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In line with its public commitment to promote environmental sustainability and help accelerate the transition to a net zero economy, the Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") has recently published its draft guidance on the application of the Chapter 1 prohibition to environmental sustainability agreements ("Guidance"). If implemented, the Guidance will provide business with greater comfort in assessing the legality and risk profile of their environmentally focussed agreements – at least in the UK.

In this podcast, Associates Aimee Hutchinson and Callum Burgess from the Travers Smith Tax team return to the topic of base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) and take a look at the second pillar of the OECD's corporate tax reform plan. Aimee and Callum discuss the plan, which aims to incorporate a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15%, in the context of the current global drive for sustainability (including sustainable taxation) and explore how Pillar 2 could be a force for change in that context.

The recent announcement of the UK Government's Payment and Cash Flow Review has once again put the spotlight on late payment clauses and other payment practices. Larger businesses in particular may be criticised for failure to comply with legal requirements or "best practices" in relation to their purchasing activity.

In this week's Alternative Insights, we are looking forward to the key themes for 2023, following an event we held in London on Wednesday and the launch of our new annual Insights publication.

Value chains are under the spotlight with the increase in so-called value chain liability claims in the UK: businesses operating in high-risk sectors need to carefully take stock of their potential exposure to this type of litigation risk. The retail sector (most notably larger retailers and supermarkets) needs to pay particular attention to these developments, given the size of their value chains and public profiles (and therefore the breadth of their potential legal and reputational exposure).  

The British Government has defended a claim brought by the World Uyghur Congress ("WUC") and the Global Legal Action Network ("GLUN") (together, the "Claimants") over the alleged failure to tackle imports of Uyghur forced-labour cotton into the UK. Findings from the case create important milestones that have the potential to impact international trade and the use and import of forced labour goods across a wide variety of sectors.

There are various ways in which a landlord might wish to ensure the alignment of its tenant with social and good governance principles, in line with the landlord's own ESG strategy and wider market requirements.

The principal aim behind many climate change claims may not be to "win" but to draw attention to activities that cause and contribute to climate change, litigation being just one tool in an activist's toolbox. 

UK financial watchdog, the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA"), issued a "Dear CEO" letter to asset managers last month, setting out its Asset Management Supervision Strategy.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

Travers Smith LLP is delighted to announce the launch of its ESG and Sustainable Finance Academy, an internal training programme, open to all lawyers at the firm, as well as Business Services teams.

In this week's Alternative Insights, we are looking forward to the key themes for 2023, following an event we held in London on Wednesday and the launch of our new annual Insights publication.

The UK Government confirmed that it intended to put forward a failure to prevent fraud offence in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the "Bill"). 

By now, most large UK organisations will be familiar with the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme ("ESOS"), which is the UK's implementation of Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, requiring those in scope to measure and audit their energy use. In anticipation of ESOS reporting deadline later this year, we outline the main changes to Phase 3, and how they may impact an organisation's energy reporting.

Entering the policy debate behind other antitrust regulators, the CMA has signalled that it will give firms more latitude to pursue green collaborations – but the devil will be in detail.

Pensions Partner, Andy Lewis, and Head of Derivatives & Structured Products Partner, Jonathan Gilmour, have jointly contributed to the recently published International Comparative Legal Guide on Environmental, Social & Governance Law 2023. 

Funds Partner Will Normand and Senior Counsel Leigh Stockey have featured in the latest edition of Private Equity International's Democratisation Report. In their keynote interview, Will and Leigh discuss the current status of the market and the likely evolution of the sector. 

The EU's Directive on Corporate Sustainability Reporting ("CSRD") was published in its final form in mid December 2022, giving organisations in its scope certainty about when the significantly expanded reporting requirements will apply to them.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.