of the economy. While the government’s intent seems clear in terms of when the NSIA will impact secured creditors, the text of the Act itself and related guidance have resulted in some questions among practitioners.