Feature

Concerns around user anonymity and privacy have morphed into key public demands on central banks as the latter reflect on, and explore, the eventual issuance of retail central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Some of the relevant debate is presented in terms of the need for central banks to balance their data protection duties, as CBDC issuers, against the need to uphold the payment system’s integrity from the dual risks of money laundering and the financing of terrorism. For the reasons explained in this article, the apparent tension between privacy protection and AML/CFT regulatory compliance – portrayed, by some, as the basis for painful but necessary compromises at the expense of privacy – may be somewhat exaggerated. As explained, below, retail CBDCs are not inherently worse-off, on the privacy front, compared to established electronic means of payment. By way of introduction, we briefly introduce the related (but distinct) concepts of anonymity and privacy, which are crucial for an understanding of the topic addressed in this article.

Much ink has been spilled on the Quincecare duty, considering the circumstances in which it may be engaged in the banker-customer relationship. However, that is only one part of a broader picture of inter-related agency relationships, all of which can be in play in cases where a company is being defrauded by someone who might usually be trusted to act in the company’s interests. This article sets out to identify, by means of a case study, what sort of issues might arise. It then seeks to explain what English conflict of laws rules would find to be the governing law of the various claims.

In this article, Akber Datoo explains how English contract law can provide useful, flexible tools to simplify and clarify the fundamental legal relationships between participants in decentralised networks.

In this article Thomas Wong considers two recent judgments of the Hong Kong Court of First Instance on the enforcement of Keepwell Deeds.

The Secretary of State recently argued in high profile disqualification proceedings that directors owe a freestanding, strict legal duty to know a company’s true financial position at all times while holding the office of director. This article argues that this position is clearly wrong as a matter of law, would be inconsistent with the directors’ duties in the Companies Act 2006, and would be fundamentally impractical and impossible to comply with.

In this article the authors consider why and how Excess Cash Flow mechanics have become more diluted in recent years.

In this article the author considers how to delineate the regulatory perimeter in relation to DeFi platforms. He considers where the line is to be drawn between a platform that is essentially a CeFi platform that uses smart contract components to provide virtual asset services, and DeFi proper, where the originators of the set of smart contracts are merely developing and deploying software as a public utility.

In this article, Richard Hoyle considers a range of recent English cases which examine fiduciary duties relating to investment or divestment where fiduciaries were either motivated by, or, in contrast, downplayed ESG and climate change issues. In doing so he highlights the potential for fragmented outcomes when comparing different types of fiduciary relationship, including charitable trustees, pension trustees and directors, noting that for the time being, courts appear to be deferential to the approach which different fiduciaries choose to adopt to ESG and climate change issues.

By reference to previous authorities, this article discusses circumstances in which a bank might be held to be on inquiry or “put on notice” that an agent’s payment instruction to the bank is an attempt to defraud the bank’s customer.

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.