<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

Earlier this week HM Treasury published the outcome of its UK Prospectus Regime Review. As proposed in the July 2021 consultation paper, the government will be replacing the current prospectus regime it inherited from the EU Prospectus Regulation. The main aims of the reform are simplifying regulation in this area; making it more agile and dynamic; facilitating wider participation in the ownership of public companies and improving the quality of information received by investors.

The UK’s International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) and the Addendum to the new EU SCCs (Addendum), together with accompanying transitional provisions, were laid before Parliament 2 February 2022. Unless Parliament objects (which is unlikely), they will come into effect on 21 March 2022.

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 was a landmark piece of legislation for the real estate sector, establishing legal responsibility for contamination and pollution control for land, air and water, and also regulating waste disposal and statutory nuisances. Our understanding of the threat posed by contamination and climate change has increased significantly in the thirty years that followed, and the long-awaited new Environment Act was finally put onto the statute books in 2021. When it is fully operational, what might the new legislation mean for the UK's real estate industry?

The EU Commission has published a draft directive (ATAD 3) designed to tackle misuse of "shell entities". Essentially, these are entities resident in EU member states that do not have sufficient substance.

Pensions Partner David James and Pensions trainee Emily Collett comment on the latest Government's efforts to enable trustees of defined contribution (DC) pension schemes to access illiquid markets.

In this briefing we look at 12 of the changes to law and practice that are likely to impact on the real estate sector in 2022.

The Alpha and Omega of Regulation (via Omicron)?

Having said goodbye to another year of headlines dominated by COVID-19, with a Christmas and New Year overshadowed by a mixture of good and bad news about Omicron, it's not yet clear what degree of optimism about the year ahead is justified. At the very least, it is to be hoped that the World Health Organisation will not find it has to exhaust the Greek alphabet in naming any future new variants of concern.

On 17 December 2021, the FCA published two policy statements confirming final rules and guidance to promote improved climate-related financial disclosures. Such measures are aimed at helping to inform market pricing and support business decision-making, with the ultimate goal of assisting consumers in making more informed investment decisions.

On the 3 December 2021, the UK began a consultation on the prohibition of the use of "forest risk commodities" produced on land illegally occupied or used (the "Consultation").

A guide to future employment and immigration law.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

The UK Government has been consulting on wide-ranging proposals to reform competition and consumer law. In this briefing, we consider the proposed reforms to consumer law and ask whether their impact on consumer-facing businesses will be comparable to that of the GDPR.

The government has tabled amendments to the draft legislation contained in the Finance Bill introducing the new QAHC regime. The regime, which is due to come into force from 1 April 2022, confers wide-ranging tax benefits on QAHCs.

There is an approaching deadline (7 January 2022) for trustees again to self-certify their compliance with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) Order regarding investment consultants' objectives and tenders for fiduciary management services.

The Takeover Panel is consulting on Code changes to facilitate clearer information to shareholders upon which to make investment decisions, and to improve clarity on the workings of the Code, particularly in the area of mandatory offers.

The first "Tax Day" back in March proved to be a fairly low key affair. This time around the government called the event "Tax Administration and Maintenance Day", and it lived up (or down) to its name, with lots of the materials focussing on improving the nuts and bolts of tax administration so as to take advantage of modern technology and reduce opportunities for non-compliance.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

An analysis of FCA rule changes effective 3 December 2021 to try to attract more issuers, particularly high-growth and technology businesses, to undertake IPOs in the UK.

On Tuesday 30 November 2021, the government published a series of tax-related consultations and policy papers as part of 'tax administration and maintenance day'. Among these were a number of interesting consultations relating to real estate.