Our knowledge resources reflect the breadth and depth of our expertise, our insight into the issues which matter to your business, and our understanding of the markets in which you operate.
Travers Smith is currently advising two healthcare REITs - Care REIT plc and Assura plc - on their public takeovers by US bidders, further highlighting the recent theme of consolidation in the London REIT market.
On 7 February 2025, the Government published an open consultation entitled "Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes: 2025 update" (the "Third Consultation"). The Government proposes to raise the minimum energy efficiency standard required of privately rented homes in England and Wales to the equivalent of Energy Performance Certificate ("EPC") C by 2030, and this consultation follows on from the previous government's 2020 consultation (the "First Consultation").
Our ESG timeline sets out recent and expected UK and EU legal and regulatory developments relating to ESG and wider sustainable business topics. The timeline can be filtered according to your business type or the relevant ESG theme.
As we noted in our previous CSRD briefing, 2024 saw a dizzying number of changes for companies in scope of this landmark sustainability reporting regulation. Keeping track of these changes is a big enough challenge.
In case you missed it: Travers Smith recaps a dramatic year in the world of sustainability reporting.
An Energy Performance Certificate ("EPC") is a certificate, issued by an energy assessor, which shows information about the energy efficiency of the property to which it relates. It is a multi-functional tool: on a practical level, it helps owners and investors to understand and improve the energy performance of their own properties, and can give prospective buyers and tenants an insight into their likely energy costs.
The Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, also known as Martyn's Law in honour of Martyn Hett who died in the 2017 Manchester Arena attack, will when enacted improve the UK's security by obliging those responsible for certain premises and events to plan how they would respond to a terrorist attack in or near to their property. Persons responsible for larger premises and events must also take steps to reduce the property's vulnerability to terrorist attacks.
In this edition, we focus on the infrastructure implications of the new Labour Government's first Budget, including for energy, vehicles, telecoms, housing and major projects. We also look at new initiatives affecting the UK water industry and UK infrastructure investment more generally. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss any of the issues discussed below.
At the time of our last COP29 update, we were still waiting to hear what the outcomes would be from several key discussion areas, including negotiations relating to the headline climate finance deal. Although it is relatively normal for COPs to overrun, it was not until the Sunday after the official closing that a New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance ("NCQG") was finally unveiled – highlighting the intensity of last-minute discussions and the difficulty in reaching a climate finance figure that would be acceptable to different parties.
COP29 got underway last week, representing another important event in the global fight against climate change. While it appears that some progress has been made in Baku, including early agreement over standards for a global carbon market, there have also been reports of general dissatisfaction with the pace of decision making – particularly in relation to the set piece negotiations surrounding the 'New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance' ("NCQG"), which is due to be agreed at COP29 (but currently remains elusive).
Many businesses in the scope of the UK's Energy Saving Opportunities Scheme ("ESOS") will, having submitted their ESOS notification to the Environment Agency, now have put this reporting obligation to the back of their mind until phase 4 in around three years' time. However phase 3 of ESOS brought some important changes, one of which will keep ESOS on the agenda on an at-least-annual basis for the foreseeable future.
The EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CS3D) will be highly consequential for those large EU and non-EU companies that fall within its scope. Despite some misleading commentary to the contrary, the financial sector is in scope of the CS3D as finally agreed by the European legislators in May 2024.
Earlier this month, the EU's European Artificial Intelligence Act ("AI Act")[1], the world's first comprehensive regulation on artificial intelligence, came into force. The AI Act aims to ensure that AI systems are safe, transparent, traceable and environmentally friendly.
The EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ("CSRD") was due to be implemented into national law by the Member States by 6 July 2024. The majority missed that deadline to finalise their laws.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive ("CS3D") was finally published on 5 July 2024, concluding a long and unprecedentedly turbulent legislative process. Businesses now have the certainty they need to start assessing whether they are in scope, and if so, what they need to do to comply with the demanding due diligence obligations under the law, and by when.
In this edition, we look at what a Labour Government could mean for investors in and operators of UK infrastructure. We also provide an update on disclosure rules for corporates, greenwashing rules for funds and a range of other topics, from EV charging, housing and planning through to tax and expiry of PFI/PPP deals. Please get in touch if you'd like to discuss any of the issues discussed below.
Travers Smith LLP has announced today the promotion of six lawyers to its partnership, with effect from 1 July 2024.
In late 2023 the UK's Energy Act 2023 was passed into law. It has possibly gone a little under the radar in some quarters, despite being hailed by Ofgem as the most significant and wide-ranging piece of energy legislation in over a decade.