RCF meaning

Financial services developments FSCS publishes budget update for 2026/27 The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has released a budget update, setting out management expenses of £108m for 2026/27. Within this, £97m covers core expenditure, a 6% drop from the prior year, alongside a further £11m to bolster the FSCS’s existing revolving credit facility (RCF), aimed at improving funding readiness and reinforcing trust in the UK financial services sector. With the extra RCF costs included, the FSCS’s total 2026/27 budget remains aligned with inflation. The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) are consulting on a 2026/27 Management Expenses Levy Limit of £113m, representing an inflation-only uplift of £4.4m on 2025/26. This also provides for an unlevied contingency reserve of £5m, unchanged from 2025/26. The most recent 2025/26 forecast stays at £108.6m, inclusive of an unlevied reserve of £5m, as set out in January 2025. The FSCS adds that it does not expect to invoice firms for the 2025/26 unlevied reserve under current plans only...

Scope of this Practice Note This Practice Note sets out the main types of radioactive waste and examines disposal against the EU-defined waste hierarchy. It places contemporary management of radioactive waste within the historical development of the nuclear industry from a planning standpoint. Principal policy documents are reviewed to chart the evolution of government thinking over time. Geological disposal of Higher Activity Waste (HAW) under the Planning Act 2008 (PA 2008) is compared with alternative disposal routes under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) and the Planning (Wales) Act 2015. Consultation duties, application processes and required consents are identified for both regimes. Notable planning appeals and judicial review cases are highlighted before looking at international approaches to radioactive waste. What is radioactive waste? In the UK, radioactive waste arises—and will arise—from past, current and future programmes for electricity generation from nuclear fission, the reprocessing of nuclear fuel, the development of nuclear weapons, the nuclear submarine fleet and wastes from radioactive materials used for civil...

This Practice Note outlines green loans and the principal considerations when preparing a green loan agreement. It centres on the Green Loan Principles (GLP) issued by the Loan Market Association (LMA), the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association (APLMA) and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA)... Clarifies the meaning of a green loan Introduces the GLP and the accompanying GLP guidance Sets out the four core components of a green loan under the GLP and summarises the related guidance Condenses GLP and GLP guidance on what qualifies as a green loan, on reviews, and on greenwashing risks Provides sources for precedent wording, including the Loan Market Association draft provisions, plus drafting pointers What is meant by a green loan? Under the GLP, green loans encompass any form of loan instrument and/or contingent facility (for example, bonding lines, guarantee lines or letters of credit) where the proceeds, or an equivalent amount, are applied solely to fund, re-finance or guarantee, in...

Acquisition finance transactions In an acquisition finance transaction, beyond the debt—whether constituted by loans or bonds—needed to finance the deal, the borrower group will commonly require additional banking facilities. These might include, for example, an overdraft, a stand-by letter of credit facility or a foreign exchange facility, and can frequently all be delivered under the umbrella of a revolving credit facility (RCF) in the senior facilities agreement (SFA). The RCF will usually be capable of being drawn in three distinct ways: in cash (by way of revolving loans) as syndicated, non-cash facilities, eg letters of credit—these will be identified in the documentation; and in the form of bilateral lines known as ancillary facilities Unlike a revolving credit facility drawn in cash, ancillary facilities are not typically of a kind that lends itself to division amongst several lenders, so the documentation caters for their provision on a bilateral basis. For more on the revolving credit facility, in particular how revolving loans...