Moveable Transactions Reform & COVID-19 Recovery

Sometimes, the obscure technical machinery of the law can affect business in important ways and, sometimes, fixing defects in this sort of machinery can have benefits well beyond pleasing the legal mechanics like me. Moveable transactions law is precisely this sort of technical machinery and its overhaul proposed by the Scottish Law Commission in late 2017 would provide precisely these sorts of benefits. Faced with the economic effects of COVID-19, its introduction is all the more urgent to boost growth in the Scottish economy.

Currently, it can be extremely cumbersome for Scottish-based businesses to use their stock, plant and equipment, intellectual property, debts owed by their customers or tenants, their bank account balances, or any shares held by them as collateral to fund their businesses. This is because the rules for granting fixed security over these types of assets involve taking possession of specific assets, giving notices to specified third parties