In this article Greg Brown considers two recent clauses that are increasingly being included in sustainability-linked loan documentation to provide lenders with protection from the risks of “green-washing”.
19 March 2024The recent amendments to the ISDA Definitions now require the Calculation Agent to perform its functions “in good faith and using commercially reasonable procedures to produce a commercially reasonable result”. This requires an objectively reasonable result, a more restrictive requirement than under the 2006 Definition. In turn, this means that determinations of the Calculation Agent are likely to be more open to challenge than under the previous definitions, which may generate an increased number of disputes. However, the additional protection offered by the requirement of a “reasonable result” should provide additional comfort to all parties. In any event, the amendments should encourage market participants to give careful consideration to whether they are willing to specify one of the parties to the transaction as Calculation Agent.
19 March 2024This article considers the effect of sanctions imposed by the UK following Russian’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 on litigation, commercial transactions and insolvency, via an overview of a series of decisions of the English High Court in these areas.
19 March 2024As a result of EU “legacy” provisions, covered bonds receive a clearly preferential regulatory treatment in the UK, when compared with other similar instruments, especially securities issued as part of a “true sale” securitisation. This article questions the extent to which such treatment is justified, particularly following a covered bond issuer insolvency event, when the risks are arguably greater than those present in “true sale” securitisation structures.
19 March 2024This article considers: (i) the delicate balance between competing interests and incentives in collateralised loan obligations (CLOs) with regard to restructurings of credit-impaired portfolio (broadly syndicated leveraged) loans; and (ii) recent innovations and changes to CLO documentation driven by specific well-publicised examples of leveraged loan restructuring.
19 March 2024This article considers a particular aspect of the insolvency risk to investors in UK covered bonds. Specifically, it considers whether the transfer of assets from the Issuer to the SPV to create the cover pool, including any over-collateralisation, can be impugned as a transaction at an undervalue such that it may be reversed on application to the court by the administrator or liquidator of the Issuer under s 238 of the Insolvency Act 1986. Such risk has long been appreciated. However, the issue has been the subject of fresh comment because of the intended revocation of the Regulated Covered Bonds Regulations under the Financial Services and Markets Bill and the opportunity for a new regulatory regime with a different approach to risks of this kind.11 1
19 March 2024This article examines the position on the jurisdiction’s approach in France, Germany, Italy and Luxembourg to preserve security interests and guarantees when the underlying obligation (governed by English law) is varied, for example when the maturity date of an existing facility is extended. We think a brief analysis may be useful to understand if and how security interests and/or guarantees, provided by overseas parties incorporated in the abovementioned jurisdictions, still continue to be in force and whether additional formalities will need to be performed to avoid the additional obligations not being covered by the security or guarantee in case of an amendment or variation of the underlying obligation.
19 March 2024New draft rules in the EU amending the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) propose a product regulation regime for loan origination funds, which may affect structuring of new and existing funds and impose additional requirements including on risk and liquidity management.
19 March 2024In this article Dorothy Livingston looks at the conclusions of the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce’s third statement on the English law relating to digital assets, notes its limitations and indicates the areas that require further development to place English law at the forefront of legal systems chosen for new digital systems using DLT/Blockchain.
19 March 2024While recognised investment exchanges sometimes halt trading or very occasionally cancel transactions, for example as a non-regulatory circuit breaker, or when trades, known as “fat finger” trades, are placed in error, it is very rare for them to suspend trading for days, or to cancel entire trading sessions. Yet, that is what happened earlier this year at the London Metal Exchange (LME). This article considers US activist hedge fund Elliott Management’s challenge of the LME’s decision to cancel trades.
19 March 2024