Feature

This article considers, briefly, whether a claim for payment in cryptocurrency can (arguably) be brought as a claim in debt. It also considers the implications of such a characterisation in two specific areas of insolvency law – petitions for bankruptcy, and whether a proof of debt based on a cryptocurrency payment obligation can benefit from the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016) r 14.21, which values the claim in sterling by reference to the exchange rate at the commencement of insolvency. These issues are likely to interest lenders under crypto-loans (which we shall call “crypto-lenders”), insolvency practitioners, and others in the crypto space.

The era of cheap debt is over (at least for now). However, debt of course remains a key financing strategy for European companies. Sophisticated sponsors and borrowers are focused on ensuring maximum flexibility for debt incurrence under the terms of their facilities agreement – both to protect against a downside scenario and to ensure sufficient capacity to meet the requirements of their business plans. This article outlines what those flexibilities currently look like in market documents and where they are heading, with a close focus on the institutional term loan market.

In this article Wojtek Buczynski considers different approaches to the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) to ensure it remains future-proof and relevant in the age of continuous technological change.

This article considers the recent case of Avanti Communications in which the judge disagreed with one part of the analysis of the fixed charge/floating charge characterisation issue in two practitioner textbooks and in one academic article.

In this article Sarah Garvey seeks to assess the potential opportunities and risks for finance parties on the UK’s accession to Hague 2019 and whether finance parties are likely to adapt their approach to drafting dispute resolution clauses as a result. The article also provides a high-level overview of key features of Hague 2019 and highlights areas for future dispute and debate.

In this article, David Rouch considers growing attention among investors to the question of whether they are legally required or permitted to take steps to tackle humanity’s core sustainability challenges. He outlines some of the circumstances in which they may, potential challenges in doing so and how they can be approached. The article is based on analysis undertaken across 11 jurisdictions, including the major investment hubs, which resulted in a report on the subject for the UNEP Finance Initiative, PRI and The Generation Foundation, published by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in 2021: A Legal Framework For Impact: Sustainability Impact In Investor Decision-making.

In this article, the authors provide an overview of the new oversight regime for critical third parties and offer some reflections on the potential implications of this regime.

In this article Julian Roberts considers the benefits of going back to basics when regulating and litigating financial innovation.

In this article, Richard Calnan discusses the purpose and scope of the Secured Transactions Code.

Innovation is evidence of how trade and trade finance are developing in the international markets with the use of electronic platforms and technology which is constantly changing and improving. Internationally, the law, generally, has been trailing behind commerce and applications for trade. The coming into force of the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023 (the Act) on 20 September 2023 is the key to legal recognition for certain electronic trade documents under English law. The Act, which is a very short piece of legislation, gives certain documents used in trade and trade finance the same legal status and protection as the equivalent documents in paper form. This article looks at some areas of the Act and the effect of the Act in the context of trade and trade finance.