Feature

This 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. 

This 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.

This 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

In this article, Raquel Agnello KC considers the enforceability of transactions involved in the act, course of conduct or failure to act which is relied upon by the Pensions Regulator when imposing a criminal sanction or civil penalty under the Pension Schemes Act 2021 (PSA 2021).

An enabling legal framework is widely regarded as a prerequisite for a well-functioning warehouse receipt system that can facilitate transactions with goods, including access to finance. Over the past few years, several countries have initiated legal reform to modernise their legal frameworks governing warehouse receipts in general, or to accommodate the issuance and transfer of electronic warehouse receipts in particular. The future UNCITRAL/UNIDROIT Model Law on Warehouse Receipts will offer guidance to legislators in developing a legal framework that reflects best practices and embraces the most recent developments in business models and technology.

We consider the practical steps and considerations for creditors when faced with a potential event of default (EOD) under their credit documentation. We also assess the consequences for a creditor in taking enforcement action in reliance on an EOD that has not actually occurred, cannot be relied on, or is disputed.

Statute law, common law and equity provide a variety of protections and remedies to customers of financial institutions. This article, though, examines the not uncommon situation where there is a legitimate sense that the customer may to some extent have been the author of his or her own misfortunes.

In the wake of the receivership of Silicon Valley Bank and the Signature Bank failures, Swiss regulators brokered a deal to stabilise Credit Suisse (CS). The acquisition of CS by UBS was the first use of the tools designed to end too big to fail. The write off of CS’s AT1 capital highlights the discretion available to regulators to deviate from the hierarchy of claims when a bank is distressed.

In this article, barrister Marcus Mander considers the application of the “purview” principle in an era of rising interest rates, highlighting a few potential complexities.

This article outlines a proposed approach to the risks and the protections that are specific to corporate transactions involving tokens or blockchains and proposes warranties designed to protect buyers.