<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

Welcome to the latest edition of our quarterly disputes newsletter, which covers key developments in the dispute resolution world over the last three months or so.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") has recently adopted new rules under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) (together, the “New Rules”), based on a set of proposals originally set out in February 2022 (the “Original Proposals”).

In October 2022, we issued our briefing Strengthening the Financial Promotion Rules | Travers Smith, discussing the FCA's new rules on financial promotions, with a particular focus on the promotion of higher risk investments to retail investors. The FCA indicated at the time that such a category would include cryptoassets; however, at that point the legislation extending the FCA's remit to those financial promotions was not in force.

The Court of Appeal has recently determined an appeal in the FX CPO proceedings, against a first instance decision of the CAT.

Read and listen to "What’s Happening in Pensions", our regular news briefing covering topical pensions law developments.

At the end of last year, Travers Smith gave its asset manager clients access to an app to help them understand their obligations under UK and EU sustainability reporting requirements. The app is now available more widely.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Lothbury Investment Management ("Lothbury") on its sale of the Tera 40 industrial estate in Greenford, west London, to Valor Real Estate Partners for around £146m.

The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier ("CSSF") recently published its observations and recommendations on the implementation of sustainability-related provisions in the investment fund industry as part of its supervisory work in the area of sustainable finance.

Travers Smith has advised Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (as Sponsor, Joint Financial Adviser and Joint Broker) and Numis Securities Limited (as Joint Financial Adviser and Joint Broker) in relation to the acquisition of The Gyle Shopping Centre in Edinburgh by the UK focused REIT Capital & Regional plc for a total acquisition consideration of £40m.

Travers Smith has advised pan-European investment group AURELIUS on the acquisition of leading UK property services provider TM Group Limited (UK), valued at up to £91m, from Dye & Durham Corporation, the Toronto Stock Exchange listed provider of mission-critical software for legal, financial and business professionals.

Joe Wren has been appointed as Travers Smith's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Partner. He takes over from Donald Lowe, who has been in the role since 2017, and will work alongside our CSR and Diversity Director, Chris Edwards.

Travers Smith LLP has advised the Trustee of the Smith & Nephew UK Pension Fund (the "Fund") on a £260m buy-in with Rothesay.

The speed of developments in the world of sustainability reporting over the last 12 months has been unprecedented, and this trend shows no signs of abating. Over the last five weeks alone, two "global baseline" sustainability reporting standards have been adopted and endorsed for use in capital markets, twelve European Sustainability Reporting Standards have been finalised, and the UK has committed to develop "Sustainability Disclosure Standards", based on the international standards, by July 2024.

Following Brexit, the UK Government is keen to boost trade with countries outside the EU. Our interactive maps show the extent of the UK's global network of free trade agreements and bilateral investment treaties.

The Supreme Court held that the Quincecare duty does not extend to so-called "authorised push payment" (APP) fraud, whereby the victim is induced by fraudulent means to authorise their bank to send a payment to a bank account controlled by the fraudster. Pursuant to the first principles of banking law, it is a basic duty under a bank's contract with a customer to make payments from the credited account in compliance with the customer's instructions.

Travers Smith has advised international data security company Blancco Technology Group plc on its £175m cash takeover offer by White Bidco Ltd, a vehicle of funds managed by US private equity firm Francisco Partners.

Travers Smith LLP has bolstered its Asset Management client offering with the hire of Tosin Adeyeri as a partner in the Funds group, further strengthening its expertise in private funds formation and secondaries work.

In our new Talking. Secondaries. series, we will seek to demystify the secondaries and synthetic secondaries markets and provide insights into the variety of tools available to GPs when looking to provide liquidity to their limited partners and their portfolios.

Audit clauses can be a useful tool for verifying compliance with contractual obligations, especially on compliance, pricing and payment issues. But what are the key drafting considerations?

Our round-up of recent and forthcoming developments in UK law and practice for our international stakeholders.