Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Asset definition

What does Asset mean? In legal practice, an asset is any thing of economic value that a person or entity owns or controls and can realise, transfer, secure or enforce. The term is descriptive and used across contexts (company law, trusts, matrimonial finance, probate, enforcement and insolvency), with specific legislation or rules defining it for particular purposes (for example, insolvency, taxation and financial services). Assets include land and buildings, cash and bank balances, securities (shares, bonds and other fixed‑income instruments), receivables, contractual rights (choses in action), intellectual property, goodwill and, increasingly, cryptoassets. Assets may comprise legal or equitable interests and can be tangible or...

Investigating cryptoasset crime: tracing, dark web, production orders, and recovery under POCA post-ECCTA 2023, including wallet freezing, restraint and confiscation; practical issues—private keys and cross-border jurisdiction

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

Criminal investigation of cryptoAssets

Owing to the decentralised design of many cryptoassets, pinpointing their holders, and curtailing dealings with them at any given moment, is more constrained than for other asset types. Tracing ownership and impeding transfers is, as a result, often significantly harder in practice. In the UK and across Europe, steps have been taken to counter this, including bringing cryptoasset exchange providers and Custodian wallet providers (cryptoasset businesses) within anti-Money laundering regimes (see Practice Notes: Offences under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017) and MLD5 and UK implementation—key provisions for financial services firms—one minute guide [Archived]). The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023, SI 2023/612 (the Cryptoassets Promotion Order) has also broadened the restrictions on financial promotions in section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to cover qualifying cryptoassets (see Practice Note: Application of the UK financial promotion regime to cryptoassets—The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023). From 26 April 2024, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA 2002) was formally amended by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) to recognise cryptoassets as property. It contains investigative and enforcement powers in relation...

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Charlotte Hill

Penningtons Manches Cooper

Charlotte is an experienced commercial litigator and is named as a ‘rising star’ in The Legal 500. She is recognised as being ‘tenacious … and a real force of nature’, and is said to be ‘brilliant at case management and marshalling evidence’ with ‘a particular talent for sniffing out the best pieces of evidence in a case’.She advises on a broad range of complex, high-value cross-border disputes across a number of commercial and business sectors, including financial services (having previously been on secondment at a large institutional bank), company disputes, corporate insolvency and civil fraud / asset tracing. In addition, she has recently developed expertise in proceedings involving digital assets, including blockchain, cryptocurrencies and trading platforms / exchanges.Charlotte is the elected president of the Junior London Solicitor Litigation Association, a committee member of the Cyber Insurance Association and a steering committee member of the...

Oliver Cooke

Penningtons Manches Cooper

Oliver is an associate in the commercial dispute resolution team in London. His practice focuses on advising companies and individuals on business crime matters such as fraud, bribery and corruption, as well as regulatory compliance issues. He represents clients across a wide range of sectors in relation to investigations, prosecutions and enforcement actions instigated by a number of bodies including the Serious Fraud Office, Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, the Financial Reporting Council and the Crown Prosecution Service. Oliver's work in this area has included advising on the first UK Deferred Prosecution Agreement in November 2015. Many of Oliver's cases have a multi-jurisdictional aspect, and he has experience of advising on matters involving the United States Department of Justice, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the European Anti-Fraud Office, and the States of Jersey Police. He is also regularly instructed on business...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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