Preface

Summary

One of the characters created by a famous Irish playwright said that the world is in a state of ‘chassis’, by which was meant ‘chaos’. This may or may not be true but, whatever the broader geopolitical developments, the English law of security interests is in a state of some upheaval. We are possibly at the threshold of major reform heralded by the Company Law Steering Group in their final report on Modern Company Law for a Competitive Economy and by the Law Commission in their consultation paper on Registration of Security Interests.

Given that corporate rescue law has recently been streamlined is there not a case now for streamlining the law of secured credit? Why is the present law on secured credit considered to be unsatisfactory? Is reform really needed? Would the cure be worse than the disease? Is Article 9 of the American Uniform Commercial Code really a suitable legislative guide? Are there other international models to draw upon? Is there really a case for the priority of secured credit?

This book attempts to address these questions. The focus is on the law of secured credit rather than on corporate and insolvency law more generally. Corporate rescue law only gets a look-in as an adjunct to secured credit law. English law and the alleged deficiencies of the same are analysed against the backdrop of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.