Loan market and developments Please provide a brief overview of the current state of the loan markets in your jurisdiction and any significant recent market developments The British Virgin Islands (BVI) does not have a commercial loan market as such and any lending into the territory that forms the subject of this guide would be provided by a non-BVI lender. Typically a BVI company acting as a borrower would borrow from any of the world's major financial centres and would also utilise its facilities outside the BVI. Currently the bulk of the lending that the jurisdiction is seeing is provided by European, Asian and North American lenders. Balance sheet lending and asset finance have historically been the largest sectors for the jurisdiction, but global market conditions have also seen a marked increase in restructurings and work-outs. Please provide a brief overview of forthcoming changes to the law or other matters that may affect the loan markets or the responses to the questions below There

Law360: The Court of Appeal on 2 December 2024 upheld the Employment Appeal Tribunal’s (EAT) decision to overturn an Employment Tribunal's ruling that a regulator discriminated against a British actuary by giving preferential treatment to Indian nationals.

Law 360: A court ruled on 12 September 2019 that Cynergy Bank Ltd does not have to pay interest on a £30m ($37m) loan it took out with Cyprus-based Lamesa Investments Ltd while US sanctions targeting the company's ultimate Russian owner remain in place.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) has brought bribery charges against British businessman Zuneth Sattar following an investigation into international corruption involving senior Malawian officials. In a Westminster Magistrates Court, Sattar—born in Malawi in 1981—faces 18 charges and is accused of paying up to $US50,000 in bribes to public officials between December 2020 and September 2021 to secure public contracts worth $US56m for anti-riot gear, food ration packs, and armoured personnel carriers. Anti-corruption charity Spotlight on Corruption and Malawian NGO Youth and Society have called on the UK and the government of Malawi to enhance accountability measures by intensifying investigations and protecting anti-corruption advocates. The charge sheet lists several high-ranking Malawian figures, including the late vice president Saulos Chilima and the president’s former chief of staff, Prince Kapondamgaga, among others in public procurement, law enforcement, and anti-corruption agencies. Sattar has been released on conditional bail, subject to a travel ban and a £2m surety, with the next court hearing scheduled at Southwark Crown Court on 26 June 2025.

This Practice Note discusses the powers of the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) to deprive a person of British citizenship status or to declare the status a nullity. It also covers the procedure for deprivation of citizenship, the effects it has on the subject and their family members, appeal rights and relevant case law. Legislative framework and guidance The SSHD’s powers to deprive a person of their citizenship status are found in section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981 (BNA 1981). Under section 40(1), British citizens, British Overseas Territories citizens, British Overseas Citizens, British Nationals (Overseas), British Protected Persons and British subjects are all liable to deprivation of their citizenship status where the conditions of the section are met. Under BNA 1981, s 43, the exercise of powers to deprive British Overseas Territories citizens and British Nationals (Overseas) of their nationality in a British overseas territory is delegated, with the SSHD’s prior approval, to the Governor of each territory. In the Channel

Law360: Britain has pulled out of Europe's new patent litigation system, but UK law firms have not stood on the sidelines. The country's intellectual property experts have been major players in the court, setting up shop in Dublin and teaming up with patent lawyers.

The Home Office has announced that, Trevor Saker, who smuggled migrant children as young as one into the UK in his van, has been sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court. Saker was found guilty of assisting the unlawful immigration of 14 people, and was sentenced to four years' imprisonment. The migrants were identified as Iraqi and Albanian nationals, after Border Force officers stopped Saker's rental van at Coquelles, France, in July 2018. Saker was caught following an investigation by the Home Office’s Criminal and Financial Investigations Unit.

Law360: The UK pensions industry has thrown its support behind a sweeping review designed to plug a growing advice gap among workers approaching retirement.

When negotiating, drafting and performing ‘endeavours’ obligations, parties should take note of the findings of the Court of Appeal in Jet2.com Limited v Blackpool Airport Limited [2012] All ER (D) 24 (Apr) and the potential risks of agreeing to vague but broad obligations. Whilst such a clause may seem innocuous, Jet2 demonstrates that it can result in unintended consequences.

Law360: The pension sector is set for a period of relative stability as the three main political parties this week unveiled manifestos that revealed more consensus than disagreement.

A descriptive term for high bandwidth services or connections. Broadband is commonly considered to be Internet access with a minimum capacity of greater or equal to 256 kbit/s in one or both directions. Fixed broadband is implemented through technologies such as digital subscriber line (DSL), cable modem, fibre to the home (FTTH), metro Ethernet, wireless local area networks (WLAN), etc. Mobile broadband is implemented through technologies such as wideband CDMA, HSDPA, CDMA 1xEV-DO, etc.

A wireline technology that is able to use the current electricity networks for data and voice transmission.