<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) recently launched a consultation on reform of UK data protection laws, with the twin objectives of strengthening public trust in the use of data, and helping to drive economic growth and innovation. The consultation builds on the Government's National Data Strategy, published last year which set out plans to build a world leading data economy that works for everyone. 'Unlocking the power of data' is also one of the Government's top 10 tech priorities, and the Government's recently published National AI Strategy also highlights the importance of this consultation and the role of data protection in wider AI governance.  

Our regular round-up of recent and forthcoming developments in law and practice for in-house counsel.

2021 has seen the UK Government and regulators engage in a blizzard of consultations and draft legislation, proposing reforms across a wide range of areas. The sheer volume makes it difficult for businesses to keep on top of changes that might affect them.

On 7 September, the UK Government announced the introduction of a new 1.25% levy which is intended to pay for adult social care reforms and enable the country's National Health Service to tackle the COVID-19 backlog. In this briefing we consider the implications this might have for overseas employers.

The ICO has launched a consultation on its international data transfer agreement (IDTA). This is the agreement that would be used as a safeguarding mechanism for restricted transfers of data covered by the UK GDPR.

As part of a raft of proposals to overhaul the current competition and consumer law regimes, the UK Government has set out for consultation a number of wide-ranging proposals concerning competition law enforcement in the UK. Competition Act enforcement is the focus of this briefing. 

The UK Government has launched a wide-ranging consultation proposing far reaching reforms to the competition and consumer law enforcement regimes.

The UK Government published its long-awaited draft Online Safety Bill in May 2021. The Bill creates a new legal framework for identifying and removing illegal and harmful content from the internet. The aim is to prevent harm to individuals in the UK. Those covered will face fines and other sanctions for non-compliance.

The UK Government is consulting on plans to reform consumer law, including giving regulators powers to impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover for breach of consumer legislation. If implemented, these changes are likely to result in a significantly tougher regulatory environment for consumer-facing businesses.

Alongside a raft of other recent proposals, the UK Government is consulting on plans to introduce tougher competition oversight over major players in the digital technology sector. 

In this session from the PLSA's inaugural ESG Conference (July 2021), Pensions Partner Andy Lewis, Partner and Head of Financial Services and Markets Tim Lewis and Senior Consultant Simon Witney discuss key questions that can arise for pension schemes looking develop their ESG policies and beliefs and translate these into practical action. How can schemes fit these specific regulations into the bigger picture of their overall duties and operations without getting lost in the detail?

This consultation is on the second "tax measure" announced by the Treasury ("HMT") in the March Budget – a new Gateway 2 Levy on high rise residential developments during the pre-construction stage. This is part of a package of measures intended to help pay for the remediation of certain buildings impacted by the cladding crisis, following the Grenfell Tower tragedy (the "Building Safety Levy").

Hot on the heels of HM Treasury's consultation on the prospectus regime, on 5 July the FCA published a consultation on the effectiveness of the primary markets. The consultation firstly looks at ways of improving the efficiency of the listing regime and secondly proposes targeted changes to remove barriers to listing.  The FCA seeks to address, and build upon, the proposals of the Kalifa Review of UK FinTech  and Lord Hill's UK Listing Review.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has hinted that new sustainability reporting requirements are on the horizon for pension schemes, financial services firms and their investment products.

On 16 June, the UK Government announced that the existing moratorium on landlords exercising forfeiture for non-payment of rents would be extended to March 2022. At the same time, they announced an extension to the end of September 2021 of the current restriction against the use of statutory demands and/or winding up petitions in respect of arrears of rent, unless those arrears were not as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Among a number of tech sector related proposals announced in the recent Queen's Speech, were the Government's plans, 'as soon as parliamentary time would allow' to legislate to create a legal obligation of 'security by design' in respect of consumer Internet of Things connected devices ("Consumer Connected Devices"). In this briefing we take a look at what sort of devices and who the proposed legislation will apply to, and what will be required to comply.

In February, the Government announced a package of measures intended to resolve the problem of unsafe cladding on high-rise residential buildings.