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The Court of Appeal in Kumar Limbu & Others v Dyson Technology Limited & Others [2024] EWCA Civ 1564 ("Limbu CoA") has overturned a High Court decision^[1] which had declined jurisdiction to hear claims against members of the Dyson Group brought by 24 migrant workers from Nepal and Bangladesh. This means that the claim, which seeks to hold the Defendants liable for alleged forced labour practices and similar human rights abuses at the facilities of one of the Dyson Group's Malaysian suppliers, will now proceed in the English courts.

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This article was first published in the January 2025 issue of Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law.

This article, authored by international secondee Pascal Urban from Gleiss Lutz, was first published in the January 2025 issue of Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law. The author thanks James Bell, Knowledge Counsel in the Finance Department at Travers Smith LLP, for his helpful assistance on this article.

The much-anticipated updated version of the National Planning Policy Framework ("NPPF") was published on 12 December 2024, following a period of industry-wide consultation. The NPPF sets out the Government's high level, national planning policies and carries particular importance as a 'material consideration' which local planning authorities ("LPAs") must take into account when deciding planning applications.

2025 – Challenges and Opportunities

Head of Finance Charles Bischoff, Partners Danny Peel and Laura Smith, and Senior Associate Adam Burk have authored a chapter on rated subscription lines in the latest edition of Global Legal Insights' annual fund finance publication. In this chapter they consider the elements of fund and finance documentation that are likely to be in focus when assigning credit ratings, and explore what their application may mean for the fund finance market in the medium to longer term.

In this short video, Richard Offord, Katie Hindley and Jonathan Rush provide a 5 minute primer on key pricing issues in commercial contracts.  Topics covered include whether suppliers can raise prices unilaterally, how to deal with inflation, cost plus and open book pricing, audit clauses, "best price" or MFN obligations, price-matching clauses and benchmarking.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is already conducting a market investigation into cloud service providers, including Amazon and Microsoft.  On 1 January 2025, it gained extensive new powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 ("DMCC Act").  We look at whether these developments could lead to tougher regulation of major players in cloud services and what that would mean for their customers.

As we noted in our previous CSRD briefing, 2024 saw a dizzying number of changes for companies in scope of this landmark sustainability reporting regulation. Keeping track of these changes is a big enough challenge.

In difficult economic times, company boards (both public and private) are under increasing pressure to demonstrably deliver maximum value for shareholders. One method of unlocking hidden value, particularly in larger corporate groups, is by undertaking a 'carve-out' transaction and creating a win/win for Buyer and Seller.

Parties to a contract often do not give sufficient thought to how they should best resolve their disputes.  For instance, parties might always use a template contract that refers disputes to the local courts, but that might not be the best option for each deal or contract.  Referring disputes to arbitration can be hugely advantageous; this brief article highlights some of those advantages.  However, it is vital that the relevant arbitration clause is drafted properly; an unclear or incomplete arbitration clause is a guaranteed road to preliminary and procedural battles that can be expensive and delay resolution of the substantive dispute.

In its recent judgment in HMRC v BlueCrest Capital Management (UK) LLP, the Court of Appeal has overturned the decisions of the lower tribunals and supported HMRC's narrow interpretation of "significant influence".  In doing so, the Court introduced a new focus on the source of a member's influence, holding that the only influence that counts is that derived from legal rights and duties. In addition, the Court appeared to support HMRC's view that the scope of significant influence is limited to strategic influence over the affairs of the LLP generally.

Welcome to the January 2025 edition of our quarterly update for listed companies.  If you would like to discuss any of these developments in further detail, please feel free to get in touch with any of the contacts listed at the end of this note.

The litigation funding market in England and Wales has grown rapidly in recent years under a largely self-regulated regime but change may be on the horizon in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision in PACCAR,¹ which prompted renewed public discussion about the funding industry and the extent to which it facilitates access to justice. The government has indicated that it will consider any recommendations made by the Civil Justice Council (CJC), which recently released its interim report on the subject, and which is currently running a public consultation on approaches to regulation.

The UK Treasury has indefinitely extended the exemption from mandatory clearing for UK pension schemes using derivatives to manage investment risks that relate to the solvency of the scheme.

In the final twist of this much talked about case, a consent order was filed on 18 December 2024 dismissing the shareholder action brought by 460 institutional investors against Barclays Plc ("Barclays") following a confidential settlement.