The law of personal property covers a very wide spectrum of scenarios and, unfortunately, has had little detailed scrutiny of its overarching structure over the years. It is a system and can best be understood as a system. Indeed, without understanding it as a system, it becomes much more difficult to comprehend. The second edition of this acclaimed textbook continues to provide a comprehensive yet detailed coverage of the law of personal property in England and Wales. It includes transfer of legal title to chattels, the nemo dat rule, negotiable instruments and assignment of choses in action. It also looks at defective transfers of property and the resulting proprietary claims, including those contingent on tracing, the tort of conversion, bailment and security interests. By bringing together areas often scattered throughout company law, commercial law, trusts and tort textbooks, it enables readers to see common themes and issues and to make otherwise impossible generalisations across different contexts about the nature of the concepts English law applies. Throughout the book, concepts are explained rigorously, with reference to how they are used in commercial practice and everyday life. The new edition also includes a new chapter on secured transactions law reform, and introduces new material on the Cape Town Convention, IP rights and other intangible property. The book will be of primary interest to academics and practitioners in the area. However, it will also be of use to students studying commercial or personal property law.

The second edition of this acclaimed book continues to provide a discussion of key theoretical and policy issues in corporate finance law. Fully updated, it reflects developments in the law and the markets in the continuing aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis. One of its distinctive features is that it gives equal coverage to both the equity and debt sides of corporate finance law, and seeks, where possible, to compare the two. This book covers a broad range of topics regarding the debt and equity-raising choices of companies of all sizes, from SMEs to the largest publicly traded enterprises, and the mechanisms by which those providing capital are protected. Each chapter analyses the present law critically so as to enable the reader to understand the difficulties, risks and tensions in this area of law, and the attempts made by the legislature and the courts, as well as the parties involved, to deal with them. This book will be of interest to practitioners, academics and students engaged in the practice and study of corporate finance law.

With the completion of the DTI-sponsored Company Law Review, the reform of company law has now become a very important subject of study. This new book is a must for all those interested in the development and reform of UK company law. The book collates the work of leading authorities on company law, including members of the judiciary and the Law Commission, and individuals from the worlds of professional practice and academia. All main areas of company law are covered, including directors' duties; corporate governance; minority protection; ultra vires; company charges; and human rights and the company, as well as a comprehensive analysis of the work of the Company Law Reform Steering Group. The central purpose of this book is to analyze the current state of play and to note, in particular, the work of the Company Law Review Group. Critical analysis and suggestions on how company law should be reformed are also offered.

Secured transactions law has been subjected to a close scrutiny over the last two decades. One of the main reasons for this is the importance of availability of credit and the consequent need to reform collateral laws in order to improve access to finance. The ability to give security effectively influences not only the cost of credit but also, in some cases, whether credit will be available at all. This requires rules that are transparent and readily accessible to non-lawyers as well as rules that recognise the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises. This book critically engages with the challenges posed by inefficient secured credit laws. It offers a comparative analysis of the reasons and the needs for a secured transactions law reform, as well as discussion of the steps taken in many common law, civil law and mixed law jurisdictions. The book, written under the auspices of the Secured Transactions Law Reform Project, informs the debate about reform and advances novel arguments written by world renowned experts that will build upon the existing literature, and as such will be of interest to academics, legal practitioners and the judiciary involved in secured transactions law around the world. The text considers reform initiatives that have taken place up to the end of April 2016. It has not been possible to incorporate events since then into the discussion. However, notable developments include the banks decree passed by the Italian Government on 29th June 2016, and the adoption of the Model Law on Secured Transactions by UNCITRAL on 1st July 2016.

Personal property security is an important subject in commercial practice, as it is the key to much of the law of banking and sale. This second edition has been fully updated and expanded to cover all important issues and changes within this highly complex area of law. It explains traditional methods of securing debts (such as mortgages, charges, and pledges) on property other than land, describing how these are created, how they must be registered (or otherwise 'perfected') if they are to be valid, the rights and duties of the parties, and how the security is enforced if the debt is not paid. The new edition includes an expanded section on priorities in which it explains how 'priority' disputes between competing interests over the same property are resolved. In addition the book covers the law governing other transactions that perform a similar economic function (such as finance leases, retention of title clauses, and sales of a company's book debts). These are not currently treated by the law as security and are therefore subject to different rules on perfection, priority, and enforcement. There is much expansion of the discussion relating to enforcement including the issue of 'right of use' following Lehman, more analysis on administration and all forms of non-possessory security and quasi-security, and a new chapter on enforcement of security addressing the right of appropriation under FC/FCAR and the Cukurova case. The conflict of laws section includes developments under the Rome I Regulation affecting assignment issues, the UNIDROIT Convention 2009 in relation to tiered holdings and the Cape Town Convention's extensions made to coverage of asset-backed security over equipment. It also addresses the changes brought about by the abolition of Slavenburg registration. This edition contains relevant points from the Banking Act 2009 concerning its impact on security, such as the power to protect certain interests on a transfer of property, and also considers amendments regarding liquidators' expenses under the Insolvency Rules. The authors additionally deal with the role of step-in rights and why they are part of the statutory definition of project finance in the Enterprise Act. Previously published as The Law of Personal Property Security, this new edition brings together all of the law on this complex area, providing guidance in the context of commercial practice, especially with increased coverage of conflict of laws, priority, insolvency, and enforcement.

This collection of essays offers a unique insight and overview of the secured transactions law in many of the most important countries in Asia, as well as reflections on the need for, benefits of and challenges for reform in this area of the law. The book provides a mixture of general reflections on the history, successes and challenges of secured transaction law reform, and critical discussion of the law in a number of Asian countries. In some of the countries, the law has already been reformed, or reform is under way, and here the reforms are considered critically, with recommendations for future work. In other countries, the law is not yet reformed, and the existing law is analysed so as to determine what reform is desirable, and whether it is likely to take place. First, this book will enable those engaging with the law in Asia to understand better the contours of the law in both civil and common law jurisdictions. Second, it provides analytical insights into why secured transactions law reform happens or does not happen, the different methods by which reform takes place, the benefits of reform and the difficulties that need to be overcome for successful reform. Third, it discusses the need for reform where none has yet taken place and critically assesses the reforms which have already been enacted or are being considered. In addition to providing a forum for discussion in relation to the countries in question, this book is also a timely contribution to the wider debate on secured transactions law reform which is taking place around the world.

This book examines an enactment that reforms Nigeria’s personal property security law by adopting the unitary system of secured transactions in replacement of the common law system. With the unitary system widely acclaimed for enhancing access to credit for small business entities, the book highlights the drawbacks of the enactment in the attainment of this objective. Being the foremost Nigerian book on the unitary system, it is a significant text for all stakeholders in the credit system within and outside Nigeria, including law academics, practitioners, students and financial regulators. It will interest those in countries that are intent on undergoing similar reform as it provides guidance on the unique features of the unitary system in contrast with those of the common law. In the spirit of reform, the book compares the Nigerian enactment to other similar enactments to highlight potential lessons in areas in which the Nigerian enactment appears to have lost traction.This book examines an enactment that reforms Nigeria’s personal property security law by adopting the unitary system of secured transactions in replacement of the common law system. With the unitary system widely acclaimed for enhancing access to credit for small business entities, the book highlights the drawbacks of the enactment in the attainment of this objective. Being the foremost Nigerian book on the unitary system, it is a significant text for all stakeholders in the credit system within and outside Nigeria, including law academics, practitioners, students and financial regulators. It will interest those in countries that are intent on undergoing similar reform as it provides guidance on the unique features of the unitary system in contrast with those of the common law. In the spirit of reform, the book compares the Nigerian enactment to other similar enactments to highlight potential lessons in areas in which the Nigerian enactment appears to have lost traction.

Personal property security is an important subject in commercial practice as it is the key to much of the law of banking and sale. This book examines traditional methods of securing debts (such as mortgages, charges and pledges as well as so-called 'quasi-security') on property other than land, describing how these are created, how they must be registered (or otherwise 'perfected') if they are to be valid, the rights and duties of the parties and how the security is enforced if the debt is not paid. This fourth edition has been updated to incorporate recent political and legal developments, including Brexit. The 'Edinburgh Reforms', which have followed the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, promise a thorough overhaul of the consumer credit regime. The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 potentially affects the interpretation of EU assimilated law, including the Financial Collateral Arrangements (No2) Regulations (FCARs). This edition further assesses the implications of the Business Contract Terms (Assignment of Receivables) Regulations 2018, taking pledges over electronic documents of title in the light of the Electronic Trade Documents Act 2023, the outlawing of 'ipso facto' clauses by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020, and the reduced scope of the EU Insolvency Regulation. The treatment of insolvency matters within the framework of the Cape Town Convention is also considered, as are recent cases on pledges of bills of lading when the carrier no longer has possession of the goods, the distinction between fixed and floating charges, equitable liens and the right of appropriation of financial collateral. There is a full discussion of the taking of security over digital assets and the relevance of the FCARs. The only full-length treatment covering both traditional security over personal property and also devices that fulfil a similar economic function, such as retention of title and sales of receivables, The Law of Security and Title-Based Financing is a frequently-cited and indispensable reference work both for practitioners and academics.

This book examines systematically the current systems of secured lending in China and Hong Kong, where companies or individuals offer personal property as security for credit advanced by a lender. Valid and enforceable security reduces the risk to the lender and so lowers the cost of credit to the borrower. However, the Hong Kong system, being largely derived from English law, is highly complex and in need of root-and-branch reform. The forces of inaction have triumphed and valuable opportunities to create a modern, rational and efficient system have been squandered. In China, on the other hand, a completely new system has been created in the last twenty years which, whilst it has various problems and defects, has some notable advantages over the common law equivalent found in Hong Kong.