Company Charges: Spectrum and Beyond

This exciting volume draws together the views of some of the most eminent figures in corporate law and finance regarding the law on fixed and floating charges. The focus for the book is the litigation in the case of Spectrum Plus, which culminated in a House of Lords judgment in June 2005 ([2005] UKHL 41). This decision has important commercial implications, not only for the parties in the case but also for the business community at large, including banks and other lenders, and practitioners in corporate finance and insolvency. The litigation also raises important juristic questions regarding the fixed/floating charge divide such as the theoretical basis for that divide, how the divide is determined, why it exists at all and whether it ought to be maintained as a coherent doctrine and a beneficial policy. The decision also has important ramifications in both security law and insolvency law and it provides a challenge to some of our most basic conceptions of freedom of contract and the assignability of rights and assets in law and equity. These issues, amongst others, are explored by the contributors to this book. The contributors include Gabriel Moss, who was one of the QCs involved in the Spectrum litigation, Sir Roy Goode, Michael Bridge, John Armour, Robert Stevens, Sarah Worthington, Julian Franks and Oren Sussman, Jenny Payne and Louise Gullifer, Philip Wood, Joshua Getzler, Look Chan Ho, and Nicholas Frome and Kate Gibbons. Contributors to this volume - John Armour, Cambridge University Professor Michael Bridge, University College London Professor Julian Franks, London Business School Nicholas Frome, Clifford Chance Dr Joshua Getzler, University of Oxford Kate Gibbons, Clifford Chance Professor Sir Roy Goode, University of Oxford Louise Gullifer, University of Oxford Look Chan Ho, Freshfields Bruckhaus Derringer The Rt Hon Lord Millett Gabriel Moss QC, 3/4 South Square Jennifer Payne, University of Oxford Robert Stevens, University of Oxford Dr Oren Sussman, Said Business School Philip Wood, Allen & Overy LLP, University of Oxford, Cambridge University, London School of Economics Professor Sarah Worthington, London School of Economics