Draft technical standards concerning sustainability disclosures aim to make STS securitisations more appealing from an ESG investment perspective. This In Practice article examines the proposed regime and identifies some practical shortcomings.
20 March 2024In recent years, the cryptoasset market has developed rapidly, with market capitalisation for cryptoassets estimated to have been around US$2.6-3trn in 2021.1 The market for decentralised finance (DeFi), although still relatively small, has also expanded quickly from less than US$10bn in 2020 to nearly US$100bn in 2021.2 However, over the last few months the cryptoasset market – specifically cryptocurrencies – has been seeing one of its worst selloffs since a market rally in 2020. This has sparked panic amongst investors, causing substantial financial losses. Inevitably, this has seen a flurry of litigation globally in recent months. This trend is likely to continue. We consider the causes of the crypto crash and the likely litigation risks for financial institutions and advisers.
20 March 2024In this In Practice article leading UK and international legal authority on Islamic financial law, Dr Lu’ayy Minwer Al-Rimawi, explains how the Bank of England’s webpages need to demonstrate a better understanding of Islamic finance law.
20 March 2024In this article the authors examine recent trends in leveraged finance transactions, looking at “Most Favoured Nation” (MFN) protection, dividend to debt reallocation mechanics, ineffective IP transfer prohibitions and super grower baskets/contribution debt baskets.
20 March 2024In this In Practice article, Latifah Mohamed discusses the impact of current rates of inflation on baskets and other monetary limits in loan agreements, and considers the case for, and practical implications of, indexing such baskets and limits in response.
19 March 2024The UK government has consulted on legislating to allow British courts to recognise foreign insolvency-related judgments under its enactment of the “original” UNCITRAL Model Law on cross-border insolvency (the Model Law), the Cross Border Insolvency Regulations 2006 (CBIR). The government is also considering incorporating the UNCITRAL Model Law on Enterprise Group Insolvencies (the Group Model Law) to promote closer co-operation on cross-border restructurings.
19 March 2024Artificial intelligence (AI), with its power to process large volumes of data, can provide more personalisation of financial products and services for consumers at greater scale and efficiency, and at lower cost. It can, in principle, enable firms to provide better support for vulnerable customers (for example, to consumers without standard credit histories, or through the use of simplified advice). All this could help to advance the FCA’s desired outcome of increased access through greater financial inclusion.1 This In Practice article considers the recent Discussion Paper to foster debate on this issue.
19 March 2024LIBOR cessation and contract continuity may seem like “old news”. After all, most LIBOR rates ceased almost 18 months ago – and the last of the “synthetic” rates created for certain Sterling and Japanese Yen tenors will shortly expire. Nonetheless, the impending cessation of the final USD LIBOR panel rates on 30 June 2023 means that questions on legal implications are once again coming to the fore – especially given the FCA’s announced intention to create a time-limited synthetic USD LIBOR rate. This piece provides a brief Q&A refresher.
19 March 2024This In Practice article examines market standard provisions designed to mitigate the risk posed by so called “Defaulting Lenders” and explores the options for a Borrower faced with a Lender that is unable to honour its lending commitments. Capitalised terms reflect the corresponding Loan Market Association (LMA) definitions.
19 March 2024In March (2023) 3 JIBFL 190, we discussed some of the challenges in providing sustainable finance products to consumers from the perspective of revenue-based finance; an embedded finance offering. Namely, there is a balance to strike between: (i) speed and automation; and (ii) positive customer outcomes. On 16 March 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a Dear CEO letter (Letter), addressed to payment firms supervised by the FCA within its payments portfolio, highlighting concerns that certain payment firms are not currently striking this balance. For embedded finance, the Letter will primarily impact providers that offer embedded banking services (if they are supervised payment firms), but it may have a wider impact across the industry.
19 March 2024