Commercial Litigation

Proposing a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) is currently a popular option for companies facing financial difficulties. Creditors of companies such as BHS, Prezzo, Toys R Us, Maplin, Byron Burgers and New Look have all recently agreed to the companies operating under CVAs. Several other retailers are rumoured to be likely soon to follow suit. The […]

Three company directors were found to have acted in breach of duty, and thus have assumed personal liability in connection with a reorganisation which left the company unable to meet its own liabilities without the assistance of its subsidiaries in LHR Services Ltd (in Liquidation) v Raymond Arthur Trew, Jason Marcus Brewer, Derek O’Neill. As […]

A ‘pre-pack’ is where a company in financial difficulty arranges the sale of its business before entering administration (a form of insolvency process). Immediately upon the company entering administration, and without first notifying creditors, the administrators sell the company’s assets to a third party. Creditors of the company that has entered administration are only likely to […]

Following the recent upturn in the number of companies entering insolvency processes, it is important to consider what steps you should take if you have a contract with a company in financial trouble. Your first instinct might be to end the contract immediately; however, the recent decision in Phones 4U Ltd (in administration) v EE […]

Upholding a decision of the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court has determined that, in cases involving conspiracy to injure, acting in contempt of court amounts to “wrongful means”, whilst the place of the “event giving rise” to the damage suffered, for the purposes of determining jurisdiction, is the place where the conspiratorial agreement was […]

The Court of Appeal has sent out a warning to parties intending to pursue a breach of warranty claim in a recent decision highlighting the importance of contractual notification provisions.  The court’s strict approach in Teoco UK Limited v (1) Aircom Jersey 4 Limited (2) Aircom Global Operations Limited is a reminder that where a […]

Smart contracts are one of the major developments arising out of the distributed ledger and are intended to simplify how contracts are made and executed.   This briefing considers what they are and how they fit into the law of contract. What are smart contracts? There is no standard, generally accepted definition of smart contracts but […]

On 26 April, the UK ratified the EU’s Unified Patent Court (UPC) agreement. Although much of intellectual property law and practice is already harmonised amongst EU member states, a UPC would set up a common patent court for the hearing of intellectual property cases, and the direct applicability of its rulings, across all EU member […]

The Asset Management Market Study carried out by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) raised concerns about weak price competition and the ability of investors to seek the best value. Therefore the FCA has decided to introduce new rules and guidance applicable to authorised fund managers (AFMs) in respect of their management of authorised funds subject […]

In the recent Court of Appeal judgment of Okpabi v Royal Dutch Shell Plc[1], the court examined the issue of whether there was an arguable case that Royal Dutch Shell (Shell), as the UK parent company of a Nigerian subsidiary, owed a duty of care to those affected by oil leaks from pipelines and associated […]

On 22 February 2018 the UK Parliament announced it will be launching an inquiry into cryptocurrencies to examine the role of digital currencies in the UK; both the risks and opportunities. The inquiry follows a heightened global focus on digital currencies as their popularity escalates.  In September 2017, China banned the sale of new digital […]

This quarterly round-up looks into some of the main regulatory developments and trends in fintech regulation during the first quarter of 2018. Moves to regulate The appetite of governments and supervisors to regulate the crypto-world is increasing and, although short-term the position remains uncertain, it is clear that regulation is on its way. Within the […]