Proskauer Rose LLP (LexBlog United Kingdom)

The Upper Tribunal (UT) has upheld the decision of the First‑tier Tribunal (FTT) regarding the application of the UK’s salaried member rules (the Rules) to certain members of BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP (BlueCrest), an asset manager engaged in the provision of hedge fund management services. We previously reported on the FTT decision in June...

Last month saw the end of the second round of the UK Law Commission’s consultation on reform of the Arbitration Act 1996, the legislation which provides the framework for arbitration in England and Wales. We have reported on the current status of the consultation and are watching for the final recommendations. A central topic of...

England & Wales is one of the most popular locations for commercial parties to resolve disputes by way of arbitration. The Law Commission (the body responsible for considering and recommending legislative change to the UK government) is considering whether the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act), which provides the framework for arbitration in England & Wales...

England is one of the most popular jurisdictions for commercial parties to resolve disputes through arbitration: London and Paris were ranked as the top two preferred cities in the world in 2022. To ensure England’s arbitration regime remains modern and competitive, the Law Commission –  a body responsible for considering and recommending legislative change to...

On 8 June 2023, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a policy statement (PS23/6) on the financial promotion rules for cryptoassets (the “Policy Statement”). This is accompanied by a guidance consultation (GC23/1), where the FCA is seeking feedback on proposed guidance to the Policy Statement. Read the full Client Alert here.

Who can be held responsible when a rogue actor directs payment from a company’s bank account?  Unless discovered quickly, stolen funds are usually quickly spirited away from easy recovery. Victims of fraud therefore look for other sources of compensation, including the bank itself who executed the instruction. In England, when banks and financial institutions have...

The UK Government has published a policy paper entitled ‘Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy’ (10 May 2023) that outlines a series of upcoming employment related regulatory reforms designed, in part, to take advantage of the UK’s post-Brexit regulatory freedom. The stated aim is to reduce unnecessary regulation for businesses to ensure economic growth whilst...

A new legal mechanism to allow for transfers of personal data between the EU and the U.S. is now advancing after an October 7th, 2022 Executive Order was issued by U.S. President Biden (the “Executive Order”). The new mechanism is referred to as the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (the “Framework”) and is intended to replace...

UK Mini Budget 2022 The Chancellor today unveiled the UK’s 2022 Growth Plan which has been described as being “the biggest package of tax cuts in generations”.  We have summarised here the tax changes that we think will be of interest to our client base. UK corporation tax: the main corporation tax rate that was...

On 20 July 2022, the UK government published draft legislation for the Finance Bill 2022-2023. Of particular interest are amendments to be made to the qualifying asset holding company (QAHC) regime that was introduced from 1 April this year. The regime is part of the UK government’s attempt to increase the attractiveness of the UK...

On 20 July 2022, the UK government published draft legislation for the Finance Bill 2022-2023. Of particular interest are amendments to be made to the qualifying asset holding company (QAHC) regime that was introduced from 1 April this year. The regime is part of the UK government’s attempt to increase the attractiveness of the UK...

On 20 July 2022, the UK government published draft legislation for the Finance Bill 2022-2023. Of particular interest are amendments to be made to the qualifying asset holding company (QAHC) regime that was introduced from 1 April this year. The regime is part of the UK government’s attempt to increase the attractiveness of the UK...

The recent decision of the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) in BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP v HMRC (29 June 2022) is the first time the UK’s salaried member rules (the Rules) have been considered in the context of an asset management limited liability partnership (LLP). BlueCrest is engaged in providing hedge fund investment management services. In...

HMRC has recently updated the guidance relating to the UK’s new qualifying asset holding company (QAHC) tax regime which was introduced from 1 April 2022. The new guidance clarifies HMRC’s approach to whether corporate lending vehicles used by credit funds should be treated as carrying on an investment activity or a trade in the context...

HMRC has recently updated the guidance relating to the UK’s new qualifying asset holding company (QAHC) tax regime which was introduced from 1 April 2022. The new guidance clarifies HMRC’s approach to whether corporate lending vehicles used by credit funds should be treated as carrying on an investment activity or a trade in the context...

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, partner David Teigman, senior counsel Nick LaSpina, and special international labor & employment counsel Nicola Bartholomew, discuss differences between asset sales in the US and the UK, with respect to transfers of employees.  In short, there are significant differences that are not necessarily intuitive to US practitioners.  In the...

Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, wants English law to be at the forefront of developments relating to cryptoassets and smart contracts. In his thought-provoking foreword to the government-backed UK Jurisdictional Taskforce’s (UKJT) Legal Statement on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts, he explained that English law should aim to provide “much needed market confidence, legal certainty...

Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, wants English law to be at the forefront of developments relating to cryptoassets and smart contracts. In his thought-provoking foreword to the government-backed UK Jurisdictional Taskforce’s (UKJT) Legal Statement on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts, he explained that English law should aim to provide “much needed market confidence,...

Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Master of the Rolls, wants English law to be at the forefront of developments relating to cryptoassets and smart contracts. In his thought-provoking foreword to the government-backed UK Jurisdictional Taskforce’s (UKJT) Legal Statement on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts, he explained that English law should aim to provide “much needed market confidence, legal certainty...

Over the past week, the U.S., UK, and EU imposed sweeping sanctions rolled out by the US, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, outlined here. Also last week, the Department of Justice announced the launch of Task Force KleptoCapture to enforce these sanctions and seize assets belonging to sanctioned individuals and other criminal actors....

On 19 January 2022, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published a consultation paper (CP22/2) (the “Consultation”) setting out its proposals to strengthen its financial promotion rules for high-risk investments (including cryptoassets), as well as for authorised firms which approve and communicate such financial promotions. The Consultation builds on feedback received to its discussion...

On 8 October 2021, the OECD released a further statement in relation to the BEPS 2.0 proposals, aimed at addressing taxation of the modern digital economy. This is the latest development in the attempts to more equally share the tax revenue relating to digital services that have led to some jurisdictions, including the UK, introducing...

On May 19, 2021, the United Kingdom’s Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) and the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) published a joint statement setting out their shared views on the relationship between competition and data protection in the digital economy. Both authorities recognize that the digital economy has the potential to have a hugely positive impact...

As a result of Brexit, UK-regulated firms will already have grappled with loss of passporting and equivalence measures, and the need to navigate national regimes and relocate staff. As of today, EU firms operating in the UK have a temporary permissions regime with the UK having set out its approach to equivalence, but this remains...

The UK has now been in lockdown, on and off, for the best part of a year. With the COVID-19 vaccination programme now in full swing in the UK, and hopefully with light at the end of tunnel, attention has inevitably turned to the question of “how are we going to pay for it all?”....

Background From the beginning of the UK’s first lockdown in March of last year we have reported on the impact of the pandemic on individual and corporate tax residence and permanent establishment risk. In April 2020 the OECD published guidance on the impact of COVID-19 on double tax treaties (DTTs), including in relation to tax...

Proskauer is a proud sponsor of the IFLR European In-House Counsel Summit taking place virtually on February 9-10, 2021. This conference will cover developments in the UK and European capital markets, M&A, legal technology, corporate sustainability, Brexit, competition law, and the global impact of COVID-19. On day two of this event Béatrice Pola, Partner in...

One driver for the first widely adopted cryptocurrency Bitcoin was to create a store of value that existed outside of government control. It is therefore no surprise that attempts to regulate the rapidly developing crypto asset market have required great efforts from regulators and legislators around the world to keep apace. In this blog, we...

One driver for the first widely adopted cryptocurrency Bitcoin was to create a store of value that existed outside of government control. It is therefore no surprise that attempts to regulate the rapidly developing crypto asset market have required great efforts from regulators and legislators around the world to keep apace. In this blog, we...

On 30 December, the UK government laid regulations that will significantly reduce the type of cross-border arrangement that will need to be reported by UK intermediaries under the so-called DAC 6 rules on 31 January 2021 and in the future. In the last year or so, we have regularly written about DAC 6 in our...