<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

Respect for the human rights of workers in businesses across all jurisdictions and supply chains is now recognised as a core part of corporate compliance and accountability. Yet despite advances in this area, including the introduction of ground-breaking legislation such as the UK's Modern Slavery Act, recent allegations of poor working conditions in Leicester's clothing factories highlight that modern slavery remains a real risk to both UK and overseas workers.

This briefing was updated on 2 December 2020.

In this judgment, the court clarified the process that a professional services provider should follow when faced with a regulatory request for client documents, in circumstances where a party contends that all or a portion of those documents are privileged.

On 25 June, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) presented its annual report to Parliament, reflecting on progress over the last year and recommending action for the next. Not surprisingly given the extraordinary circumstances, the tone and content of the 2020 report is quite different from previous reports, with a strong focus on a green recovery from the COVID-19 crisis and a message that short-term measures have the potential to significantly impact long-term climate goals.  

On 22 June 2020, the UK government announced its intention to expand the scope of the UK merger control regime, in particular to give itself the ability to intervene in corporate transactions on a wider range of public interest and national security grounds. 

International businesses like English law and feel comfortable using London as a venue to resolve their disputes, particularly those with significant monetary, reputation or precedent value. Brexit will not affect the benefits of using English law or, in the round, the attraction of an English forum, be that the English courts or a London-seated arbitral tribunal.

Bribery and corruption risks are often elevated in times of crisis and affect all aspects of the compliance world. This is particularly true in respect of the COVID-19 pandemic due to a number of factors, including a financially volatile climate, increased cyber-security threats and diverted corporate focus towards other COVID-19 risks.

HMRC frequently contact taxpayers to ask questions about their tax returns on an informal basis rather than under a statutory enquiry process. As the questions are informal, taxpayers can choose whether to engage with HMRC and it is perhaps this voluntary aspect that sometimes leads them to take a more relaxed approach than they would in a formal enquiry. 

Welcome to the inaugural edition of our new newsletter, which is intended to capture the key developments in the English disputes arena over the past three months. We hope that you will find it an interesting read, whether you are a litigator, either in private practice or in-house, or a generalist wanting to keep abreast of the goings on in this space.

Exiting lockdown: beware the antitrust risks

In response to the COVID-19 lockdown, certain limited forms of cooperation which would normally infringe competition law have been permitted for businesses such as supermarkets. But these are typically very narrow exceptions and as we come out of lockdown, businesses should not assume that they are now free to cooperate on a much wider scale than before the onset of the pandemic – or that antitrust regulators will turn a blind eye.

It is a well-known part of English litigation that an issue will only be determined by the courts once: there are no second chances to launch new arguments or seek different remedies. This is guarded by the doctrine of res judicata, which, together with its related rule of abuse of process, frequently bar a party from relitigating an issue.

Most businesses today have a mobile workforce and either operate from offices in multiple jurisdictions or are looking to expand globally. 

This week will bring new developments in respect of EMIR 2.1. Certain firms will need to re-calculate their positions in over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives to reassess their classification under EMIR.

This briefing was updated on 1 July 2020.

On 1 July 2020, changes were made to the Government's Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (the "Scheme") . As of 1 July 2020, employers are now able to bring furloughed workers back part-time and, from 1 August 2020, employers will be required to contribute to the wage subsidy on a phased basis. The Government has issued guidance on how these changes operate, which is supported by an updated version of the Treasury Direction containing the legal provisions underpinning the Scheme.

Following the implementation of the UK Government's COVID-19 Recovery Strategy and COVID-19 Secure Guidelines, measures concerning the health and safety ("H&S") and welfare of workers should be at the fore of employer risk mitigation strategies. With Government guidance stating that "for the foreseeable future, workers should continue to work from home rather than their normal physical workplace, wherever possible", employers should be considering separate H&S concerns and procedures required to protect employees or workers carrying out activities in the homeworking environment.

Following last week's announcement that the new domestic reverse charge to be implemented for certain construction services will, again, be delayed – this time from 1 October 2020 to 1 March 2021, regulations have been published setting out more detail. 

Stakeholder capitalism is not a new idea, but it is one with profound resonance in contemporary corporate culture, even before the dramatic changes brought about by COVID-19.

Following the decisions of Debenhams and Instant Cash in 2019, 2020 looked to be an uncertain year for the landlord CVA. Six months on and a global pandemic later, CVA activity is rising again to cope with a seismic shift in the retail and casual dining sector.

A decision is expected to be made this month on whether to extend the Brexit transition period. Not extending risks a disorderly end to the transition, adding a further economic shock to the damage done by COVID-19 – but extending exposes the UK Government to accusations of failing to deliver on its core promise to "get Brexit done".