Charles Kerrigan

Partner, CMS

The Blockchain Industry Landscape Overview in 2018 named Charles as one of the UK’s leading influencers on blockchain. He is the UK’s “recommended lawyer” for blockchain and digital technology in the UK Parliament Hub.

He is a lawyer specialising in finance and technology. He works on corporate finance and venture capital fundraising transactions for companies, funds, platforms and financial institutions. He works on consulting projects on blockchain, digital assets, AI and automation/transformation for public bodies, policy makers, standards institutions and corporations.

Charles sits on the Bank of England’s Financial Markets Law Committee on Virtual Currencies; he is a board member of the Innovators Board at the Big Innovation Centre, named Think Tank of the Year 2019.

He sits on the advisory boards of the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Artificial Intelligence (APPG AI) and the UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Blockchain (APPG Blockchain).

In November 2019 Charles was a Special Consultee to the UK LawTech Delivery Panel’s Legal Statement on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts. In summer 2020 he was an expert consultant to the UNCITRAL group on legal issues related to the digital economy.

He was a panellist and moderator at the LMA Fintech and Annual Conferences and the ISDA Technology Conference in 2019. He presented at the City University seminar: Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies, Economics, Finance and Law; and at the Future of Finance: Tokenised Assets, London.

He is Chair of the Technology Working Group of the Association of Real Estate Funds.

In the last 12 months Charles worked on some of the largest TMT M&A transactions in Europe; over 30 funding transactions involving IP and intangible assets as the primary collateral; multiple online platform financings; over 25 blockchain and tokenisation projects.

He lectures on these topics, including at LSE, UCL and City University.

Books:

Practical Lending and Security Precedents - General Editor (Sweet and Maxwell, 2020)
Growing with Blockchain (Co-author, Novaro Publishing, 2020)
The Financing of Intangible Assets, TMT Finance and Emerging Technologies (Butterworths, 2019)
Responsible AI (Co-author, ILTA, 2019)
Cash Pooling and Insolvency: A Practical Global Handbook (Globe 2012)

Press and Journals:

The Times; The Guardian; City AM; Journal of International Banking and Financial Law; Bloomberg UK Financial Services Law Journal; E-Finance and Payments Law and Policy; Financier Worldwide; International Accountant.

Recent Feature Articles:

Artificial Intelligence and Equity; Artificial Intelligence and Uncertainty; Artificial Intelligence and Fallibility, a series (JIBFL 2018/19)
Laws and Legal principles relating to Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies: A Taxonomy (JIBFL 2019)
Tokenisation and Digital Assets: Blockchain in Capital Raising (JIBFL 2020)

Contributed to

3

Taking security over intellectual property—practical points

Practice Notes

This Practice Note deals with the interrelationship between the law relating to security and the law relating to IP. It is increasingly recognised that all businesses own and use IP of some kind. Lenders in sectors which include IP-rich businesses are focusing increasingly on ensuring that their security captures the value of this IP. The law relating to security over IP is uncertain, and lenders must manage their way through the uncertainty. In addition, security over IP rights may be costly to put in place and difficult to enforce.

English law legal opinion—assumptions checklist

Checklists

This Checklist sets out the principal assumptions which are typically found in legal opinions issued on loan transactions. It assumes that the transaction documentation will be governed by English law and that the borrower is incorporated in England and Wales. However, the Checklist also includes assumptions which are typically included in an English law legal opinion where either the transaction documentation (or some of it) and the borrower are incorporated overseas. Where relevant, it cross refers to the relevant provision in the Precedent legal opinion letter.

Banking & Finance

English law legal opinion—qualifications checklist

Checklists

This Checklist sets out the principal qualifications which are typically found in legal opinions issued on loan transactions. it assumes that the transaction documentation will be governed by English law and that the borrower is incorporated in England and Wales. However, the Checklist also includes qualifications which are typically included in and English law legal opinion where either the transaction documentation (or some of it) and the borrower are incorporated overseas.

Banking & Finance