The House of Lords has established a Special Public Bill Committee to examine the Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill [HL], which seeks to legislate on the types of things capable of being objects of personal property rights. The Committee has issued a call for evidence, inviting stakeholders to submit their views on the Bill's provisions. This presents a significant opportunity for legal experts and interested parties to contribute to the development of this potentially groundbreaking legislation. The deadline for submitting written evidence is set for 20 December 2024, allowing ample time for thorough consideration and response from the legal community and other relevant sectors.

The Special Public Bill Committee has issued a call for evidence on the Arbitration Bill. The Committee has been established by the House of Lords to take written and oral evidence on the Bill before it is considered. The Committee is seeking views on seven different matters including whether the proposed reforms by the Bill achieve what they are intended to, the impact the reforms are likely to have on the arbitration market in the UK and London, and whether certain provisions as drafted as sufficiently clear. The deadline for submitted evidence is 6 February 2024.

A new company incorporated to identify and acquire or merge with a suitable business opportunity or opportunities. Usually a SPAC will raise money in an IPO and use the cash resources to identify acquisition opportunities, finance due diligence costs and fund or part fund the consideration for an acquisition. Although there is no definition of a SPAC in the Listing Rules, such a company would fall within LR 5.6.5A (2). Under the AIM Rules, a SPAC falls within the definition of an investing company.

Restructuring & Insolvency analysis: The High Court gave approval to the first distribution plan in respect of a special administration under the Payment and Electronic Money Institution Insolvency Regulations 2021. Xpress is an authorised payment institution (API) that was the second such company to enter into special administration under the Regulations. As an API, Xpress was required to safeguard funds that it received in connection with certain payment transactions in one of two ways—either by segregating ‘relevant funds’ or holding a policy of insurance that mimics the segregation option. The intention was that funds should be available for distribution to certain types of creditors in the event that the company became insolvent. After an extensive contact exercise, safeguarded funds remained in the special administrators’ hands, and there was no real prospect of claims to those assets by creditors entitled to them. The court made provision allowing the special administrators to conclude the administration and to distribute the remaining safeguarded assets. Written by Michael Gibbon KC and Ryan Turner of Maitland Chambers.

Why these Regulations were introduced The 2007 financial crisis, marked notably by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, highlighted the severe impact which the failure of significant financial institutions may have on the economy. In response, the Investment Bank Special Administration Regulations 2011 (the Regulations), SI 2011/245 came into force on 8 February 2011 pursuant to powers contained in the Banking Act 2009 (BA 2009). The Investment Bank Special Administration (England and Wales) Rules 2011 (the Rules), SI 2011/1301 came into effect on 30 June 2011. Following the Bloxham review (see below) and a consultation in 2016, HM Treasury published the Investment Bank (Amendment of Definition) and Special Administration (Amendment) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/443 (effective from 6 April 2017 onwards) to update the Regulations. These regulations: • make it easier for an administrator to transfer client assets • strengthen the bar date mechanism • provide that client money claimants cannot claim interest from the general estate except in respect of any shortfall which they would have had if they had made a claim on the

Recent reforms In September 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced a consultation on proposed rule changes to strengthen safeguarding practices for payments and e-money firms—’CP24/20: Changes to the safeguarding regime for payments and e-money firms’. The FCA proposed making changes in two stages: (i) ‘interim rules’ (or the Supplementary Regime) to encourage greater compliance with existing safeguarding requirements, support more consistent record keeping and strengthening reporting and monitoring requirements, and (ii) ‘end-state rules’ (or the Post-Repeal Regime) which would replace the safeguarding requirements in the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (EMRs 2011), SI 2011/99 and Payment Services Regulations 2017 (PSRs 2017), SI 2017/752 with a Client Assets Sourcebook (CASS) style regime (including a new statutory trust over relevant funds, see further below). The consultation was in response to growing concerns over poor safeguarding practices in the rapidly expanding payments and e-money sector (see: LNB News 25/09/2024 28 and News Analysis: FCA’s broad proposals aim to protect customer funds). In relation to the Supplementary Regime, in August 2025, the FCA issued its Policy

Background to the energy supply company special administration regime The government introduced a special administration regime (SAR) for energy supply companies in the Energy Act 2011 (EnA 2011) (adopting and varying certain provisions of the Energy Act 2004 (EA 2004)). The SAR was introduced as part of a series of measures in EnA 2011 to improve energy security and to ensure that gas and electricity continue to be supplied as cost effectively as possible in the event that a large gas and electricity supply company becomes insolvent and no buyer can be found. The government further introduced the Energy Supply Company Administration Rules 2013 (ESCAR 2013), SI 2013/1046 to set out the technical rules of procedure for energy supply company administrations (ESCA). The ESCAR 2013, SI 2013/1046 mirror the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 1986, SI 1986/1925 and depart from them only where necessary to accommodate the special provisions of ESCA. A special administration regime for gas transportation and electricity transmission and distribution companies

Special administration regimes A special administration regime (SAR) is a modified insolvency procedure that gives an administrator special objectives. SARs often exist where the industry provides a statutory or public service or supply function, such as water or energy, and the continuity of the critical service is particularly important or important to the stability of the economy. The special objectives of the administrator usually prioritise the continued supply of the service or supply or require consultation with the relevant regulator (eg the Financial Conduct Authority) or the safeguarding of certain assets (eg client assets in the case on investment bank special administration). This Practice Note identifies some of the main SARs that exist in England and Wales and sets out the key legislation which governs each one. The legislation which governs each regime usually consists of an act (for example, the Energy Act 2011 (EnA 2011)) which is supported by procedural rules (for example, the Energy Supply Company Special Administration Rules 2013, SI 2013/1046). For a number of the regimes which came into force before the

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [company name] Date of special administration [date] Client’s details: [enter details] Name: [enter name] Client account number: [account number] Address: [enter address] Email address: [enter email address] Gross amount due to client at date of special administration order: [amount] Account number Original currency of the claim Value of claim: (a) in the original currency (b) in sterling (GBP), £ Amount of claim for voting purposes (sterling) £ Note: There is no requirement to complete this form if you have already agreed your final statement or submitted a Final Statement Query Form. Signature

[company name] Date of special administration [date] Creditor’s name and address [name, address and registered number] Gross amount due to creditor at date of special administration order [inclusive of VAT]: £ If the total amount above includes outstanding uncapitalised interest please state amount: Deduct: (a) any subsequent payment on account (b) any subsequent credit notes (c) the estimated value of any security

[INSERT NAME OF INVESTMENT BANK] Minutes of a meeting of the board of directors of [insert name of investment bank] (the ‘Company’) held at [insert location] on [month][year] at [time]am/pm. PRESENT: NAME POSITION ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ IN ATTENDANCE: NAME POSITION ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ [APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE RECEIVED FROM: ................................ ................................] 1 Chairperson [Name] was appointed chairperson of the meeting. 2 Notice and quorum The chairperson reported that due notice of the meeting had been given and that a quorum was present. Accordingly, the chairperson declared the meeting open. 3 Declarations of interest 3.1 Each director present [declared their interest in the

Court Reference No:[ INSERT COURT REF. NUMBER] [ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE BUSINESS AND PROPERTY DIVISION INSOLVENCY AND COMPANIES LIST, ROLLS BUILDING, LONDON OR IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE BUSINESS AND PROPERTY DIVISION INSOLVENCY AND COMPANIES LIST IN [insert location] OR IN THE COUNTY COURT AT [INSERT LOCATION] BUSINESS AND PROPERTY WORK ] THE HONOURABLE [INSERT TITLE, EG MR, MRS] JUSTICE [INSERT NAME] [Insert date] IN THE MATTER OF [INSERT Investment Bank NAME] AND IN THE MATTER OF THE INSOLVENCY ACT 1986 AND IN THE MATTER OF THE INVESTMENT BANK SPECIAL ADMINISTRATION REGULATIONS 2011 ORDER UPON THE APPLICATION dated [insert the date of the application] of: (1) [insert Investment Bank name] (in special administration) (“the Investment Bank”) as trustee of the Client Money Trust as defined below and (2) the joint special administrators of the Investment Bank whose registered office is situated at [insert registered office address] made pursuant to rule 146(2) of the Investment Bank Special Administration (England and Wales) Rules 2011 AND UPON HEARING [insert title, eg leading] counsel for the joint special administrators AND UPON READING the application and the evidence IT IS ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT: 1 The definitions in Regulation 2 of the Investment Bank Special