Type of refusal
Frozen funds with a counterparty in United Kingdom
The counterparty is usually a platform operator, a fund vehicle, or an individual holding assets through a corporate wrapper. Before any filing, what can be fixed is its registered identity and where its assets sit, and whether a UK judgment would find anything to act against. The steps that follow depend on the facts of the case. See the O5 category and related notes.
Who is actually on the other side
A UK-facing platform or counterparty can be an FCA-authorised firm, an unregulated company, or a foreign entity trading under a UK-sounding name with no UK registration at all. Companies House, the public company register, shows incorporation status, registered office, directors, and filing history for anything actually incorporated in the UK. If no matching entry exists, that absence is itself information. The counterparty may be operating from another jurisdiction entirely, which changes where any claim against it would have to proceed. Checking the register comes before checking anything else.
What to secure before the counterparty reacts
Before raising a dispute, preserve everything that shows what was agreed and what happened, including account statements, correspondence, transaction records, wallet addresses, and screenshots of balances while the account is still visible. A frozen dashboard can change or disappear once a dispute is raised, so capture it now. Identify any UK bank accounts, custodians, or company assets connected to the counterparty; this matters more than any argument about who is right. A structured account of losses is set out in how frozen platform accounts are handled, and in notes on demanding money back from frozen crypto accounts.
Where a judgment would have to be enforced
Brexit ended Brussels Ia and Lugano as routes into the UK. What applies now depends on filing date and contract terms. Claims filed from 1 July 2025 against a contracting state may fall under Hague 2019, though its UK scope stays unconfirmed pending published declarations. An exclusive choice-of-court clause keeps Hague 2005 available regardless. Otherwise, a fresh common law claim on the debt is the fallback route. Supporting documents need an apostille; the UK has applied the Apostille Convention since 24 January 1965. See enforcement into the UK and, for the reverse direction, Cyprus-to-UK enforcement. The firm does not charge on results; its registration is checkable via the guide to verifying a law firm.