Feature

Insolvency in English limited partnerships: considerations for fund finance lenders

This article examines certain insolvency implications for English limited partnership structures, a common vehicle in the private capital market, with a focus on what this means for fund finance agreements. The article considers three scenarios: (i) insolvency of the sole corporate general partner; (ii) insolvency of a corporate limited partner; and (iii) the English limited partnership (ELP) itself becoming insolvent.
Whilst ELP structures and related financings vary significantly, and the drivers of distress in each case would likely be unique – noting that these structures are often “insolvency remote” by design – these considerations should provide a core foundation for analysing stress should it arise. 

Celestial v UniCredit: the Supreme Court decision and its ramifications

This article considers the decision of the Supreme Court in Celestial Aviation Services Limited v UniCredit Bank GmbH   [2026] UKSC 10, ¹ looking at the court’s approach as a matter of law and the practical and commercial ramifications of the decision, on the world of trade finance in particular.

Critical services disruption: the importance of financial institutions’ ability to demonstrate their response and how

As of early 2026, cyber and operational resilience regulation in Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has shifted from guidance‑led expectations (which offer flexibility as to how the regulated institution implements the regulation) to enforceable obligations. The differentiator is no longer about the number of policies in place, but whether an institution can produce audit‑ready evidence that statutory duties have been discharged under pressure – when facts are incomplete and reporting clocks are already running. This article sets out four practical pillars that increasingly determine supervisory outcomes: clock readiness (reporting within statutory guidelines), evidence readiness, privilege readiness and vendor readiness.

The right for a chargor entity to request enforcement

In this article, Richard Salter KC looks into the question of whether, under a suitably worded qualifying floating charge, a mere request by the chargor to the chargee can be sufficient to trigger the power of the chargee to appoint an Administrator, even if the underlying debt has not yet become payable.

UK Jurisdiction Taskforce publishes Report on Control of Digital Assets

This article reviews the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce’s Report on Control of Digital Assets   (the Report).  Certain digital assets fall into the new third category of property enabled by the entry into force of the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025. For these digital assets, “control” is a key concept, analogous to possession for tangible property. The Report is a factual reference describing control intended for use by legal practitioners to develop legal rules governing digital assets. It highlights distinctions between control of traditional accounts and control of blockchain-based assets. Building on this distinction, it lists various modes of control, such as shared and delegated control and control via smart contracts, through the addition of successive layers of complexity.

An equity repo trapped in the body of a secured loan agreement? Equity finance after Shukla

In this article, the author considers how the Commercial Court approached issues of recharacterisation in Shukla v St James Bank & Trust Company Ltd & Or   [2026] EWHC 851 (Comm)  and the extent to which it has relevance to the equity securities finance and prime brokerage markets and beyond.

Bridging public regulations and private rights in the US GENIUS Act and Hong Kong’s Stablecoins Ordinance: Part 1 – contractual right to redeem

Service out of anti-suit injunction arbitration claims: two areas of uncertainty

This article considers the Court of Appeal’s decision in FH Holding Moscow Limited v AO UniCredit Bank and UniCredit S.p.A.  [2026] EWCA Civ 468. It briefly discusses the Court of Appeal’s rejection of the anti-suit injunction (ASI) claim on the merits. It then focuses on two issues raised but not decided in the case relating to service out of ASI arbitration claims.

Entirely unco-operative, Part 2: if an LME becomes a Restructuring Plan will anti-co-ops limit the Plan’s likelihood of approval or fracture the class?

This article is the second part of ‘Entire agreement clauses: entirely unco-operative to void co-ops? Part 1’ published in June’s edition of JIBFL (2026) 6 JIBFL 398. It looks at whether co-operation agreement lenders get less than they hoped for if a liability management exercise morphs into a formal restructuring plan before an English court. Will the putative anti-pro rata sharing implied by a co-operation agreement (to the extent it is detrimental to non-participating creditors) doom the approval of the plan to failure for impinging on the pari passu  principle? Will the borrower’s use of anti-cooperation agreement provisions help or hurt the chances of plan confirmation or result in fracturing a creditor class where certain creditors have been disenfranchised by such provisions?

Dodgy financial reporting or financial covenant breach

In this article we consider how preservation of an agreed approach to financial monitoring and calculations for leveraged finance loans in the European mid-market is fundamental to maintain suitable protections for private credit lenders. Discrepancies in figures can raise red flags as to whether the financial reporting is simply inconsistent or whether the sponsor is attempting to hide a financial covenant breach. We discuss options available to lenders to clarify figures and request additional information.