The FMLC has sent a letter to the European Commission in relation to a new conflicts of laws proposal. On 12 March 2018, the European Commission published a proposed regulation (the “Regulation”) on the law applicable to the “third-party effects” of the assignment of claims. The Regulation applies the law of the assignor’s habitual residence to the proprietary and third-party effects of an assignment, with various carve outs.
On 9 July 2018, the U.K. Government announced that it would not be opting in to the Regulation and the FMLC welcomes this decision. The FMLC has written previously on this issue, including in response to a consultation on the Regulation in 2017. The FMLC’s view has consistently been that the law of the underlying claim, rather than the law of the assignor’s habitual residence, should apply in this context. The letter sets out the reasons for this view and reiterates that the Regulation as drafted is a cause for greater legal uncertainty in this area.
Available as: PDF.