Monthly Archives: March 2021

Visa & Paypal announce changes supporting cryptocurrency transactions

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Christopher Wilsher

There have been two very important announcements in the digital assets space made over the past 24 hours: Firstly, owing to increasing demand from consumers, Visa will soon allow transactions to be settled in the cryptocurrency USD Coin (USDC). Traditionally, …

Posted in Shorter Reads | Tagged blockchain, Ethereum, Litecoin, paypal | Comments Off

When the subsidies move out, private equity moves in

Posted on March 26, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Governments are running out of money. There is no magic money tree, and it is obvious that soon the support that has been provided to prop up struggling businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic will start to taper away. Businesses that …

Posted in Longer Reads | Tagged investment, pandemic, Private Equity | Comments Off

Ministry of Justice releases its Quarterly Family Court Statistics

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

“As predicted, Lockdown has led to an increase (5%) in the number of divorce cases started in the last quarter of 2020. This is not, though, quite the catastrophic rise predicted by some, with many couples probably holding off from …

Posted in Shorter Reads | Tagged covid19, divorce, domestic violence, lockdown, pandemic | Comments Off

‘Tax Day’ – government continues its campaign to tackle non-compliance

Posted on March 24, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Promoters of tax avoidance schemes HM Treasury’s reminder that the so-called “tax gap” is at a record low of 4.7% (of which tax avoidance only counts for £1.7bn – approximately 5.5% of the total) is timely and welcome. HMRC has …

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Restructuring Plans under Part 26A of the Companies Act 2006 are insolvency proceedings under the Lugano Convention

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Restructuring Plans Restructuring Plans were inserted into the Companies Act 2006 last year by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020. They are based on schemes of arrangement (under Part 26 of the Companies Act), which were already in existence. …

Posted in Longer Reads | Tagged brexit, CIGA, insolvency, lugano convention, restructuring plans | Comments Off

The NFT revolution in the covid-era

Posted on March 17, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have been around for a while, but in the Covid-era as more cultural experiences are migrating online, we are now seeing a far greater take-up amongst ordinary consumers. In simple terms, an NFT represents provable ownership rights …

Posted in Shorter Reads | Tagged art, blockchain, cryptoart, NFTs | Comments Off

How the US and UK tax systems work together

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Unlike most other jurisdictions worldwide, the US levies tax on its citizens irrespective of whether they live in the US. This means that a UK resident US citizen is often exposed to both US and UK tax simultaneously. The extent …

Posted in Longer Reads | Tagged FT Adviser, Meghan and Harry, UK tax, US citizens UK, US UK tax | Comments Off

A post-Brexit guide to UK-Swiss disputes

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

The Brexit transition period ended on December 31, 2020 (“Exit Day”)[i]. Since January 1, 2021, the Courts of England and Wales are no longer covered by the EU rules for establishing jurisdiction and for mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments …

Posted in Longer Reads | Tagged brexit, cross-border disputes, EU, switzerland | Comments Off

How to take steps to offset climate litigation risks

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Heightened public interest and concern for environmental issues creates opportunities for businesses, including financial services firms, looking to align themselves with that sentiment. Environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has grown exponentially recently, and a range of funds and financial …

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Corporate residence of subsidiaries: Court of Appeal decision provides more questions than answers

Posted on March 11, 2021 by Alice Heathfield

Though the CA judges unanimously agreed that the UT’s reasons for overturning the FTT decision were flawed, the judges disagreed on whether the FTT decision might have been wrong for other reasons – an issue that was strictly out of …

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