<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

The appeal concerned two issues. The first issue was the scope of litigation privilege – the respondent defendants ("the Bank") sought to know which individuals were authorised to give instructions in relation to the proceedings on behalf of the appellant claimant ("Loreley"). Loreley claimed that this information was privileged.

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Travelling. Seamlessly. podcast series

In a recent judgment given in the context of a case involving competition and intellectual property claims, Mr Justice Marcus Smith adopted a striking and unconventional approach to disclosure, placing the burden of a relevance review on the receiving party, not the disclosing party. Having originally ordered the parties to follow the "standard" PD51U (now PD57AD) disclosure model, the judge subsequently replaced this with a regime where the parties were required to conduct a disclosure review, targeted not at the identification and disclosure of relevant documents, but at the narrow exclusion of unequivocally irrelevant, and privileged, documents, with all other documents to be provided for inspection.

Last month the UK Government announced it will give businesses another two years to apply the new UKCA product safety markings and continue to recognise the EU CE mark during the extended transitional period.

The Competition Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating whether online mattress and bed seller Emma Sleep has breached consumer law by making misleading claims about urgency, including the use of countdown timers for discounted deals. This investigation may be the start of a wider crackdown by the CMA on potentially harmful online selling practices.

PRIIPs is dead. Now is the chance to get a proper replacement. 

The Chancellor has today announced the Edinburgh Reforms, a package of measures designed to drive growth and competitiveness in the financial services sector. You can read our summary of these measures.

The UK Government has today announced a package of reforms to UK financial services regulation. It mostly consists of promises to consult on specific areas for reform over the next couple of years.

Welcome to the third and final instalment in our series of short webinars looking at recent developments in the world of employment law.

Read the full PMI Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Report 2022 here: Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) Report - The Pensions Management Institute (pensions-pmi.org.uk)

A guide to future employment and immigration law.

Last week the Government announced that it will be introducing legislation that enables judges to use procedural shortcuts to dismiss so-called Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (or "SLAPPs") at an early stage. This follows a campaign by UK newspapers to prevent wealthy individuals from issuing SLAPPs with the intention of preventing legitimate public interest journalism.

In MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd, the Court of Appeal ruled that a force majeure clause did not apply because the party unable to comply with its obligations had offered suitable alternative performance (as envisaged by the clause, which included a reasonable endeavours obligation).  In doing so, it reversed the decision at first instance, where the court ruled that the shipowners were entitled to insist on being paid in US dollars, not euros, as required by the contract. The case highlights the difficulties in relying on force majeure clauses, even where (as here) the contract is affected by US sanctions.

In this article, first published in the November 2022 edition of Butterworth's Journal of International Banking and Financial Law, Partner John Lee considers a key potential value proposition of smart contracts and its limits.

We reported last summer on the Government's 2021 consultation about the design and implementation of the Building Safety Levy (the "Levy"). It is intended to contribute to the costs of anticipated building safety expenditure to ensure that neither the taxpayer nor tenants have to pay for the remediation of safety defects in the existing high-rise housing stock. Since that consultation, the scope of the Levy has expanded to apply to all new residential developments that require building control approval (with a few exceptions). The Building Safety Act 2022 has also been enacted, section 58 of which gives the Secretary of State broad powers to raise a Levy on any in-scope building.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

There is plenty going on of interest to those in the real estate sector, both domestically (e.g. the recent “mini-Budget” and Autumn Statement announcements) and internationally (e.g. the signing of a new UK/Luxembourg double tax treaty), and with so many tax developments progressing it can be difficult to stay on top of things. Our briefing provides a checklist of the key tax issues to be aware of (including future developments) and sets out the actions you should be undertaking now in preparation.