Online | Problems with Secured Transactions

About this course

Finance is the lifeblood of business, and most businesses find it easier and cheaper to raise finance if they can provide security.

Some of the most difficult legal problems in banking and finance are concerned with security. Should I take a mortgage, a charge, a pledge or an assignment? Is my charge floating, and why does it matter? What assets can be charged, and what liabilities secured? How can I enforce my security? Am I protected from competing creditors? What happens if the chargor becomes insolvent?

The purpose of this course is to examine the key problems which arise in practice in relation to secured transactions and to discuss how best to deal them. The law of security is part of the law of property: it is concerned with the creation of proprietary interests in assets. But it cannot be understood without an understanding of insolvency law: we take security because of the risk of insolvency. The conceptual background to the course is therefore property law and insolvency law, but they need to be understood in the light of the way in which security is taken in practice.

This course is primarily intended for lawyers who are concerned with the taking or granting of security - whether they are transactional lawyers, insolvency lawyers or litigators, and whether they are in private practice or in-house. It should also be of interest to non-lawyers who are involved with secured transactions.

The course will be interactive, with plenty of opportunity for questions, comments and discussion.

The course will run from 26th to 30th June from 9:30 until 12:15. It will be divided into ten seminars  - two each morning, with a break between.

What is covered and when:

Monday 26th June
What type of security should I take?
Does my transaction need to be registered?

Tuesday 27th June
How should I draft the charging clause?
How should I draft the secured obligations clause?

Wednesday 28th June
Should I be worried about priorities?
How can I enforce my security?

Thursday 29th June
What can go wrong on an insolvency?
How should I take security over contracts?

Friday 30th June
Will my guarantee work?
How can foreign laws affect my security?

About the tutor

Richard Calnan is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright LLP in London and a Visiting Professor at University College London.

He is the author of Taking Security (LexisNexis, fourth edition 2018), Proprietary Rights and Insolvency (Oxford University Press, second edition 2016) and Principles of Contractual Interpretation (Oxford University Press, second edition 2017). His book on Principles of Statutory Interpretation is due to be published by Oxford University Press later in 2022.

Delivery and recordings

This course will be held using Zoom. You will be sent the zoom meeting details one week before the start of the course, with reminders on the day of the session.

Each session will be recorded so that if you miss a session you will have 30 days to catch up.

Fees and how to book your place

Standard Fee: £650
Group Standard Fee: £600
UCL Alumni: £550
Goverment legal / Academic / NGOs: £350
Non-UCL Students: £150

To make corporate bookings for this course and be invoiced, please email lisa.penfold@ucl.ac.uk

Book your place