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UK Home Office Announces New Visa and Sponsorship Fees Effective April 2025
On 19 March, the UK Home Office announced increases to visa and sponsorship fees to take effect from 9 April. There are increases for most fees listed which will impact almost everyone including Skilled Worker visa holders, sponsors, and those applying for settlement and citizenship. The increases range from as little as £8.50 (which leads...
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From Legal Blogging to Fashion Crimes: Rosie Burbidge on Thought Leadership and Engaging With People
From launching her first legal blog as a trainee to tackling “crimes against fashion” through intellectual property law, Rosie Burbidge, an IP partner at Howard Kennedy in London has built a career that blends deep legal expertise with practical, real-world impact. In an interview with The Law Society (UK), she shared insights into why blogging...
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Buying and Selling Real Estate in England and Wales (Updated)
KEY FACTS OF REAL ESTATE ACQUISITIONS UNDER BRITISH LAW - 1. Introduction - Historically, there has been significant investment by overseas individuals and corporations in real estate in England and Wales and in particular in central London, which is perceived as a safe haven for overseas investors. Much of the recent overseas investment has been focused on residential real estate, but there has also been substantial investment in commercial real estate.
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UK CMA Mergers Charter and behavioural remedies—statement of intent for merger reviews
Hot on the heels of the UK government’s February 2025 draft "strategic steer", the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published a new Mergers Charter. The Charter details principles the CMA will apply when engaging with businesses during a merger review, and what it expects from businesses in return. The CMA has structured these principles using its new "4Ps" framework—pace, predictability, proportionality and process. While some of the commitments in the Charter are no more than a formal statement of existing practice, others appear to be genuine and very welcome improvements to the UK merger control regime. These include aims to shorten review processes, homing in earlier on potential areas of concern, and to issue more focused information requests. The CMA promises to allow businesses more regular direct engagement with decision makers.
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Buy-now, pay-later: what the future will (and might) hold for the sector
KEY POINTS - - On the face of it buy-now, pay-later (BNPL), as an interest and charge free credit facility, appears low risk but couple its ready availability with the fact that it comes without any of the protections inherent in the regulated credit regime and the valid concerns that borrowers could sleepwalk into over-indebtedness become very real. - The new regime seeks to target regulation in a proportionate way. Consumers need to have clear information and balanced protections but there is no wish to deter lenders from making interest free credit available, which could be the position if lenders were made subject to the full current regime for regulated credit. - The proposed legislation is only half the story. Much is left to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) which is charged with putting in place the detailed rules to support the tailored regime. - Legislation in the shape of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities etc.) (Amendment) Order (RAAO) is due to be placed before Parliament this year. “Regulation Day” is currently stated to be 12 months from the date the RAAO is passed. Between enactment and Regulation Day, the FCA will consult upon and finalise the new rules. - Existing BNPL lenders will be able to continue lending as long as they apply for permission under a proposed Temporary Permission Regime.
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UK health officials investigating listeria outbreak that has killed 3
Health officials in the United Kingdom are investigating a fatal Listeria outbreak linked to desserts supplied to the National Health Service. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and Food Standards Agency (FSA) are investigating five cases of Listeria monocytogenes. Patients were identified from May to December 2024 with two in Yorkshire and Humber and one...
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UKHSA investigates use of AI in outbreak detection
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is looking into the potential of using artificial intelligence (AI) to help detect and investigate foodborne illness outbreaks. UKHSA experts assessed different types of AI for their ability to detect and classify text in online restaurant reviews, which could be used to identify and potentially target investigations into outbreaks. Foodborne gastrointestinal...
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Business and Human Rights: UK’s new inquiry into forced labour in supply chains
Other authors: Kirsty Morris The House of Commons’ Joint Committee on Human Rights (the “Committee“) has launched a new inquiry to examine the UK’s current framework in relation to forced labour in international supply chains1. The Committee is seeking to establish if the current framework is effective in managing the risk of exposure to forced...
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UK Sanctions Update: OFSI Releases Financial Services Threat Assessment – Part 2
Last month, the UK’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s (“OFSI”) published a Threat Assessment analyzing sanctions compliance involving UK financial services firms since February 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine. In the first of our two-part article (available here), we summarized the six key areas of risk that OFSI identified in its Threat Assessment. In this...
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EU Medical Devices Legislation: What You Need To Know Given Latest Developments and Ongoing Challenges
We recently published this Advisory for our US clients, but thought it may be a useful reminder for UK and EU teams given the number of updates in this area. We are sure that you are aware that the European Union (EU) medical devices framework has been subject to significant changes over recent years. However,...