<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

In case you missed it: Travers Smith recaps a dramatic year in the world of sustainability reporting.

An abridged version of this article was originally published in Artificial Lawyer here.

The UK's Walker Guidelines for Disclosure and Transparency in Private Equity (the "Guidelines") have been updated, and a feedback statement was published by the BVCA on 18 December 2024. 

Partner and Head of Pensions Susie Daykin and Technology and Commercial Transactions Partner James Longster discuss what AI can and can't do. How might trustees and regulators use it and approach its use by others?

^{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.  

Contributing to the Imprima newsletter, Strategic Operations Director Stacey Rickford, comments on trends in the use of artificial intelligence in legal due diligence processes and the future of the legal profession. 

New legislation in Finance Act 2020 legislates retrospectively for HMRC to use artificial intelligence to carry out its functions. The article below was written for Tax Journal's September issue by Hannah Manning, Sophie Lloyd and Laura Jackson, and considers in particular some areas of potential concern in relation to HMRC's increasing use of automation, such as the raising of discovery assessments, business risk reviews and the assessment of discretionary penalties.