Fungible meaning

As the sector anticipates the coming year, a cluster of nascent technology arbitration themes is taking shape, spanning digital assets and smart-contract arbitration, proceedings in the metaverse, and role of artificial intelligence. Digital assets are by nature intangible and frequently transnational, since transaction counterparties can be unknown or untraceable within particular jurisdictions. Public venues for their trading, such as cryptocurrency or non-fungible exchanges, often provide scant or no terms and conditions. Overall, determining which fora possess jurisdiction to hear a digital-asset dispute, and which conflict-of-laws principles and substantive legal standards govern, can be challenging in practice for parties involved. Growing debate and attention within the legal community centres on arbitration tied to digital assets, encompassing cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, non-fungible tokens, artificial intelligence, technology and innovation, and the ways they seek to reduce the risks that accompany embracing novel technology across emerging sectors...

In this issue Practice and procedure Relationship breakdown Financial provision International Daily and weekly news alerts LexTalk®Family: a Lexis®Nexis community New and updated content Useful information Practice and procedure Digital assets as personal property: supplemental report and draft legislation The Law Commission of England and Wales has issued a supplementary report together with a draft Bill which, if enacted, would endorse a third class of personal property into which certain digital and other assets might fall. Its June 2023 digital assets report found that particular digital assets, including crypto-tokens and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), can attract personal property rights. Yet, because they are inherently distinct from tangible items and from rights-based assets such as debts and financial securities, they do not align with traditional personal property categories. The recommendation was that legislation should recognise the existence of a third category of personal property. The draft Bill states that an item is not disqualified from being the...

In this issue: Key DR developments Claims and remedies Costs and funding Cross-border disputes Litigation Case management Scottish Dispute Resolution New content Dates for your diary Useful information Daily and weekly news alerts Key DR developments Online Procedure Rule Committee The Online Procedure Rule Committee (OPRC) has opened a consultation on the first set of Online Procedure Rules to be made under the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022. The proposed Online Procedure (Core Rules and Pilot Schemes) Rules 2026 would set the framework for online proceedings across the civil, family and tribunal jurisdictions. At the outset, only possession proceedings are in scope, with a plan to expand coverage to all cases governed by the Online Procedure Rules over time. The consultation closes on 15 January 2026. For more detail, see: OPRC launches consultation on first Online Procedure Rules under 2022 Act—LNB News 05/12/2025 25. Artificial Intelligence The Ministry of...

What does this Practice Note cover? The primary emphasis of this Practice Note is on debt securities (such as bonds or notes) and it provides an introduction to: trading, settlement and custody of debt securities in the UK, and the key UK regulatory frameworks that govern these activities This Practice Note also highlights the main categories of relevant service providers and summarises the UK regulatory frameworks applicable to them. For a quick summary of how the debt capital markets are regulated in the UK, see Practice Note: EU and UK regulation of the debt capital markets—one minute guide. For information on the debt securities market infrastructure in the EU, see Practice Note: EU Debt securities market infrastructure. Introduction The importance of tradeability of debt securities Tradeability is a fundamental attribute of debt securities. Investors’ ability to purchase and sell—trade—debt securities depends on: standardisation of the terms and conditions of debt securities (for more information, see Practice...

Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have surged into prominence in recent years. Sectors from art and gaming to finance and media have adopted them, with brands like Starbucks weaving NFTs into loyalty programmes to show real-world commercial utility and the scope to spread into other fields. They already power everything from event tickets to artworks and digital assets minted and resold in the ‘Metaverse’. This Practice Note reviews the legal and regulatory challenges NFTs have encountered and could yet face, and addresses: Understanding NFTs Using NFTs Dealing with NFTs Intellectual property rights and NFTs Licensing NFTs Are NFTs regulated? NFTs and money laundering NFTs and tax Consumer law and NFTs Advertising regulation Data security NFTs in the court room Key practical questions to be considered in any NFT project Understanding NFTs Real-world applications of NFTs There is a constantly shifting roster of celebrated and notorious NFTs. Beeple’s ‘Everydays: The First...

STOP PRESS: The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 received Royal Assent on 2 December 2025 and took effect that same day. Section 1 confirms that an item (including one that is digital or electronic in nature) is not disqualified from being the subject of personal property rights simply because it is neither a thing in possession nor a thing in action. This clarifies that digital holdings including cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens and carbon credits can now be recognised as personal property. See LNB: 04/12/2025 2. STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025), which obtained Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, enacts the abolition of the remittance basis of taxation and replaces it with a residence-based regime from 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also removes domicile as the primary determinant of liability to inheritance tax. Further measures include revising the rules for excluded property status, ending the protected settlements status of offshore trusts, and alterations to overseas workday...