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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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At a session before Parliament’s Treasury Committee, FCA chief Nikhil Rathi said certain jurisdictions show a “very high” tolerance for crypto risk and are pushing it to retail users with scant regulatory safeguards, while the UK’s position remains uncertain. “ What is our risk appetite?” he asked. “ Parliament will weigh this. Is it high, medium, or low? Give us direction.” Rathi noted that the FCA accepts there is a “growth and competitiveness” case for crypto‑assets. He added the government has consistently stated that driving economic growth is its paramount aim. Yet, he cautioned, trading crypto‑assets carries the possibility of harm at both individual and societal levels, which is troubling, reflecting the risks he described to the committee directly......
In this issue: Banking & Finance case round-up Sustainable finance and ESG round-up Lending Security Sustainable finance Debt capital markets New and updated content Useful information Banking & Finance case round-up Banking & Finance— May 2025 case round-up For an overview of the Banking & Finance cases we flagged in May 2025, see: Banking & Finance— May 2025 case round-up. Sustainable finance and ESG round-up Sustainable finance and ESG monthly round-up—2 June 2025 This Finance Group monthly round-up features: (1) the Financial Markets Standards Board issuing a Statement of Good Practice on governance of sustainability‑linked products, (2) the IFRS Foundation announcing the International Sustainability Standards Board’s proposed amendments to IFRS S2 on greenhouse gas emissions disclosures and (3) the International Organisation of Securities Commissions releasing a report on the sustainable bond market. For further details, see News Analysis:...
Banking & Finance— May 2025 case round-up Nationwide Building Society v The Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch and another company [2025] EWHC 1046 ( Comm) Debt capital markets—notes not admitted to listing Nationwide issued proceedings against its solicitors, A& O Shearman ( A& O), claiming an approximate £83m tax detriment flowing from the omission to list notes, as pleaded by Nationwide. A& O, in response, pursued a contribution from BNY Mellon ( BNY), contending that BNY contributed to the non-listing. The central point was whether a signing and closing agenda (normally a process checklist) could impose a binding duty on BNY to confirm that the notes were listed. The Commercial Court refused BNY’s application for summary judgment, concluding that A& O’s case had a realistic prospect of success at this stage. It determined that whether the transaction suite, including the agenda, created...
UK developments DESNZ consults on implementing voluntary carbon and nature market integrity principles The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ( DESNZ) has opened a consultation to gather feedback on how to put into practice the UK Government’s six principles for integrity in voluntary carbon and nature markets ( VCNMs), assessing how they fit markets at varying stages of development. The Minister for Climate Change, Kerry Mc Carthy MP, unveiled these principles at COP29 in November 2024. It further seeks to define expectations for supplier and purchaser participation in VCNMs and to consider embedding such approaches within guidance, policy and possible regulation, underpinned by market frameworks that can institutionalise and scale high‑integrity practices. The call for views closes on 10 July 2025. See: LNB News 17/04/2025 13. Sources: Voluntary carbon and nature markets: raising integrity; UK backs businesses to trade carbon credits and unlock...
In this issue: Lending Security Debt capital markets Derivatives Cryptoassets Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Lending Nova Leipzig Sarl v Gravity Fitness Ltd [2025] EWHC 1262 ( Comm) An application to the Commercial Court sought a stay on the basis of forum non conveniens. The court held that Gravity Fitness Limited, an English company, had not satisfied its burden on the ‘ More Appropriate Forum’ question. The defendant’s reliance on the potential application of German law was insufficient to establish that Germany was a more suitable forum than England, whether viewed from the parties’ interests or the broader interests of justice. Security Brooke Homes ( Bicester) Ltd v Portfolio Property Partners Ltd (in administration) [2025] EWHC 1305 ( Ch) This dispute examines equitable rights and duties between secured creditors after development land was sold by the...
Facts The defendant in the proceedings, Ms Lawrence, entered into a loan agreement with a lender, for whom HNW, the claimant in the matter, acted as the security agent for the lender. The purpose of the loan agreement was to help finance Ms Lawrence’s development of a property. That property was also secured separately by a legal mortgage, operating as continuing security to the lender under the loan terms. Although HNW was not itself a party to the loan agreement, the loan agreement nonetheless contained an express provision said to grant HNW certain third party rights to enforce its terms; namely, that, even though HNW Lending Ltd was not a party to this Loan Agreement, HNW Lending Ltd could take the benefit of and specifically enforce each and every express term of the Loan Agreement, together with any term implied under it pursuant to the...
In this issue: Security Debt capital markets Derivatives Technology in banking transactions Sanctions Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Security Companies and Limited Liability Partnerships ( Annotation) Regulations 2025 SI 2025/573 These Regulations set out particular circumstances in which the Registrar of Companies may, or must, annotate entries on the registers of information maintained pursuant to section 1080 of the Companies Act 2006 ( CA 2006), commonly known as the ‘company register’. They commence in part on 9 June 2025, and in full when CA 2006, s 790LA takes effect. See: LNB News 15/05/2025 Huang v Credit Suisse ( UK) Ltd [2025] EWHC 1159 ( Ch) The claimants applied for summary judgment seeking rectification of the land register by removing references to particular charges secured over properties registered in their names. The court...
In this issue: Aviation finance Derivatives Regulation for banking lawyers Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Aviation finance Celestial Aviation Trading Ireland Ltd v Volga- Dnepr Logistics BV [2025] EWHC 1156 ( Comm) The Commercial Court refused the defendant’s bid to amend an interim payment order that compelled payment of US$202m to the claimants in respect of the defendant’s liabilities under guarantees, together with £50,000 on account of their costs. The defendant instead asked to vary the order, proposing that its duty to pay would only commence once particular licences had been obtained, citing concerns about potential breaches of UK and US sanctions given that its ultimate owner is a designated person. The court concluded there was no principled justification for altering the order, noting that the sanctions ramifications were likely appreciated when the original order was granted, and that the defendant had delayed in applying for...
Bluestone Mortgages Ltd v Stoute and others [2025] EWHC 755 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling carries material consequences for creditors—particularly mortgage lenders—and those who advise them. The court confirmed that if a secured liability comprises both qualifying (moratorium) and non‑qualifying strands, any step to enforce a judgment or security, including a possession order, requires the court’s leave where any part of the balance sits within a moratorium. Read this way, the Regulations, SI 2020/1311, reg 7, give primacy to the debtor’s mental health and guard against enforcement tactics that might sidestep statutory safeguards through fine legal niceties. For practitioners, the message is to proceed with care and strict procedural discipline. Before moving to enforce, lenders should analyse the character of each element of the indebtedness, and consider applying for permission whenever moratorium debt, however small, forms part of the total sum....
In this issue Security Sustainable finance Debt capital markets Derivatives Regulation for derivatives lawyers Claims and remedies Daily and weekly news alerts Updated Practice Notes Useful information Security HM Land Registry has revised Practice Guide 29— Registration of legal charges and deeds of variation of charge. An update to section 4 now explains how to remove a note recorded in the charges register pursuant to section 859H of the Companies Act 2006. See: LNB News 06/05/2025 2. Source: Registration of legal charges and deeds of variation of charge ( PG29). Sustainable finance The European Commission has opened a call for evidence to review the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation ( EU) 2019/2088 ( EU SFDR). The initiative targets unnecessary burdens by simplifying and streamlining obligations, including easing environmental, social and governance reporting for financial market...
The rise of artificial intelligence in financial services has sparked an internal discussion at the PRA over a move away from its technology-agnostic stance, according to the regulator’s chief. To date, UK financial watchdogs have favoured technology-neutral requirements for areas like model risk oversight and operational resilience, built to span multiple tools and systems. The PRA has not yet introduced rules tailored to AI. As the chief indicated, the issue is under consideration internally and no definitive position has yet been reached......
The legislation broadly matched industry expectations, with some welcome adjustments, notably decentralised finance ( De Fi) being largely excluded from the scope and an exemption for overseas stablecoin issuers (see: Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 ( Regulated Activities and Miscellaneous Provisions) ( Cryptoassets) Order 2025, LNB News 30/04/2025 6, and News Analysis: Legislation to bring UK crypto activity within regulatory perimeter published). Finance minister Rachel Reeves also disclosed talks with US counterparts on deeper cooperation over digital assets, potentially easing anxiety among UK businesses about the United States moving ahead under crypto-friendly president Donald Trump. The Treasury said ‘clear new rules’ will boost investor confidence and protect consumers, though the 29 April 2025 announcements (a draft statutory instrument, a policy statement and a press release) sketch only the bare outline of the government’s plan. Businesses ‘should not expect this draft...
In this issue: Monthly cases round-up Sustainable finance and ESG round-up Aviation finance Sustainable finance Derivatives Regulation for banking lawyers Sanctions Daily and weekly news alerts Useful information Monthly cases round-up We will not be issuing a cases round-up for April, as we have not reported on any significant decisions of interest to Banking & Finance lawyers during the month. Sustainable finance and ESG round-up Sustainable finance and ESG monthly round–up—30 April 2025 This month’s Sustainable finance and ESG round-up from the Finance Group features: (1) the International Financial Reporting Standards ( IFRS) Foundation and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures entering a Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen nature-related disclosures across capital markets, (2) the IFRS Foundation announcing the International Sustainability Standards Board’s ( ISSB) proposed updates to IFRS S2 on greenhouse gas emissions reporting and (3) the Loan Market Association ( LMA) issuing refreshed principles for green, social and...
UK developments FCA updates webpage on sustainable finance discussion paper DP23/1 The FCA has refreshed its webpage to summarise feedback on ‘ DP23/1: Finance for Positive Sustainable Change’, first issued in February 2023. Respondents broadly endorsed the significance of sustainability topics and the themes presented in DP23/1. Since releasing DP23/1, the FCA has brought in measures addressing several of those themes, including the Consumer Duty, Sustainable Disclosure Requirements ( SDR) with labelling rules, and the Anti- Greenwashing Rule. As a result, it is not presently looking to propose further rules on the areas explored in DP23/1. Instead, the FCA will continue to champion these themes through other initiatives at home and abroad. See: LNB News 02/04/2025 49. Source: DP23/1: Finance for positive sustainable change | FCA [ Updated] HM Treasury issues guidance on best practice examples for sustainability reporting for 2023-2024 HM Treasury has released guidance on...
UK developments FCA updates webpage on sustainable finance discussion paper DP23/1 The FCA has refreshed its webpage to summarise views submitted on discussion paper ‘ DP23/1: Finance for Positive Sustainable Change’, which it originally issued in February 2023. The regulator reports that respondents were broadly supportive of the significance of sustainability issues and of themes set out in DP23/1. Since releasing DP23/1, however, the FCA notes it has already brought in measures touching several themes, including the Consumer Duty, Sustainable Disclosure Requirements ( SDR) and associated labelling, plus the Anti‑ Greenwashing Rule, and is therefore not presently minded to propose further rules on DP23/1’s themes at the present time. Instead, the FCA will keep advancing the DP23/1 themes via other initiatives, operating within the UK and through international work too. See: LNB News 02/04/2025 49. Source: DP23/1: Finance for positive sustainable change | FCA [...
Judge James Picken, sitting in the High Court, determined that Viet Jet Aviation Joint Stock Company had entered into a leasing arrangement with FW Aviation ( Holdings) 1 Ltd, a Fitz Walter Capital unit, for four Airbus aircraft worth US$111m, and did so 'with full knowledge of the nature and terms' of the transaction. He stated that for the structure, a Japanese operating lease with call option, to be workable, the carrier had to make rental payments on time. The airline is 'a sophisticated commercial actor with significant experience in aircraft financing', and it appreciates the rationale for these types of structures, Picken said. He went on to explain that early termination is 'very damaging' to the economic benefits expected by Japanese investors, therefore the termination clause provides for 'a sum compensating those investors for the reduced tax benefit and also a sum to...
Natwest Markets Nv and another company v CMIS Nederland BV and another company [2025] EWHC 37 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? The court’s ruling underscores the dangers tied to sophisticated financial deals and the premium on precise contractual wording. In substance, the court concluded that because the Deeds appeared to be indemnities (they were labelled as such) and adopted indemnity-style language, they were probably indemnities, in form and effect. The experienced professionals who prepared the documents were taken to understand the significance of those features, and accordingly these points carried considerable weight when construing the instruments. If the parties had not meant them to operate as indemnities, the drafters could, and should, have made that plain in the text. Form and language therefore played a central role in the court’s analysis. For the purposes of the questions the court was...
In this issue: Guarantees Sustainable finance Debt capital markets Derivatives No Weekly Highlights on 24 April 2025 Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Guarantees Appealing guarantees ( Jones v City Electrical Factors Ltd) The High Court dismissed an appeal from a County Court judgment that held a guarantor personally responsible for debts of about £190,000. In doing so, the court clarified when a ‘conditional payment obligation’ can amount to a ‘liquidated sum’, how such a liability engages section 267 of the Insolvency Act 1986, and the broader approach to construing commercial contract terms. This ruling, together with its analysis, is of clear significance for directors, liquidators and legal practitioners dealing with the drafting of guarantees and the robust enforcement of personal guarantees. For further insight, see News Analysis: Appealing guarantees ( Jones v City...
Seculink Ltd v Forbes [2025] EWHC 524 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment bolsters the position of secured creditors looking to enforce a debtor’s liability for the principal on a secured borrowing that has been called in, confirming that the principal itself falls outside an MHCM. As that principal is not a ‘qualifying debt’ under the Regulations, interest continues to accrue during the MHCM and remains recoverable by the creditor. The court also confirmed it has jurisdiction to decide whether a liability owed by a debtor subject to an MHCM is a ‘moratorium debt’ and therefore benefits from the MHCM. This gives creditors the ability to challenge, in court, the inclusion of their debts within an MHCM rather than being limited to the review procedure provided by the...
In this issue: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Trade and commodity finance Sustainable finance and ESG Debt capital markets Derivatives Sanctions Claims and remedies Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Companies House launches identity verification service Companies House has introduced a voluntary identity-checking service, allowing people to confirm their identity via GOV. UK One Login or through an Authorised Corporate Service Provider. The verification process is designed to enhance the accuracy and dependability of information on the companies register, giving stronger confidence about who is forming, managing, owning and controlling companies in the UK. The service will shift to a mandatory requirement from autumn 2025. Louise Smyth, Chief Executive Officer of Companies House, explained that checks for existing directors will be...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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