Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP (JD Supra United Kingdom)

his week sees a key hearing before the UK Supreme Court in the case of Lloyd v Google, an event long awaited by those familiar with data protection law proceedings in Europe. The case concerns the so-called “safari workaround,” which placed cookies on the devices of millions of iPhone users between 2011 and 2012 without obtaining the necessary consent of the relevant users...

Projects in heavy and energy intensive industries are the recipients of government funding, with a view to reducing CO2 emissions. Key industrial regions of Merseyside, South Wales, Teesside, Humberside and Aberdeenshire in the UK are to receive funding for decarbonizing industry.

Anticipated updates have been announced to the UK incentive regime for low-carbon electricity generation through the release of a UK Government consultation response. The UK Government has published its response to the March 2020 consultation on contracts for difference (CfD) for low-carbon electricity generation.

The UK government has introduced proposals for extensive new rules and review powers governing foreign direct investment across the UK’s critical infrastructure and defence industries. The new regime will introduce tougher measures, including mandatory and/or voluntary transaction notification requirements, on proposed foreign buyers of qualifying UK entities, assets and intellectual property...

A summary of key features of the new UK insolvency legislation and a look at its interaction with the Cape Town Convention and Aircraft Protocol, as implemented in the UK Summary - Further to the entry into UK insolvency law of the far-reaching Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA) on 26 June 2020, this briefing note contains a headline summary of the key CIGA provisions (of...

An outline of practical and legal considerations to aid companies in navigating their corporate matters during the COVID-19 pandemic and managing risk. UK public and listed companies will need consider a raft of issues in preparing for their annual general meetings, including alternative virtual or hybrid formats, in order to comply with the statutory requirement to hold such meetings within...

DPC has echoed concerns of other regulators around the use of tracking, analytics and marketing cookies by companies. The Irish Data Protection Commission has issued new cookies and tracking Guidance and a Report following an inspection of cookie use and similar technologies across a selection of well-known websites.

The UK Government has announced an unprecedented raft of measures designed to support UK workers and businesses through the COVID-19 pandemic. The UK government’s economic response to the crisis has been substantial and aims to address the vast majority of companies and workers...

Certain “non-essential” businesses have been asked to close for a period of at least three weeks. Individuals have been told to stay at home except in a few limited circumstances, which includes work that absolutely cannot be done at home.

On 17 March 2020, the UK government announced a rescue package worth £330 billion to assist businesses struggling with the ‘economic emergency’ caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the UK. These measures, outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, are in addition to £12bn of extra spending specifically targeted in response to the public health crisis that was promised by the...

- Under English law, force majeure clauses in contracts may allow parties to avoid their performance obligations in certain extreme circumstances, as defined by the contract. - It is unlikely that a low demand for LNG in China would reach the level of extreme circumstances required to invoke a force majeure clause of the type we are used to seeing in long term LNG supply contracts under English

This guide has been compiled to give an overview of the rudimentary legal aspects that should be considered by anyone thinking of establishing a business in the UK. It is aimed at businesses that may already be established in the US or other countries and includes references to the regulatory and government bodies that shape and govern the business sector in the UK. Each section has been...

This guide has been compiled to give an overview of the rudimentary legal aspects that should be considered by anyone thinking of establishing a business in the UK. It is aimed at businesses that may already be established in the US or other countries and includes references to the regulatory and government bodies that shape and govern the business sector in the UK. Please see full Alert below...

In the event of a “no-deal” Brexit, IP rights in the UK will be impacted. However, the UK has put in place various provisions to protect IP rights holders. Owners of European Union (EU) trade mark registrations, international trade mark registrations designating the EU and owners of design rights in the EU will receive new UK rights automatically after Brexit.

Following the announcement that LIBOR is to be replaced, the process of finding a suitable replacement is proving troublesome. Financial Institutions will no longer be required by the FCA to provide LIBOR rates after December 2021.

NHS and social care organisations in the UK are being encouraged to take a fresh look at public cloud services given the myriad benefits of doing so. The guidance is timely given the coming into force of the GDPR in May, which will impose tighter restrictions on processing and transfers of personal data, including use of cloud computing.

A London seminar considers what may become of the long-time benchmark interest rate as it faces possible obsolescence—and what might take its place. Although the 2021 deadline, after which LIBOR will not be supported by the FCA, has been set, it is still far from certain whether LIBOR will continue on (in the same or some diminished fashion) after this date.

New UK asset forfeiture law empowers prosecutors to seize assets held by companies that have unknowingly benefited from, or assisted, gross human rights abuses—even in the past. The new law creates potential corporate liability for human rights abuses by expanding civil asset forfeiture tools available to prosecutors.

Supreme Court of England clarifies terms for enforcement of international arbitral awards in Taurus Petroleum Limited v State Oil Marketing Company of the Ministry of Oil, Republic of Iraq [2017] UKSC 64 - The English Supreme Court has overturned 35 years of legal precedent.

The government draws closer to establishing the legislation that will be needed after Brexit with the introduction of a new Trade Bill. The Trade Bill has received a first hearing in parliament, but not been debated at this stage.

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ramps up enforcement activities in London - A new UK sanctions enforcement body with added civil enforcement tools is ramping up activities.

The English Court of Appeal considers whether the use of model form agreements could constitute dealing “on written standard terms of business” The decision will give comfort to lenders who use precedents or model form agreements

Updated Home Office guidance provides more detail of expected best practices and encourages smaller businesses to make a slavery and human trafficking statement even if not legally required. • Larger businesses must develop and publish a slavery and human trafficking statement each year describing the steps taken to ensure modern slavery is not taking place in their business or supply chains.

The Criminal Finances Act 2017 (the Act) will enter into force in the UK on September 30, 2017, creating new corporate criminal offences in respect of the facilitation of tax evasion. Adopting the same approach as the offence of failure to prevent bribery under section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010, Part 3 of the Act brings into force new corporate offences of failing to prevent the facilitation of...

Once again, the UK’s electorate have gone to the polls, and once again the result has confounded the pollsters, with the Conservative party losing 12 seats resulting in a hung parliament.

Under Section 3 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (SBEEA 2015), the Secretary of State has the power, by regulations, to require certain companies to publish information about their payment practices and policies, and their performance by reference to those practices and policies.

On February 16, 2017, the High Court of Justice in the United Kingdom held that Diageo plc, a global drinks company, was liable for unauthorized use of SAP software as a result of failing to secure “Named User” licenses for its customers and sales representatives who used certain third party applications running on a Salesforce platform that accessed and exchanged data with SAP systems.

The UK Government has published a White Paper setting out its Principles and Objectives for exiting the EU. - The European Union Bill—authorising Article 50 notice—passed its first hurdle on February 1, 2017. - MPs in the House of Commons voted by 498 to 114 in favour of the Bill. - The Bill now moves to the Committee phase: hundreds of amendments have been tabled by MPs,...

In a year dominated by the Brexit vote in June, 2016 also saw a number of developments that will have a significant impact on UK employment law. This alert provides a brief summary of those developments and looks at what employers in the UK may expect in the year ahead. Please see full Alert below for more information.

Fashion retailers need to be vigilant to prevent human rights abuses in their supply chains whilst complying with their legal obligations. The UK’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights is investigating human rights and business. It wants to know if fashion retailers can ensure that human rights abuses do not occur in their supply chains and is particularly concerned about the use of