The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be felt across the global business community.
On 25 May 2022, the European Commission (Commission) issued its response to the European Supervisory Authorities' (ESAs) questions on the interpretation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Taxonomy Regulation (Taxonomy Regulation) of 13 May 2022.
Technology & Commercial Transactions partner, James Longster, discusses balancing free speech and online safety in the context of Elon Musk's controversial proposed $44bn acquisition of Twitter.
The Queen's speech delivered on 10 May 2022 announced the intention of strengthening the protection and support for victims of human trafficking and modern slavery as well as increasing the accountability of organisations in driving out modern slavery from their supply chains through the implementation of a Modern Slavery Bill (the "MSA Bill").
Funds Partner Will Normand recently joined a panel discussion at the London Stock Exchange's Annual Investment Funds Conference to discuss the landscape for listed funds in 2022/2023.
A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.
The European Parliament has issued its draft report (Report) on the European Commission's proposals to amend the existing Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD II). The Report forms part of the legislative process and includes the European Parliament's suggested amendments to the draft directive issued by the European Commission in November 2021. The draft directive proposed a number of changes to the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive, largely in respect of delegation, loan origination, liquidity risk management, data reporting and depositaries and it is those areas which are the main focus of the Report.
A party that is not satisfied with an award made by an arbitration tribunal may, in certain circumstances, seek to challenge it before the courts. The Arbitration Act 1996 ("the Act"), which applies to arbitrations which have their seat in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, provides several such avenues for review by the courts.
On 13 May 2022, the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs) submitted a number of questions to the European Commission relating to the interpretation of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR) and the Taxonomy Regulation (Taxonomy Regulation). Separately, the ESAs have also been asked by the European Commission for their input on possible amendments to the SFDR Delegated Regulation.
Travers Smith LLP acted for the Claimants in these proceedings.
"Fraud on a grand scale; or relentless witch-hunt?": these were the first eight words of Mr Justice Hildyard's mammoth (almost 1,700 page) judgment in the high profile fraud claim brought by various Hewlett-Packard group companies (the "Claimants") against Dr Michael Lynch (the founder and former CEO of Autonomy Corporation Plc ("Autonomy")) and Mr Sushovan Hussain (the former CFO of Autonomy) following a 93 day trial which Hildyard J said "may rank amongst the longest and most complex in English legal history".
The Supreme Court's judgment in Lloyd v Google in November 2021 (see our briefing) significantly curbed "opt-out" representative actions brought under CPR 19.6, but it left a number of unanswered questions - a trail of crumbs for claimant law firms to pick over. One such question was whether a different conclusion would be reached under the Data Protection Act 2018 (and UK GDPR) as the claim for loss of control of data in Lloyd was made under the Data Protection Act 1998.
In this appeal, which Lewison LJ noted was important to those who practise in the professional negligence field, the Court of Appeal considered the effect and scope of section 1(4) of the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 (the "1978 Act"). The Court held that s.1(4) was concerned only with the liability of the party claiming contribution, and not with the liability of the party against whom contribution is sought, clarifying what has to be proved by a contribution claimant to succeed on a contribution claim.
The UK Government has confirmed that it plans to introduce significantly stronger powers for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to enforce consumer law, including the ability to impose fines of up to 10% of global turnover. This is a major change for consumer-facing businesses, although question marks remain over the exact timing.
The EU has published a draft directive designed to help address the perceived bias in favour of debt funding companies as compared with equity and, accordingly, promote financial stability.
Key employment and business immigration developments for employers.
In this podcast, Senior Associate, Claire Prentice, and Knowledge Counsel, Kulsoom Hadi, from the Travers Smith Incentives team consider the importance of understanding and monitoring your worker supply chain from an employment tax perspective.
A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.
ESG and sustainability issues continue to be a priority for policy makers and regulators globally. The impact of the Ukraine conflict on energy policy and the recent publication of the IPCC's (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) "state of the union" report on the slender window we have to take action in order to meet our climate targets both highlight the scale of the global challenge we face on climate issues.
In the recent decision in MUR Shipping BV v RTI Ltd [2022] EWHC 467 (Comm), the court found that a force majeure clause applied, even though the affected party had offered alternative performance. The case also contains some useful lessons about the limits of arbitral appeals and obligations to pay in a particular currency against the background of sanctions.
With claimants around the globe continuing to bring novel and ambitious climate change-related cases before common law Courts, some judges are hesitant to be drawn into what may be perceived as a political debate.