Shearman & Sterling LLP (JD Supra United Kingdom)

On October 27, 2020 the U.K. Takeover Panel (the “Panel”) published a consultation (the “Consultation”) on a series of significant changes to the treatment of conditions (and pre-conditions) to offers and the timetable which offers must follow under the U.K. Takeover Code (the “Code”). The consultation calls for comments by January 15, 2021, following which the Panel expects to issue a response...

Across Europe, governments are seeking to impose increased controls on foreign investment in assets that are important to the security of a country. In a clear example of this trend, the U.K. Government introduced the National Security and Investment Bill 2020 (“the Bill”) to Parliament on 11 November 2020. To date, the focus on the Bill has largely related to its impact on M&A transactions and...

Holds Findings Made by European Courts Cannot Be Relied on in Different Context in Other Proceedings - On November 6, 2020 the U.K. Supreme Court handed down a judgment relating to the Servier U.K. competition damages litigation, in which it made key observations on when a judicial decision of the EU courts is binding in other proceedings.

On October 6, 2020, the Executive Board of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) approved the revised ICC Rules of Arbitration (the “2021 ICC Rules”), which will replace the ICC Rules issued in March 2017. The 2021 ICC Rules will enter into force on January 1, 2021 and will define and regulate the management of cases submitted to the ICC International Court of Arbitration (the “ICC Court”)...

On 11 November 2020, the U.K. Government announced long-awaited and extensive reforms to the U.K. foreign investment regime. The reforms proposed are more significant than anticipated and include a mandatory notification regime alongside broader “call-in” powers for the Secretary of State. The regime will likely extend to a much broader range of sectors than effected currently.

In the previous two notes in this series we assessed first whether COVID-19 constitutes a force majeure event (FM) and secondly the impact of COVID-19 on existing commercial contracts. This third note focuses on a fundamental feature of many long-term commodity supply contracts—namely the take-or-pay structures.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a Policy Statement and final rules prohibiting the sale, marketing and distribution to retail clients of derivatives and exchange traded notes referencing certain types of unregulated, transferable crypto-assets by firms acting in, or from, the U.K. The ban will apply from January 6, 2021.

This is the first edition of UK Litigation Review—an annual publication focused on outcomes, trends and developments in civil litigation over the past year of relevance to both practitioners and clients. This publication addresses material developments in key areas of English law and procedure, and other matters of interest from the past year such as the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on...

The European Union’s financial regulatory regime for third-country access in many sectors relies on a framework of “equivalence,” whereby institutions based in approved non-EU countries with similar standards may have varying degrees of access to EU markets or investors, depending on the extent to which their laws and regulations achieve equivalent outcomes to those of EU law. The EU’s...

The U.K. Treasury Committee has written to the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, HM Revenue and Customs and the U.K. Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, seeking answers to a series of questions on the actions each of the bodies are taking to combat economic crime and the significance of the "FinCen files" leak. The FinCen files are essentially a series of leaked suspicious...

The Bank of England has launched a consultation on proposed changes to the BoE and Prudential Regulation Authority's Brexit onshoring legislation. The U.K. left the EU on January 31, 2020. Under the terms of the EU Withdrawal Agreement, the U.K. agreed that EU legislation continues to apply in the U.K. until the end of the transition or implementation period on December 31, 2020 (known as "IP...

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation on its intended approach to international firms seeking to provide regulated financial services in the U.K. after the Brexit transition period ends on December 31, 2020 and the U.K.'s temporary permissions regime comes to an end three years later.  The FCA intends to use the consultation responses to inform the publication of a...

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a report on the extent of proprietary trading by PRA-authorized deposit takers and investment firms incorporated in the U.K. Restrictions on proprietary trading (being the trading of financial instruments or commodities as principal by banks or investment firms) were introduced for ring-fenced retail banks in the wake of the 2008 financial...

The U.K. Law Commission has announced two new projects designed to ensure that English law is able to accommodate smart contracts and digital assets.

The Supreme Court has given judgment in the case of Enka Insaat ve Sanayi AS v OOO Insurance Company Chubb [2020] UKSC 38, giving important guidance on the determination of the proper law of an arbitration agreement and clarifying the role of the English Court in granting anti-suit relief in relation to English seated arbitrations.

The U.K. Government has launched a consultation on its future international regulatory cooperation strategy. The consultation has been prompted by a report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. In its report, the OECD set out 25 recommendations for how the U.K. can improve its policies and practices in shaping and complying with international agreements and...

The U.K.'s Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates has published a set of non-binding Recommendations on the conventions that market participants may wish to adopt to support their use of the Sterling Overnight Index Average as a replacement for LIBOR in sterling bilateral and syndicated loan facilities. The Recommendations are...

A U.K. statutory instrument—The Bank of England and Financial Services Act 2016 (Commencement No. 6 and Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2020—has been published. This extends from December 9, 2020, to March 31, 2021, for solo-regulated firms (other than benchmark administrators) the deadline for completion of firms' first assessments of the fitness and propriety of their Certified

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a Dear CEO letter addressed to all PRA-regulated firms on operational readiness for the Temporary Permissions Regime...

For over a century, U.K. company law has enabled a company to propose, to its creditors or shareholders, a compromise or arrangement of their rights which, if approved by the requisite majority and then by the court, is binding on all of the relevant creditors or shareholders. This process—a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the Companies Act 2006—has been frequently used by companies (includ

Project Finance Lender Can Claim Directly Against State Under Investment Treaty - A recent decision of an arbitral tribunal constituted under the auspices of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has opened the door for potential direct claims by project finance lenders against states in circumstances in which the projects they finance are adversely affected by

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a statement confirming that, following its review of the temporary approach that allows firms to offset increases in VAR back-testing exceptions through a reduction in risks-not-in-VAR capital requirements, it has decided to terminate the temporary approach from September 30, 2020. The PRA has made this decision because of the changes...

The U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority has published a further statement on IFRS 9 and capital requirements in the context of COVID-19. In line with the Financial Conduct Authority's guidance in relation to mortgage payments, firms should consider tailored forbearance arrangements where, at the end of the COVID-19 payment deferral period, a borrower is unable to resume payments in full...

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has launched a consultation proposing to extend the annual financial crime reporting obligation to regulated firms undertaking regulated activities that the FCA views to be potentially posing as a higher money laundering risk. Responses may be submitted until November 23, 2020. The FCA intends to publish its final policy and amended rules by Q1 2021.

The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has published a Dear CEO letter sent to U.K.-regulated firms providing non-discretionary investment services...

HM Treasury has published a policy statement setting out how it intends to change the Financial Conduct Authority’s cancellation of authorization process for firms that are no longer carrying out regulated activities under the FCA’s remit. The FCA’s regulatory scope has expanded since the provisions were set out in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. HM Treasury is concerned that the...

HM Treasury has released proposals to amend the U.K.’s financial promotion rules to subject unregulated crypto-assets to the financial promotions regime. The Government proposals aim to enhance consumer protection, ensure market integrity and fight against financial crime. Responses to the consultation can be submitted until October 25, 2020. The Government is separately consulting on limiting...

HM Treasury has released proposals to amend the U.K.’s financial promotion rules to provide increased consumer protection from misleading advertisements and a lack of suitable information. The U.K. financial promotion rules provide that a person may not communicate a financial promotion—an invitation or inducement to engage in an investment activity—unless the communication is exempt, the firm is

The Joint Committee of the European Supervisory Authorities has published a letter addressed to the European Commission informing it of the outcome of the ESAs’ review of the Regulatory Technical Standards (Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/653) on the presentation, content, review and revision of a standardized “key information document” and the conditions for fulfilling the requirement...

Following the announcement of the extension for solo-regulated firms of the deadline for completion of firms' first assessments of the fitness and propriety of their Certified Persons. from December 9, 2020, to March 31, 2021, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority has opened a consultation on extending certain other implementation deadlines for the Certification Regime and Conduct Rules. The...