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In the recent landmark decision of Sainsbury's v MasterCard,¹ the Supreme Court confirmed that MasterCard and Visa's multilateral interchange fees ("MIFs") infringed Article 101(1) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union ("TFEU"). The judgment also establishes the legal test that MasterCard and Visa must satisfy to be exempt under Article 101(3) TFEU, as well as the legal test for establishing pass-on.

Update December 2022: This article has been updated, primarily to reflect revised rules on timing of mandatory application of the CA Mark, released in November 2022. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unparalleled disruption to the judiciary, which has been presented with logistical hurdles as well as acute legal issues to tackle.

The UK Government launched a consultation on 25 August 2020 seeking the views of stakeholders on whether they should introduce a new law aimed at preventing forests and other important natural areas globally from being illegally converted in to agricultural land, following a recommendation from the Government's independent Global Resource Initiative taskforce.

From 1^st September we will have a new Use Classes Order ("UCO").  It will be significantly different from the current one, and the changes will override much of the tinkering that has gone on with the UCO over the last few years. It appears to have been designed to assist with the economic challenges arising from Covid-19 but also feeds into the Government's current 'build, build, build' philosophy.

Following an announcement by the UK Housing Secretary earlier this year, on 6th August 2020 the Government published its long-anticipated planning regulation reform proposals titled 'Planning for the Future' (the 'White Paper'). The White Paper is open for consultation until 29th October 2020 and contains the Government's proposals for a significant overhaul of the planning regime and replacement of the current model with a streamlined, rules-based system. The proposals are split into three concepts: Planning for Development; Planning for Beautiful and Sustainable Places; and Planning for Infrastructure.

Allegations of dishonesty in English civil litigation – whether against individuals or corporate bodies – are not to be made lightly, and care must be taken over how they are pleaded. This is reflected in paragraph 8.2 of Practice Direction 16, which provides that a claimant must "specifically set out…any allegation of fraud" in the Particulars of Claim.

In this recent decision of Waksman J in the High Court, Barclays were held to have waived privilege in all contemporaneous communications with their lawyers regarding the validity of certain agreements which were the subject of the proceedings.

The Chancellor recently announced a new Job Retention Bonus for employers as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) winds down. The bonus aims to incentivise employers to retain furloughed staff when the CJRS closes on 31 October 2020.

The Government has launched a short consultation on proposals to allow courts below the Supreme Court (including potentially the High Court and the Employment Appeal Tribunal) to diverge from EU retained case law after the end of the transition period. If the status quo is preserved, only the Supreme Court would be able to do so.

The UK Government is consulting on proposals to allow lower courts to diverge from EU caselaw which predates the end of the transition period. This is potentially significant for many areas of law as it could speed up the process of divergence from the EU after the end of the transition period.

On 21 July 2020 the Government published draft clauses for inclusion in the Finance Bill 2021. These include several measures relating to the rules governing HMRC's ability to obtain information about taxpayers.

On 20 July 2020, the first trial under the Financial Markets Test Case Scheme (Scheme) began in the English Commercial Court before Lord Justice Flaux and Mr. Justice Butcher.

The European Commission has adopted a number of limited measures designed to reduce some of the burdens which firms face under MiFID II and in relation to securitisations.

The European Commission proposes radical new simplified disclosure regime in response to the Covid-19 crisis, the 'EU Recovery Prospectus', and changes to sponsor's obligations relating to supplementary prospectuses.

This briefing was updated on 5 August 2020.

Across five cases in less than a year, fines totalling £13.7m and warning letters sent to the entire industry, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (the "CMA") has put suppliers and retailers on notice that it will not tolerate efforts to fix or otherwise stabilise resale prices for consumers. While all five cases concerned activities in the musical instruments sector, the risks and lessons apply to vertical distribution arrangements in a much broader context and show that the CMA is prepared to clamp down hard on businesses which flout the rules.

The public statements made by Brexit negotiators David Frost and Michel Barnier last week suggest that the latest round of Brexit negotiations has resulted in minimal progress on the key issues separating the UK and EU. 

National governments across the EU have provided significant financial aid to support companies in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis. Ordinarily, many of these measures would fall foul of EU state aid rules and be open to legal challenge – but the EU has introduced a temporary framework to permit such measures to be taken.