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Project bonds and energy transition: a proven financing solution
The stricter monitoring/disclosure and liquidity requirements faced by banks in the wake of the global financial crisis mean that projects can often no longer be funded by traditional bank debt alone. The debt capital markets have stepped up to the challenge and project bonds are on the rise, particularly amidst the green finance boom. Whilst the specific challenges that project bonds pose when used in a project financing arrangement are complex, they are by no means insurmountable and with the help of experienced professionals, project bond financings can be structured in a way that offers a viable alternative solution.
19 March 2024English law in the 21st century: does it need an update to accommodate crypto?
The recent Law Commission Digital Assets Consultation Paper proposes the creation of a third category of personal property under English law. The article focuses on identifying some of the practical consequences of this proposal from a financial services perspective. This is achieved by summarising some of the main points made in the consultation and considering the potential impact for the use of English law.
19 March 2024Transferring legal title to a digital asset
In this article, Hin Liu considers what should be required to transfer legal title to a digital asset. He argues that the requirement should be a “change of control” coupled with an intention to transfer title, and that it would be inappropriate to require an “on-chain transfer”.
19 March 2024Bind to law: Soulbound tokens and property law
Soulbound tokens (SBTs) are a novel type of crypto-token. They are not intended to be treated as liquid, transferable items, but instead as verifiable and non-alienable repositories of provenance-secure information related to specific people. SBTs are intended to be non-transferable – but because of the technological medium within which they are created, they are generally transferable as a matter of fact. This article considers whether it is justifiable to treat this type of token as an object of property rights. It suggests that property law could help to achieve what technical design alone cannot – the non-transferability of SBTs. While the ability to transfer the token might remain as a matter of fact, SBTs might achieve non-transferability as a matter of law, through the application of property law concepts such as relativity of title and the bona fide purchaser rule.
19 March 2024Erroneous payments in syndicated loans: the future of the “Revlon blockers”
Even though the Second Circuit has restored a sense of calm by ordering the lenders to return mistaken payments to Citibank in the infamous Revlon case, the Revlon blocker is here to stay. This article will examine its various permutations and will propose suggestions on how parties may wish to fine tune their Revlon blockers in light of the Second Circuit’s emphasis on the role of constructive knowledge in dismissing the “discharge for value” defence.
19 March 2024Edinburgh Reforms: does the Senior Managers and Certification Regime need changing?
In this article, the authors evaluate the successes and failures of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) and consider whether the Edinburgh Reforms are likely to result in radical change.
19 March 2024Law v policy: judicial review and judicial deference in the age of hyper-regulation
The increasingly articulate web of regulation which affects virtually every facet of economic activity in the EU risks giving rise to a blurring of the distinction between law and policy, impacting not only the primary targets of regulation, but also the approach of lawyers in interpreting the rules. While this article focuses on the regulatory framework which has impacted the banking industry in the years following the Global Financial Crisis (GFC), similar issues arise in other sectors affected by a strong regulatory footprint (eg data protection, antitrust). The purpose is to consider the limits of administrative action in light of the distinction between law and policy, by considering doctrines of judicial deference in the context of judicial review. The article reflects comments made by the author in the context of a keynote address on the occasion of the 6th biennial Stockholm Oxford Law Symposium held on 8-9 September 2022 by the Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law on the topic ‘Lawyers in time of turmoil: Rule of Law v Justice – Rulemaking and enforcement on steroids – how to ensure equal treatment and predictability in the application?’.
19 March 2024“More image than a shade”: the time is ripe for reform of the Consumer Credit Act 1974
Nazeer Chowdhury reflects on HMT’s Consultation on Reforming the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (December 2022).
19 March 2024What is collateral special value?
Shares in a private company must be valued when they are given as collateral for a loan and the borrower does not pay the interest and capital when due. Unlike for quoted companies, the subjectivity in valuing a private company results in a wide range of valuations. Even when standard methods are used, there are additional questions of whether the valuations should include, for example, synergy benefits which would accrue to a buyer of the shares – the so-called “special value”. The range of valuations and special value could be problematic, particularly for the borrower. In such transactions, disputes can be avoided if the valuation method and the parameters required by the model are agreed at inception.
19 March 2024Cryptographic tokens: three categories of personal property?
In this article Lodewijk Van Setten questions the recommendation by the Law Commission in its recent Digital Assets Consultation Paper for a third category of personal property under English law called “data objects”. He suggests that the reconceptualization of the concept of property is not necessary and recommends a more constrained approach.
19 March 2024
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