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Find out more about our disputes practice and how we go about our business.

A barrier-free flow of personal data between the EEA and the UK shows much greater promise now that the European Commission has published its draft adequacy decision for the UK. Whilst this is welcome news, it does not mean an end to post-Brexit uncertainty in this area.

On the 6^th April 2021, a new Practice Direction 57AC ("PD 57AC") will come into force in the Business and Property Courts, applicable to all trial witness statements signed on or after that date¹. The introduction of PD 57AC represents a fundamental reform to the way factual witness evidence is collected and presented in commercial litigation, and will require a change in working practice and attitude on the part of both parties to commercial proceedings and their lawyers.

Recent press reports have speculated that the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is set to increase the main rate of UK corporation tax rate (currently 19%), with some reports predicting a sharp rise to 25%. 

Since our previous briefing there have been a number of developments in the area of tax investigations and disputes. This briefing summarises some key ones and what they mean for taxpayers.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed by the UK and the EU in December 2020 contains a number of provisions which relate to tax. In this briefing, we look at what they are and how far they could constrain the UK's room for manoeuvre on tax issues in future.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

Although making predictions is fraught with danger at the best of times - let alone during a global pandemic – here are three property-related tax announcements we would not be surprised to hear on 3 March.   

Whatever the Chancellor announces in his forthcoming Budget, employee share plans will continue to play an important role as companies move forward from the Covid-19 pandemic. The tax-advantages that share-based awards can enjoy are a key feature, however, equally important is the impact that share-ownership can have on boosting employee morale, motivation and aligning their interests with other investors.

With the number of articles speculating on a potential increase in corporation tax or CGT rates, or the implementation of a wealth tax, it is easy to overlook possible changes to the tax compliance and enforcement landscape. However, given the number of new measures announced in the past year as part of the fiscal stimulus package to support the economy, and a tax gap of 4.7% of tax liabilities, it is also likely that the government will continue the development of its proposals to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax non-compliance.

Early this month, the Court of Appeal handed down an important judgment in Phones 4U Ltd v EE Ltd and Others ("Phones 4U"). The judgment results from an appeal by the defendant mobile network operators of a disclosure order requiring them to request their senior executives to hand over personal devices so that they could be searched by independent IT consultants for documents relevant to the case. The judgment illustrates how the courts will balance the need to ensure disclosure of relevant documents in court proceedings against individuals' rights to privacy, and emphasises the considerable latitude the courts have in crafting orders for disclosure.

The EU's top court has recently confirmed that a financial investor can be liable for a competition infringement of its investee company regardless of whether or not the investor is aware of that company's anticompetitive behaviour. In so doing, it has also clarified when the European Commission can presume an investor to be parentally liable for its investee company without considering further the level of control that investor in fact exercises – holding all the voting rights in a company is sufficient, even if the investor does not hold all of the capital.

^{As we reported in December, the UK Government has recently published the National Security and Investment Bill ("the NSI Bill") – draft legislation designed to strengthen its powers to scrutinise transactions on grounds of national security.}

The NSI Bill will broaden the range of investments which can be reviewed by the UK government, and introduce a statutory requirement for parties to notify transactions in the most sensitive areas of the economy. Alongside a mandatory notification requirement, the government will also have a more extensive "call-in" power to enable it to assess deals which may give rise to national security risks.  

In the face of mounting pressure, the government, on 10 February, announced a 5 point plan for investment in building safety, with a further £3.5 billion earmarked for the removal of unsafe cladding.

Deal-makers on cross-border transactions now need to think about UK merger control more often. Save for in a small number of cases formally initiated by the European Commission before the end of 2020, the UK Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") is now unshackled from the "one-stop shop" of the EU merger control regime, able to pursue its own merger control investigations into international transactions in parallel with those of other authorities. 

In the years leading up to Brexit, both the UK and the EU had been busy developing sustainability policy and legislation. Now the UK has left the EU, it remains committed to being at the forefront of the sustainable finance agenda.

The story behind the headline...

Since the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, there have been numerous reports of businesses struggling to deliver goods and even halting deliveries to customers in Northern Ireland. Why is Northern Ireland in this difficult position despite remaining a part of the UK following Brexit? Laura Hodgson, Knowledge Counsel, discusses the newly in force Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement in 2019, and the VAT and custom duty charges on goods entering Northern Ireland from other parts of the UK.

^{Clarification has recently been given by the High Court in Pallett v MGN Ltd [2021] EWHC 76, on the operation of the Part 36 regime in the context of an attempt by a defendant to avoid the usual costs consequences of accepting a claimant’s offer.} 

Part 36 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) aims to encourage parties to try to settle their disputes and sets out the costs consequences of offers to settle made in accordance with Part 36. If a party fails to accept a realistic offer made by the other side, there is a risk of penalised costs and interest at the end of the case.