Journal of Banking and Insurance Law

Bad Faith in Mandatory Motor Insurance Claims: Rethinking the Boundaries Between Contract and Tort in Ghanaian Insurance Law

Joseph Asamoah, Edmund Amasah — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Mandatory third-party motor insurance in Ghana is designed to protect accident victims and promote public confidence in the insurance system. However, persistent practices of unjustified claim denial, delay, and technical repudiation by insurers reveal a structural weakness in the legal framework governing claims settlement. This article interrogates whether the prevailing treatment of insurance bad faith as a purely contractual breach provides adequate remedies or effective deterrence against insurer misconduct. Drawing on doctrinal analysis and comparative common-law jurisprudence, the article argues that the
contractual paradigm limited to expectation damages fails to capture the unique relational and public-interest character of mandatory motor insurance. It demonstrates that bad faith claim handling implicates interests beyond private bargain, particularly where third-party claimants are involuntarily brought within the insurance relationship. The article contends
that the rigid separation between contract and tort in Ghanaian insurance law is normatively unsustainable in this context. It proposes a reconceptualisation of insurer liability through either the judicial recognition of a tort of insurance bad faith or the adoption of a hybrid remedial framework incorporating tort-like sanctions. Such an approach, it is argued, would enhance accountability, deter opportunistic behaviour, and strengthen consumer confidence in Ghana’s compulsory motor insurance regime.

Reconceptualising the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881 in the Era of Digital Payments: A Doctrinal and Regulatory Analysis of India’s Evolving Payment Ecosystem

Shaina Sengupta, Rupsa Pani — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

In the Indian economy, financial transactions including checks, “bills of exchange, and promissory notes are governed under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881”. Issues including faith, negotiability, and legality in a paper-based bank system were taken into consideration when this Act was passed. However, a lot has changed since the introduction of the digital bank system, which includes RTGS, NEFT, and UPI.

The current study aims at determining whether the Act is still adequate in regulating present-day digital payment tools. The current study will also analyse the doctrinal structure by using legislation, court rulings, and legal scholarship on the issue. In particular, it will look at advancements such as e-cheques and the cheque truncation system. However, the key concepts of negotiability, consideration, holder in due course, and legality still form the basis of financial dealings regardless of technology.

The paper identifies that although the Act is still relevant in maintaining financial discipline, it is insufficient in solving problems of the failure of digital payment mechanism, whereas there are provisions for solving the problem of “cheque bounce under section 138 of the Act”. The research concludes that there should be a legal framework comprising negotiable instruments law and digital payments law.

BETWEEN DEBT AND EQUITY: LEGAL UNCERTAINTY OF CCDS AND CCPS IN CORPORATE INSOLVENCY

Somardh Agrawal — Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This paper examines the uncertain legal character of Compulsorily Convertible Debentures (CCDs) and Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC). While these instruments are designed to be hybrid funding mechanisms combining features of debt and equity, their treatment in insolvency proceedings remains unsettled because the IBC applies a strict binary classification between financial debt and share capital. The study analyses how courts have approached this issue through a substance-over-form or form-over-substance lens, with particular emphasis on the “time value of money” test under the IBC. This paper analyses decisions of the Courts in India and the paper shows that CCDs are inconsistently classified depending on contractual terms, repayment structure and the presence of a direct debtor-creditor relationship, while CCPS are generally treated as equity despite certain debt-like features. The paper argues that this fragmented jurisprudence creates uncertainty for investors, weakens predictability in insolvency resolution, and may deter capital formation. This paper also seeks to propose reccomendations recommending legislative clarification, harmonisation across statutes and a differentiated treatment of principal and interest components in hybrid instruments.

Financial Sanctions and Global Banking: Legal and Economic Implications for SWIFT Transactions after the Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Swarnima Gorani , Bhupinder Singh — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The unprecedented financial sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 have fundamentally reshaped the architecture of international financial governance. Among the most consequential measures was the exclusion of selected Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging system, effectively severing their connection to the global financial network. This article examines the legal and economic implications of SWIFT-related sanctions, analysing their effectiveness as instruments of economic coercion, their impact on global banking operations, and the legal frameworks governing their imposition and enforcement. Drawing upon international law, financial regulation theory, and empirical evidence, this paper evaluates the consequences of SWIFT disconnections for the targeted state, third-party jurisdictions, and the stability of the international financial system. The analysis further considers the strategic responses adopted by sanctioned states, including the development of alternative payment systems such as Russia's SPFS and China's CIPS, and their implications for the future of the dollar-denominated financial order. The article concludes with an assessment of the legal adequacy of existing sanctions frameworks and proposes reforms to enhance their proportionality, effectiveness, and compliance with international legal standards.

Digital Banking Fraud and Regulatory Liability in India: Towards a Unified Consumer‑Centric Legal Framework

Sowmya B M — Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Digital banking and financial technology (FinTech) have transformed India’s financial ecosystem by widening access, lowering transaction costs, and accelerating financial inclusion. At the same time, they have generated novel vulnerabilities, including phishing, SIM‑swap fraud, UPI manipulation, malware‑based intrusions, and emerging “digital arrest” scams that strain legacy liability doctrines and regulatory arrangements. This article offers a doctrinal and comparative analysis of digital banking fraud in India, examining statutory provisions, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines, judicial decisions, and the underdeveloped role of cyber insurance in loss allocation. It argues that India’s framework is fragmented, underenforced, and insufficiently consumer‑centric compared to regimes in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union, where stricter institutional liability standards and reverse burdens of proof are increasingly used. Building on this analysis, the article proposes a unified legal regime for digital banking fraud that incorporates the statutory codification of RBI norms, reverse or strict liability for unauthorised transactions, integrated data protection and cybersecurity obligations, specialised dispute resolution mechanisms, and the structured use of cyber insurance. The study contributes to the literature on digital financial regulation in the Global South by reframing digital banking fraud as a systemic regulatory problem rather than an individual contractual dispute and by outlining a reform model that seeks to balance innovation, inclusion, and consumer protection.