Summary
Welcome to the Corporate Briefing, where we review the latest developments in UK corporate law that you need to know about. In this month’s issue we discuss:
The Legal Statement applies areas of insolvency law to digital assets, providing valuable guidance on the approach English courts will take.
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA has issued a consultation about proposed changes to its Guidance for Insolvency Practitioners. The aim is to clarify existing guidance and provide more information to insolvency practitioners (IPs) on how to deal with regulated firms.
Digital assets may be new, but existing English insolvency laws and principles can deal with them. So finds the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (UKJT) in its ‘Legal Statement on Digital Assets and English Insolvency Law’, published this week.
Key takeaways include:
The FCA has now published proposed amendments to its (the IP guidance). Our previous article highlighted the significance of the Consumer Duty in the financial services industry and how firms will need to view customer outcomes and proactively address harm in the retail market.
A special administration regime for Payment and Electronic Money Institutions (PIs and EMIs) was established in The Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency Regulations 2021 (the Regulations).
In 2021, the FCA published its Guidance for IPs on how to approach regulated firms. Since then, there have been changes in the legal framework affecting firm failure, changes in the regulatory framework and changes in the UK economic climate.
The FCA is consulting on amendments to reflect these changes including:
In Re Tucker, Quintis Leasing Pty Ltd [2023] FCA 1673, the administrators of a company successfully obtained orders from the Federal Court modifying the operation of section 443B of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth).
On 30 October 2023, HM Treasury (HMT) published three documents setting out how the UK government plans to regulate cryptoassets going forward:
On 30 October 2023, HM Treasury (“HMT”) published 3 key updates on its proposed approach to regulating cryptoassets under the UK’s financial services regulatory framework, namely: