17. Payment cards and electronic money

This chapter focuses on the use of payment cards in commercial transactions, taking into account traditional credit and debit cards and also the more modern contactless instruments, including smartphones, which has been made increasingly available through mobile payment technology. This chapter begins with a discussion of the main types of payment card in general circulation in the UK, including credit (and charge) cards, debit cards, ATM cards, and multifunctional cards. It then considers contractual networks and the regulation of contractual relationships and finally liability for unauthorised transactions and connected lender liability.

10. Leaseholds and Commonhold

This chapter begins by considering leases, dealing with leases when acting for a lessee or lender, liability on covenants in leases, and lease variations. It then discusses new leases, existing leases, statutes and leases, and the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.

What’s the lender liability risk for soil pollution in the People’s Republic of China? An evaluation of China’s new Soil Pollution and Control Law in the light of the USA and UK regimes

On 1 January 2019, following a presidential order confirming its adoption by the Fifth Session of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Soil Pollution and Control 2019 (SPC) was introduced into law. Succinctly, the SPC was enacted to deal with the vast amount of soil pollution that currently exists in China. This article’s central thesis is that, following a comparative analysis of the regulatory regimes in the USA and UK, the law creates environment-related risks for lenders. In particular, the article is concerned with the risk of lender liability, that is, where the lender itself is made directly liable for the costs of soil pollution remediation. In light of the USA and UK regimes, risk management advice is provided for obviating any prospective lender liability that may be forthcoming from the SPC. As with the regulations in other countries, it appears that the degree of ‘control’ that lenders exercise over their clients must be limited to mitigate the possible transference of any direct liability under the PRC’s principles of property rights law.

10. Leaseholds and commonhold

This chapter begins by considering leases, dealing with leases when acting for a lessee or lender, liability on covenants in leases, and lease variations. It then discusses new leases, existing leases, statutes and leases, and the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002.

4. Banks and finance

This chapter focuses on the other core function of the banking business alongside taking in deposits from customers: lending. The traditional forms of lending include overdrafts, fixed-term loans, and syndicated loans. An overdraft generally involves an extension of credit by a bank to its customer via the customer’s current account. A fixed-term loan, as the name suggests, is a loan made for a fixed period of time. Meanwhile, a syndicated loan involves two or more banks that each contributes towards making a single loan to a borrower. The chapter then considers lender liability and the different forms of security a bank can use to realise the repayment of a loan in the event of default by the borrower. It also looks at recent innovations in the lending market that offer a competitive alternative to traditional bank lending, including payday lending and peer-to-peer lending.