In Practice
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The future of UK AIFMD: what does this mean for fund managers?
In April this year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a Call for Input on the future regulatory framework for alternative investment fund managers in the UK (CfI), alongside a concurrent consultation by HM Treasury, which sets out several proposals on the perimeter of the regulatory framework (the Consultation). The CfI outlined the FCA’s vision for a more proportionate, flexible and internationally aligned regime that supports growth, innovation and competition, while maintaining investor protection and market integrity in the asset management sector.
25 October 2025Securitisation shake-up: will streamlined due diligence and new sanctions ignite or inhibit the EU market?
In this In Practice article, the authors consider the European Commission’s proposed amendments to the EU Securitisation Regulation, spotlighting streamlined, principle-based investor due diligence and weighing the benefits of these changes against the introduction of administrative sanctions of up to 10% of global turnover for failing to comply. The article assesses practical compliance challenges, potential impacts on investor appetite, and implications for EU and third-country securitisations.
25 October 2025Navigating the new landscape of AI-driven credit assessment: legal and regulatory considerations for financial institutions
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into credit assessment processes has fundamentally transformed how financial institutions evaluate borrower risk and make lending decisions. As AI systems become increasingly sophisticated, they present both unprecedented opportunities for enhanced risk management and complex legal challenges that require careful navigation. This In Practice article examines the key legal and regulatory considerations that financial institutions must address when implementing AI-driven credit assessment systems.
29 September 2025NAV facilities to PERE funds
This In Practice article looks at the key features of net asset value facilities (NAV facilities) for private equity real estate funds and discusses some of the points of difference when compared to NAV facilities for private equity buyout funds.
29 September 2025Project financing co-located renewable assets
Targets for domestic power decarbonisation have recently been accelerated by the UK government, including the goal to quintuple the instalment of battery energy storage systems (BESS) by 2030. (BESS store electrical energy in batteries for later use and can therefore manage the intermittency of renewable energy). Consequently, it is expected that the co-location of larger-scale renewable generation projects with BESS assets (where the BESS is installed alongside another power generation source) will be an important feature of the UK’s energy transition. Norton Rose Fulbright recently advised Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners on the innovative project financing of the Cleve Hill Solar Park,1 a 373 MW solar PV + 150 MW BESS project in Kent (Cleve Hill). Cleve Hill is both the only solar Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project under construction in the UK, and the project with the largest corporate Power Purchase Agreement for solar offtake in the UK. Cleve Hill serves as a useful case study in crafting a bankable legal framework for the project financing of utility-scale co-located projects.
29 September 2025Supreme Court motor finance commission ruling: what next for lenders?
In this In Practice article we consider what comes next, after the Supreme Court judgment on secret commission payments in motor vehicle finance transactions.
29 September 2025Court of Appeal upholds established principles to reject novel claim for crypto growth losses
In BSV Claims v Bittylicious [2025] EWCA Civ 661, the English Court of Appeal handed down a significant judgment on quantifying losses in cryptocurrency claims. In this In Practice article the authors summarise the decision and provide some practical takeaways.
28 July 2025Originator funding lifecycle: the role of the forward flow
In this In Practice article the authors consider the appeal of forward flow transactions as an alternative to private securitisations or warehouse facilities for non-bank lenders such as fintechs needing to scale.
28 July 2025When “simplification” is anything but simple: a slimmer FCA Handbook but the website continues to grow
A common observation about the FCA Handbook is that, with over 13,000 pages across more than 3,000 chapters, it is enormous.1 For comparison, that’s more pages than ten copies of War and Peace. This In Practice article considers the impact of the FCA’s shift towards an “outcomes focus” on the content of the Handbook and how material is shifting to the FCA’s website.
28 July 2025Schemes, redress and litigation: approaches to dealing with mass consumer liability events
This In Practice article considers different mechanisms for consumer redress including schemes of arrangement, Financial Conduct Authority redress schemes and redress via the courts and the extent to which they achieve finality for a corporate party. The article also considers the impact of mass compensation events on investors where the loan or other financial product, the subject of the redress scheme, has been securitised. At the time of publication, the Supreme Court’s judgment in Johnson v FirstRand Bank Ltd was not yet handed down and this article therefore does not consider the impact of that decision.
28 July 2025
