JD Supra United Kingdom

Publisher

Law Firm

Latest documents

• Briefcase 2025 Quarter 1: Key Real Estate Cases and Updates

  Case 1: Handston Investments Limited v Abri Group Limited - The court refused to grant an interim injunction to pause construction that would significantly interfere with a neighbour’s rights to light. Instead, the Court ordered an expedited trial.

• Will Labour’s policy prescription create a stronger UK life sciences sector?

  The UK government plans to turbocharge the life sciences sector using policy levers to enhance research and development, innovation hubs, and private fundraising. In this piece, Michael Bloch explores how refinements to industrial strategy, equity capital markets, pension savings, and university spin-outs can support innovative scale-up businesses. The UK life sciences sector has significant potential due to its leading research clusters, major domestic businesses, and valuable patient data from the NHS. There are steps policymakers, universities and financiers can take to improve the investment ecosystem, enabling earlier-stage innovators to scale and eventually list.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• Holding Water: Thames Water Restructuring Plan Sanctioned

  The English court has sanctioned the group’s interim financing plan, but the opposing creditor group’s appeal will be heard on an expedited basis. The last 12 months have been turbulent for Thames Water. Following the court’s refusal to convene creditor meetings for the “alternative” Class B restructuring plan, the fate of the company’s proposed interim financing now seems clear. The Court of Appeal will hear the Class B creditors’ appeal of the sanction in the coming weeks. This will produce a binary outcome for the company: either the appeal will fail, in which case the company will continue with its own equity-raising timetable and propose a second “recapitalisation” restructuring plan (RP) by next September; or the appeal will succeed, in which case it would appear that the company will have insufficient time to raise interim financing to prevent its collapse into special administration before the end of March.

• Buying and Selling Real Estate in Scotland (Updated)

  KEY FACTS OF REAL ESTATE ACQUISITIONS UNDER SCOTTISH LAW - 1. Introduction - This guide applies to real estate in Scotland only. 2. Tenure - Real estate, both commercial and residential in Scotland may be either of the following: Freehold - Freehold real estate is the absolute property of its owner, subject to any rights and title burdens or servitudes in favour of third parties. These may affect how the real estate is used.

• A practical guide to public procurement challenges under the Procurement Act 2023

  Our guide for suppliers and contracting authorities in bringing and defending public procurement challenges under the Procurement Act 2023 The Procurement Act 2023 (the “PA23”) in the United Kingdom will commence on or after 24 February 2025. The PA23 replaces the existing legislation relating to the award of public contracts and will apply to new procurements starting after 24 February 2025.

• Cram-across: Sino-Ocean Restructuring Plan Makes Waves

  The evolution of the English RP continues to push the jurisdictional envelope. The English court’s sanction of the Sino-Ocean restructuring plan (RP) marks an interesting development in the evolution of the English RP. The court permitted the cramdown of English law-governed liabilities by a class of pari passu creditors whose debts were not English law-governed, while allowing the existing shareholders to retain a material shareholding. This may become a model for heavily indebted PRC property groups wishing to restructure their English law debts, including in situations when it is commercially justifiable for state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to remain as significant shareholders

• UK Real Estate Horizon Scanner Spring 2025

  The new UK government has made plenty of promises in terms of reform, a rental revolution and a planning shake-up. So what is coming down the line in terms of new legislation over the next few months and which are the crucial cases to have on your radar? Check out our new Spring Horizon Scanner to see what’s in store and when, which can help you to plan ahead.

Featured documents

• UK Court Decision on Objective Justification for Age Discrimination Claims

  Long awaited judgment from the Court of Appeal focuses on the merits of the 'cost-alone' argument. The UK Court of Appeal released the much anticipated decision in Woodcock v. Cumbria Primary Care Trust this week. The decision centred on objective justification. Unlike other forms of...

• United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office Cookie Guidance

  The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office recently published new guidance for complying with the EU’s cookie law. Much of the guidance addresses obtaining consent to use of cookies, particularly implied consent. ...

• Memoranda of Understanding Between FSCS, PRA and FCA Published

  On June 26, the FSA published a draft memorandum of understanding (“MoU”) between the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (“FSCS”) and the new Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) and a second MoU between the FSCS and the new Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”)....

• A Letter Home Part II: My Visit with the English Inns of Court

  In April, Global Connection published Snell & Wilmer attorney John DeStefano’s first “Letter Home” from London. John was selected by the American Inns of Court as one of two Pegasus Scholars who visited the barristers and courts of the United Kingdom in 2012. What follows is the concluding account...

• UK Withholding Tax on Interest: HMRC Abandons Proposals to Amend Quoted Eurobond Exemption, Short Interest Exemption and Payment of Tax by PIK Notes

  In March 2012 the UK's taxation authority, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), released a consultation on certain aspects of the taxation of interest. Included in that consultation were proposals: (i) to remove in certain intragroup situations the exemption from the UK's 20% withholding tax on interest...

• "UK Government Set to Introduce Deferred Prosecution Agreements for Economic Crimes"

  On October 23, 2012, the U.K. Ministry of Justice (MOJ) published the results of its public consultation and the U.K. government’s response (the government) to the consultation on a proposal to introduce deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) as a new enforcement tool to deal with economic crime...

• UK Government Response to Common European Sales Law Proposal

  After years of fierce negotiation, the European Commission published its controversial draft Regulation for a common European sales law (CESL) on 11 October 2011. The draft specifies that the adoption of the CESL will be voluntary, and that it will apply to contracts for the sale of goods and...

• UK Supreme Court Confirms Privilege Applies Only to Advice Provided by Members of The Legal Profession

  The long-awaited decision in the Prudential case was handed down by the UK Supreme Court on the morning of Wednesday 23 January. ...

• UK Border Agency Makes Changes to Tier 2 of the Points-Based System

  Statement of intent includes changes to salary thresholds, advertisement requirements, and application fees. The UK Border Agency (UKBA) released its "Statement of Intent: Codes of Practice for skilled workers" with anticipated effect from 6 April 2013. The statement of intent details the...

• CIS Legal Update - May 2013: London Stock Exchange to Introduce New High-Growth Segment to the Main Market

  The London Stock Exchange (the ‘LSE’) recently launched a new segment of the Main Market of the LSE for high growth businesses (to be called the ‘High Growth Segment’), which is a new route available for Russian businesses seeking access to the LSE and its equity capital. ...