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The future of insolvency: a digital asset revolution

07 March 2025 / Jessica Boxford , Joseph Evans , Cassidy Fan
Issue: 8107 / Categories: Features , Insolvency , Technology , Crypto , Property
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The definition of ‘property’ is about to expand: Jessica Boxford, Joseph Evans & Cassidy Fan explore the impact on insolvency practitioners
  • The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill will widen the definition of ‘property’ in general law. This means officeholders can, with increased certainty, exercise their statutory powers over digital and unconventional assets.
  • The Bill also introduces additional costs and complexities due to the highly diverse and evolving nature of digital assets.

The new Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill introduced into Parliament on 11 September 2024 will widen the definition of ‘property’ in general law. This article considers the impact of the Bill on the law relating to insolvency.

The Bill will expand what property constitutes the insolvent estate. This means officeholders can, with increased certainty, exercise their statutory powers under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) over digital and unconventional assets. This could potentially mean those assets could be realised, and creditors could receive a larger dividend from the distribution

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NEWS
Tech companies will be legally required to prevent material that encourages or assists serious self-harm appearing on their platforms, under Online Safety Act 2023 regulations due to come into force in the autumn
Commercial leasehold, the defence of insanity and ‘consent’ in the criminal law are among the next tranche of projects for the Law Commission
The Bar has a culture of ‘impunity’ and ‘collusive bystanding’ in which making a complaint is deemed career-ending due to a ‘cohort of untouchables’ at the top, Baroness Harriet Harman KC has found
Lawyers have broadly welcomed plans to electronically tag up to 22,000 more offenders, scrap most prison terms below a year and make prisoners ‘earn’ early release
David Lammy, Ellie Reeves and Baroness Levitt have taken up office at the Ministry of Justice, following the cabinet reshuffle
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