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Loan stock meaning

What does Loan stock mean?
In legal practice, loan stock describes long‑term debt securities issued by companies or other non‑government bodies to raise finance; in substance, it is a corporate bond. The term is descriptive market usage rather than a statutory definition, with companies legislation in the UK and Ireland generally using “debenture” as the broader category for debt securities. Typical features include: an interest coupon (fixed or floating); repayment on a stated maturity date with possible early redemption; issue in registered form; and either unsecured status or security granted under a trust deed in favour of a trustee for holders. Variants include convertible loan stock and subordinated loan stock. The governing instrument (often a trust deed or loan stock instrument) sets out covenants, events of default, ranking and enforcement mechanics. Usage is broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland. Government debt is not described as loan stock (e.g. UK gilts), and practitioners distinguish loan stock from “loan notes”, the latter commonly used in private M&A for deferred consideration. Holders of loan stock are creditors, not shareholders, which affects priority on insolvency, disclosure, listing eligibility and security-taking analysis.
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View the related News about Loan stock

NEWS
UK tax weekly: NICs, CGT and NMW changes from 6 April; VAT UT rulings; Pillar Two regulations; higher late-payment interest/penalties; devolution and pensions updates—3 April 2025

In this issue Employment taxes Budgets and Finance Bills VAT International Taxes management and litigation Companies and corporation tax Anti-avoidance Devolution Pensions LexTalk®Tax: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Latest Q&A Useful information Employment taxes Royal Assent for National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Act 2025 The National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill—bringing in an uplift to 15% for the main rate of employers’ secondary Class 1 National Insurance contributions from 13.8%, and cutting the secondary threshold to £5,000 per annum—was first set out at Autumn Budget 2024 and obtained Royal Assent on 3 April 2025. The provisions apply from 6 April 2025. See: National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Act 2025. HMRC publishes Employment Related Securities Bulletin 59 (March 2025) Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES)—policy...

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NEWS
FTT (Tax) upholds HMRC: £3bn paid solely for RCIs; Barclays’ warrants free; loan relationship debits disallowed

Barclays Bank plc v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 246 (TC) In late 2008, the Barclays group undertook the following measures to bolster its Tier 1 capital ratios, thereby sidestepping the need for a government rescue: BBPLC issued £3bn of RCIs to two strategic investors as well as other institutional backers; and concurrently, its parent, Barclays plc (Barclays), granted five-year share warrants over its own stock to the strategic investors for a nominal amount. BBPLC received £3m for the RCIs but recorded the arrangements on the footing that £800m of the overall £3bn was, in reality, consideration paid by the investors for the warrants. As a result, its accounts reflected a cash inflow of £2.2bn attributed to the RCIs and £800,000 recognised as a capital contribution from Barclays. The disparity between £2.2bn...

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NEWS
June 2025 banking and finance litigation round-up: key England and Wales cases on undue influence, moratorium debt, injunctions, aviation war risks, bonds, leasing, unjust enrichment and guarantees

Banking & Finance—June 2025 case round-up Waller-Edwards v One Savings Bank Plc [2025] UKSC 22 Undue influence—mixed non-commercial transactions—de minimis threshold—Etridge guidance In this appeal, the Supreme Court allowed the challenge unanimously, deciding that a creditor is placed on inquiry—that one party’s assent to the deal may have been procured through undue influence—whenever a non-commercial hybrid arrangement, on the face of it, features a more than de minimis (ie trivial) borrowing component that extinguishes the liabilities of only one co-borrower and so may not be to the other’s financial advantage. Joanne Wicks KC, barrister at Wilberforce Chambers, and Tricia Hemans, barrister at Falcon Chambers, consider the ruling’s implications in News Analysis: Supreme Court holds banks must follow the Etridge protocol where non-commercial hybrid transactions include a more than de minimis surety element (Waller-Edwards v One Savings Bank Plc). This reiterates the Etridge principle in the context of such arrangements, for banks and lenders...

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View the related Practice Notes about Loan stock

PRACTICE NOTES
UK corporate tax considerations for pre-sale group reorganisations: asset/share transfers, losses, degrouping, stamp taxes and VAT

Before disposing of a business or trade When planning a disposal, a corporate seller must choose the most suitable deal structure. Commercial drivers should lead, yet securing a tax-efficient outcome will inevitably be a key concern. The initial choice is whether to transfer: the business and its underlying assets (a business sale), or the shares in a subsidiary that holds the business and assets (a share sale) Broadly, sellers tend to prefer a share sale: it offers a straightforward exit and, where the substantial shareholdings exemption (SSE) applies, any gain is exempt from tax. An asset deal is more likely to crystallise tax charges and leaves any pre-completion tax liabilities with the seller. This Practice Note does not address individual sellers or business asset disposal relief (BADR). For more on BADR, see Practice Note: CGT—business asset disposal relief (formerly entrepreneurs' relief)...

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PRACTICE NOTES
UK stamp duty and SDRT on depositary interests (CDIs) in foreign securities: exemptions, alternative reliefs, CREST treatment and HMRC notification; transition to the securities transfer charge

FORTHCOMING CHANGE relating to the modernisation of stamp taxes on shares framework: From 2027, stamp duty and SDRT will be replaced by a single, self-assessed tax on securities—the securities transfer charge (STC)—which will be paid and reported via a new online portal. The STC’s features will largely reflect the proposals for that tax set out in the 2023 consultation. Finance Bill 2026 (FB 2026) provides a power, commencing on Royal Assent, to introduce secondary legislation so taxpayers can pilot the digital service by self-assessing their stamp taxes on securities liabilities and submitting transactions electronically. For more on the modernisation of stamp taxes on securities, see: News Analyses: Budget 2025—Tax analysis—Stamp and transfer taxes Tax update spring 2025—Stamp taxes on shares modernisation Tax update spring 2025—Tax analysis—Stamp and transfer taxes TAMD 2023—Stamp taxes on shares modernisation TAMD 2023—consultation—stamp taxes on shares Tax Administration and Maintenance Day—27 April 2023—Stamp and transfer taxes...

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PRACTICE NOTES
TISE Official List debt securities: QIBM eligibility, agents, TISE Passport fast-track, process, disclosure, timing, sustainability, continuing obligations and quoted Eurobond exemption

What does this Practice Note cover? This Practice Note sets out an overview of the listing routes on The International Stock Exchange (TISE), with emphasis on its Qualified Investor Bond Market (QIBM), accelerated listing services, international recognitions, regulatory stance, and its sustainable finance offering. It explains the categories of debt securities eligible for admission, the advantages of listing on TISE, and the practical points for issuers, including timetable and disclosure obligations. TISE supports listings across a broad spectrum of debt, such as intragroup loan notes, high-yield bonds, asset-backed notes (covering securitisations and collateralised loan obligations), variable funding notes, convertible notes, Eurobonds and warrants. The platform includes the QIBM, which is tailored to the admission of bonds and other debt instruments marketed to institutional investors, professional investors, and other investors who are experienced and knowledgeable in bond investing (being ‘Qualified Investors’ as defined in the Qualified Investor Bond Market Listing Rules). TISE also provides the TISE Passport, a pan-European, fast-track listing facility available to debt security programmes that have already...

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View the related Precedents about Loan stock

PRECEDENTS
Precedent buyer board minutes for exchange on private share purchase: approve SPA and ancillary documents, authority to sign, optional consideration shares/loan notes and listed-company circular (UK)

Board minutes—private M&A—share purchase—exchange—buyer Company no: [insert company number]. [insert company name] [Limited OR plc]. Board meeting at [insert place] on [insert date] at [insert time]. [insert name] chaired, confirmed due notice and quorum. Business: to consider and, if appropriate, approve documents and matters for the Company’s proposed purchase of the entire issued share capital of [insert target name] Limited from [insert seller name] [Limited OR PLC], subject to conditions, including any required shareholders’ approval. Directors declared interests per CA 2006 and the Articles; quorum and voting confirmed. Key documents tabled included the draft sale and purchase agreement, any loan note instrument, disclosure letter, stock transfer form(s), voting power of attorney, circular and proxy (if relevant), verification notes and responsibility documents, consents, irrevocable undertakings, announcement and ancillary papers. The board noted conditions precedent and long‑stop; consideration (cash, loan notes and/or consideration shares); warranties/indemnities with time limits, caps and thresholds, subject to disclosures; post‑completion non‑compete/non‑solicit; and key loan note terms (interest, redemption, guarantee/security, convertibility). RESOLVED...

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PRECEDENTS
Ethical investment restriction: prohibition on trustees investing in specified non-ethical companies (England and Wales)

Notwithstanding the provisions of [ insert clause number granting the trustees authority to invest ] the said Trustees shall not (whether in exercise of the investment authority conferred by clause [ insert clause granting the trustees authority to invest ] or of the general power of investment contained in the Trustee Act of 2000, section 3) invest in the shares, stock, debentures, loan stock, or other securities of any company which is, or any of whose subsidiaries are, engaged in any of the following specified activities [ insert details ]...

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