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The Chancellor's Mansion House speech on 14 November 2024 was almost as hotly-anticipated as her Budget, with the speech's proposals on pension fund consolidation as extensively trailed in advance as the Budget's tax increases.
As alternative lenders scale, most will move from corporate facilities and overdrafts on bank standard forms to consider a "specialty finance" facility.
Travers Smith LLP has announced the appointment of Louisa Chambers as Head of Technology & Commercial Transactions, with effect from 1 January 2025.
On 21 November 2024, the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, issued a written statement setting out the Government's plans for leasehold reform during this Parliament. As well as passing the regulations needed to implement the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (discussed here), new primary legislation to improve that Act, and strengthening the regulation of property agents, he also announced that the Government intends to make commonhold the default tenure for new-build flats by the end of this Parliament and will also engage on the conversion of existing flats to commonhold.
Leading law firm Travers Smith LLP and McCarthy Stone, the UK’s leading developer and manager of retirement communities have authored a report looking at commonhold and the retirement housing sector.
COP29 got underway last week, representing another important event in the global fight against climate change. While it appears that some progress has been made in Baku, including early agreement over standards for a global carbon market, there have also been reports of general dissatisfaction with the pace of decision making – particularly in relation to the set piece negotiations surrounding the 'New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance' ("NCQG"), which is due to be agreed at COP29 (but currently remains elusive).
At the end of last week, the FCA published Primary Market Bulletin 52 (PMB 52) which provides helpful guidance for listed companies on the practical application of certain aspects of the UK version of the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR"). While the points covered in PMB 52 are not new, they nonetheless provide some useful reminders for issuers on areas on which the FCA is focusing.
Travers Smith LLP has advised Shawbrook Bank (Shawbrook) and Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) on a facility upsize to Newble Commerce.
A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.
What happens if parties settle a fraud claim and then the claimant seeks to re-open the litigation?
US PE sponsors, and their portfolio companies, have continued to execute a significant number of UK public takeovers - launching bids for UK companies listed across both the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and AIM.
Daniel Gerring, partner at Travers Smith, has been included in Cambridge University Alumni's inaugural The Q100. He, along with other esteemed alumni from across a range of industries, have been honoured and recognised as "LGBT+ firsts" in many of these industries, in marriages and as parents. "They have excelled beyond the LGBT+ community", said the University.
Leading independent law firm Travers Smith LLP has announced the appointment of Will Yates as Head of Private Equity and Financial Sponsors, with effect from September 2024.
On 6 November 2024, the Takeover Panel (the "Panel") published a response statement setting out changes to be made to the Takeover Code (the "Code"), to narrow the range of companies to which the Code applies.
The Data (Use and Access) Bill ("DUA Bill") began its parliamentary journey in the House of Lords on 23 October 2024. It resurrects many of changes from the previous government's Data Protection and Digital Information Bill ("DPDI Bill"), which fell away before the general election. This briefing focuses on the package of data protection and e-privacy reforms proposed in the DUA Bill, although the bill's ambit is much wider than data protection, also covering data sharing and digital verification schemes. Overall, its data protection reforms are more limited than previously, and certain controversial measures from the DPDI Bill have been dropped.
Travers Smith LLP has advised network solutions provider, Optinet, on its new agreement with Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield to install their full fibre network in both the Westfield London & Westfield Stratford shopping centres. The installation of the Optinet full fibre network will bring a futureproof connectivity solution to the 950+ retail, dining and entertainment units at both Westfield sites in London.
Earlier this year, the World Uyghur Congress was successful in its appeal in a case which centered on concerns about the importation of cotton products to the UK from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region ("XUAR") in the People’s Republic of China1. In this article we will explore the important legal and practical ramifications of this decision, in light of more recent allegations against large multinational entities for failing to prevent slavery and human trafficking abuses in their supply chains. We will also examine the impacts this decision may have in other areas from a Proceeds of Crime ("POCA") perspective, along with practical steps organisations can take to manage supply chain risk.
Many B2C businesses face the possibility that services they've agreed to provide may not go ahead as planned – but is it fair for the business to retain or demand any payments where this has happened? The Court of Appeal has recently ruled that a term in a contract for legal services was unfair, because it required the consumer to pay the full projected fees, even where the relevant hearing was delayed. We explain why the Court reached this conclusion and look at the wider lessons for providers of consumer-facing services.