Editor's Note - Issue I

Dear Readers,

Welcome to our inaugural launch of the Issue I of LexMarkets, Durham Law Society’s flagship newsletter focused on corporate law.

This newsletter was launched with the dual objective of empowering our student writers to explore financial, transactional and commercial activity from a legal lens, as well as help readers bridge the gap in understanding the interaction between plain black-letter law and real-world markets.

Each LexMarkets Issue is structured in two segments:

Articles involve research across practice areas central to most transactions, including Corporate, Banking and Finance, Litigation & Arbitration, Restructuring & Insolvency, Tax, and Antitrust.

Quarterly Coverage is structured more creatively, with sections distilling legal and market updates thematically into concise briefs, including Transaction of the Quarter, Cases/Clauses to Know, Legal Outlook, and Jurisdiction Watch.

Each piece is researched thoroughly with no room for error, sourced from credible outlets such as law firm client alerts, journals, and the like. Like a well-drafted warranty, our writing is built on factual integrity and thoughtful judgement where we hold writers to the highest quality of writing.

We hope LexMarkets becomes not just a publication, but a tool for curiosity, for learning, and for imagining the practice of commercial law beyond the classroom.

Best regards,

The Durham Law Society

All Submissions

LITIGATION & ARBITRATION - Final Anti-Suit Injunctions under Pressure: Material Change, Real Injustice, and Tailoring after UniCredit (CA)

An anti-suit injunction restrains parties from pursuing litigation abroad - typically to enforce arbitration agreements under Senior Courts Act 1981, s 37. But enforcement hits a problem when foreign courts penalise parties for complying. When foreign courts impose penalties for obeying English ASIs, courts can adapt their orders under CPR 3.1(7). The alternative - scrap the injunction entirely or hold parties to it despite genuine hardship - creates needless tension between

Ollie Bailey

Nov 17, 20256 min read

CORPORATE - Basel 3.1 Divergence: Timing, Pricing, and Contractual Stress in Cross-Border Lending

A Two-Year Timing Gap with Real-World Consequences Imagine this: it is 2026, and a UK company applies for a large syndicated loan. Around the same table, London-based banks are offering cheaper funding than their European counterparts, even though the deal is identical. The difference is not about the company’s creditworthiness or strength; it is all down to timing. Basel 3.1 is the international rulebook that decides how much money (capital) banks must hold back to protect

Mackenzie Jenkins

Nov 17, 20256 min read

RESTRUCTURING & INSOLVENCY - How Brexit Redefined the UK’s Role in Cross-Border Restructuring

Introduction Brexit abruptly stripped the United Kingdom’s restructuring framework/model of its most valuable asset: automatic recognition across Europe, turning it from a predictable default into an experimental lab. London’s judicial system, capital markets, and the widespread use of English law for international debt instruments once made the UK a default forum for complex restructurings. Brexit, however, has disrupted this position. The loss of EU recognition frameworks h

Naba Mahmood

Nov 17, 20259 min read

CORPORATE - The London Listings Crisis: Can Legal Reform Save The UK’s Capital Markets?

Introduction When ARM snubbed London for Nasdaq in 2023, it sent shockwaves through the City. Within a year, CRH had shifted its primary listing to New York, and Flutter Entertainment followed with a US primary listing in May 2024. London’s IPO market is now in freefall: just 18 IPOs raised £777.7 million in 2024, while 88 companies quit the market, the sharpest exodus since the Global Financial Crisis. Why are Britain’s most prominent names turning their backs on London? Boa

Ollie Whiting

Nov 17, 20256 min read

BANKING & FINANCE - The Shift to Hybrid Financing for Upstream Oil and Gas projects

Introduction In August 2023, BW Energy raised $80 million upfront to develop the Golfinho field offshore Brazil. The deal was simple: a trader paid cash now, BW repaid in oil later. On paper it was a sales contract. In practice it worked like equity, as the trader took junior risk, upside via price, and governance leverage, all without issuing new shares. Equity hasn’t disappeared. It has shifted into contracts. Traditional equity windows are patchy, and bank loans are short-

Ishan Mehta

Nov 17, 20258 min read

CASES TO KNOW - Department for Business and Trade (Respondent) v The Information Commissioner

Context The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (‘FOIA’) creates a general right of access to information held by public bodies. This right, however, is subject to statutory exemptions. Such exemptions can be absolute or qualified, with qualified exemptions (‘QEs’) requiring a public interest test. In July 2025, Department for Business and Trade (Respondent) v The Information Commissioner (Appellant) raised significant commercial implications regarding the FOIA. In November

Guy Brown

Nov 17, 20252 min read

TRANSACTION OF THE QUARTER - The Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station

The Sizewell C nuclear power project has emerged as one of the UK’s most significant energy transactions, not only for its £38 billion scale, but also for pioneering the application of the Regulated Asset Base (RAB) financing model to nuclear infrastructure in the UK. This ground-breaking deal, supported by a multi-jurisdictional legal ecosystem from the likes of Slaughter and May, Linklaters and Addleshaw Goddard, represents a fundamental shift in how the UK approaches large

Anna Tarasheva

Nov 17, 20253 min read

JURISDICTION WATCH - Middle East (Q3 2025)

Q3 activity has revealed how the Middle East is charting a distinct path amid global slowdown, with dealmaking, legal reform, and geopolitical shifts shaping the agenda. Capital Markets and Deal Making While global M&A activity declined by 9%, the Gulf pressed ahead. Anchored by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, activity was exemplified by ADNOC’s fundraising through its $317 million secondary share sale, reflecting a broader push to unlock value through stake flotations in state-own

Nithya Viswanathan

Nov 17, 20252 min read

LEGAL OUTLOOK - The GENIUS Act 2025: Stablecoin Shake-Up Heading for the UK

What are stablecoins? Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, usually by being pegged to traditional assets such as the US dollar. They operate using blockchain technology, a secure, decentralised digital ledger that records transactions securely, and are part of a wider trend of tokenisation, where real-world assets are represented digitally. Three Main Types Fiat-backed: backed by actual reserves of currency. Crypto-backed: backed by ot

Olivia Eliadou

Nov 17, 20253 min read