This article considers whether there should be a “retrieval duty” on banks to recover monies transferred as a result of an alleged fraud, following the failed strike-out application in CCP Graduate School Limited v National Westminster Bank PLC [2024] EWHC 581 (KB).
29 June 2024We know that Lord Justice Snowden’s landmark judgment for a unanimous Court of Appeal in Adler earlier this year1 emphasised the presumptive importance of the pari passu principle. But what does this principle amount to? What does it require? The term “pari passu” is used in judicial and textbook writings to refer to no fewer than four different principles. Regrettably, this is a reliable recipe for confusion. Three of these principles relate to distribution of value from the insolvency estate but are very different from each other, while the fourth is a principle of conservation rather than distribution. The undifferentiated and unreflective use of the term “pari passu” for one or other of these four principles leads to mistakes of both analysis and decision. This article explains the four principles, outlines the ways in which they differ, highlights the confusion resulting from not distinguishing amongst them, and argues that the term “pari passu” should be restricted to only one of the four.
29 June 2024This article examines sponsor-provided debtor-in-possession financing that converts into equity in the reorganised debtor upon emergence from bankruptcy, including the consequences of, and recent challenges to such sponsor-led convertible financing.
29 June 2024Following the Court of Appeal’s judgment in Darty Holdings SAS v Carlton-Kelly [2024] B.C.C. 119, this article looks at some of the possible risks for lenders who are sole signatories on blocked accounts, in respect of their security and their role as regards borrowers.
29 June 2024The Treasury has announced its intention to amend the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSR). As a means of combatting authorised push payment (APP) fraud, banks will be given the power to delay the transferring of funds where they have established that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that the payment order has been placed subsequent to fraud or dishonesty. When utilising this discretion, they must inform their customer, who can then decide whether to rescind their instruction. Although the new power may prevent many instances of fraud, it is not without its problems, and this article discusses six sets of issues.
28 June 2024Trades on the secondary debt market typically go wrong because the lender is unable to settle the trade satisfactorily. In this article Matthew Watson considers the circumstances in which a selling lender may be unable to settle a trade and the position of the buyer in that event.
28 June 2024Paul Marshall offers a clarification and correction to two parts of his recent article of the above title.
28 June 2024This article introduces the policy debate as regards a further reduction of the settlement cycle. The US has moved to T+1 in May 2024, with the UK and EU making plans to follow suit.
28 June 2024If secured lenders (who fall within the definition of connected persons) and their advisers engage the evaluator prior to the commencement of administration and ensure open communication lines among themselves, the evaluator and the would-be administrator then the goal of increasing transparency in the pre-pack process would likely be advanced in a manner consistent with the efficient execution of a pre-pack sale.
13 June 2024The question of how UK-based lenders can continue to make funds available to European borrowers remains a key one for market participants. In this article, the authors explore some of the key practical challenges and questions now facing UK-based lenders.
13 June 2024