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Push to reform Secured Transactions law following new ‘Code’ discussions

A new law of secured transactions is one step closer after lawyers and legal academics met to discuss reforming the law.

    Lawyers and legal academics met to discuss reforming the law

    At a recent conference organised by Nottingham Law School, the City of London Law Society (CLLS) and University College London and hosted by Norton Rose Fulbright LLP, senior City practitioners and academics as well as representatives from the English and Scottish Law Commissions met to discuss the draft Secured Transactions Code produced by the CLLS.

    English law is widely used in international financial transactions and, in the light of Brexit, there is a fresh impetus to create a new law of secured transactions based on the existing law but simplified and modernised: something the Code can achieve.

    The purpose of the conference was to build on earlier discussions on secured transactions reform with the sessions drawing on the work of the Secured Transactions Law Reform Project and the CLLS in seeking to identify where consensus can be found.

    The Code changes and codifies the law in as clear and straightforward a way as possible and retains the flexibility of the current law – important in enabling the Code to give effect to changing commercial practices. Key provisions include the removal of the distinction between fixed and floating charges; the creation of a charge at the point of registration; and the simplification of the priorities rules as between chargees.

    Dr Paula Moffatt, Associate Professor and Director of External Engagement at Nottingham Law School, said: “Post-Brexit, we need to make clear to the world that we have a modern and clearly understandable English law secured transactions regime that is ‘best in class’ to encourage inward investment.

    “However, it is a complex task and there are many areas of real difficulty that must be addressed as part of the process.  The English law of secured transactions, as it is currently understood, is not a discrete set of rules; it cuts across the legal foundations of contract, trusts and land law as well as company, insolvency and property law.

    “The good news is that most of the thinking about how the English law of secured transactions should be reformed has already been done by the Law Commission, the Project and the CLLS. Much of this work demonstrates a common understanding of the underlying jurisprudence, supplemented by a desire to modernise and improve the existing law.”

    Following the conference, a revised version of the Code will be produced with a view to a second meeting later in the year.  This second iteration will then be used as a base line position from which to work towards legislative reform.

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      About Nottingham Trent University

      Nottingham Trent University (NTU) was named University of the Year 2019 in the Guardian University Awards. The award was based on performance and improvement in the Guardian University Guide, retention of students from low-participation areas and attainment of BME students. NTU was also the Times Higher Education University of the Year 2017, and The Times and Sunday Times Modern University of the Year 2018. These awards recognise NTU for its high levels of student satisfaction, its quality of teaching, its engagement with employers, and its overall student experience.

      The university has been rated Gold in the Government’s Teaching Excellence Framework – the highest ranking available.

      It is one of the largest UK universities. With nearly 32,000 students and more than 4,000 staff located across four campuses, the University contributes £900m to the UK economy every year. With an international student population of more than 3,000 from around 100 countries, the University prides itself on its global outlook

      The university is passionate about creating opportunities and its extensive outreach programme is designed to enable NTU to be a vehicle for social mobility. NTU is among the UK’s top five recruiters of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. A total of 82% of its graduates go on to graduate entry employment or graduate entry education or training within six months of leaving. Student satisfaction is high: NTU achieved an 88% satisfaction score in the 2018 National Student Survey.

      NTU is also one of the UK’s most environmentally friendly universities, containing some of the sector’s most inspiring and efficient award-winning buildings.

      NTU is home to world-class research, and won The Queen’s Anniversary Prize in 2015 – the highest national honour for a UK university. It recognised the University’s pioneering projects to improve weapons and explosives detection in luggage; enable safer production of powdered infant formula; and combat food fraud.

    Published on 9 May 2019
    • Subject area: Law, criminology and justice
    • Category: Press office; Nottingham Law School