The Floating Charge

The introduction of the floating charge in 1961 was one of the most important developments in Scots commercial law in the twentieth century. Since then, however, there have been significant difficulties integrating the floating charge into the legal system. This is partly because of the absence of systematic analysis regarding the security’s interaction with other areas of law.

This is the first book on the Scottish floating charge itself. It focuses on the charge’s “attachment”, the point at which the charge affects specific property. By doing so, it illuminates various aspects of its nature and operation. It identifies ways in which existing approaches are unclear or flawed and it proposes how the floating charge can be more suitably analysed to fit in with Scots property law and insolvency law. Historical sources are used to better understand how the floating charge was intended to function, while material from other countries, particularly England, is referred to by way of comparison.

The book is divided into two parts: a general part and a special part. The chapters in the general part focus on aspects of the floating charge that are not wholly dependent upon the type of property charged: the nature of the floating charge prior to attachment; the events that cause attachment to take place; the property attached by the charge; the general effect of attachment; and certain aspects of the enforcement of floating charges. The special part is focused on the interaction of floating charges with the regimes for particular types of property upon attachment taking place. There are chapters on (corporeal) heritable property, corporeal moveables and incorporeal property.

Given scholarly interest in the floating charge and its use in practice, this book will be of interest to both academic lawyers and practitioners.