In late 2025, HM Treasury set out its proposal to implement the government’s decision for the Financial Conduct Authority (the "FCA") to become the sole anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing ("AML/CTF") supervisor for legal, accountancy and trust and company service providers—replacing 22 private‑sector professional body supervisors ("PBSs") and aspects of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs ("HMRC") role. Shortly thereafter the Government ran a consultation, which closed on 24 December 2025, seeking industry views on exactly what duties and powers the FCA would need to perform this role effectively.

Travers Smith LLP has advised long-standing client August Equity ("August") on the sale of its investment in Hallmarq Veterinary Imaging ("Hallmarq") to funds advised by NORD Holding to support the strategic combination of Hallmarq and OR Technology.

Introduction

The senior living sector is an important segment of the real estate market which integrates hospitality, healthcare, lifestyle and property management services within a single operating model.  As the sector has matured, its offerings have evolved and diversified.  Nonetheless, there is still a chronic undersupply of senior housing and frequent misunderstandings about the nature of the product and the benefits it can bring.  In this briefing, real estate partner Sarah Walker and sector expert Paul Teverson discuss the top three trends they expect to see playing out during 2026.

Under the new EMIR/UK EMIR reporting rules and the latest set of amendments to EMIR (“EMIR 3.0”), greater focus is placed on reporting and reporting errors. Download our EMIR/UK EMIR Regulatory Reporting briefing to see how Travers Smith and Validus can help.

Welcome to our 'A new era for HR' podcast series.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

On 30 January 2026, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") launched a consultation on the introduction of mandatory sustainability reporting for listed companies, based on the yet-to-be-finalised UK Sustainability Reporting Standards ("UK SRS"). The consultation will be of high interest to any UK listed company – including overseas companies with a UK listing – though as we explain below, its immediate impact will be relatively limited for the next few years.

At the end of last year, we spent considerable ink (or its virtual equivalent) summarising HM Treasury's now finalised Financial Services and Markets 2000 (Cryptoassets) Regulations 2026 (the SI), and the FCA's barrage of cryptoasset consultation papers that followed in quick succession.

Although the new regulatory regime for heat networks came into force on 27 January 2026, a number of aspects are being phased in over the next 12 months. We look at what businesses caught by the regime need to do – and when.

Travers Smith LLP has advised long-standing client Investec Alternative Investment Management (“IAIM”), a subsidiary of Investec Bank plc (“Investec”), on the fundraising of its flagship fund, Investec Private Debt Fund II ("PDF II"). PDF II raised more than €600m in total commitments exceeding its target.

Travers Smith has advised the Hickman family on the sale of Pontrilas Group to Glennon Brothers.

HMRC has become increasingly assertive in seeking to apply income tax charges to returns that LLP members have viewed as capital or non-taxable in nature. This approach looks set to continue following last week's decision in The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in which the Upper Tribunal (UT) held that a variety of anti-avoidance rules applied to a long-service remuneration scheme.

At the end of last year, the Serious Fraud Office (the "SFO") published guidance for corporates setting out 'when, why and how' it will evaluate an organisation's compliance programme (the "Guidance"). It replaces earlier internal guidance from the SFO (which previously formed part of its operational handbook for prosecutors) and builds on recent efforts by the SFO to improve transparency and provide clarity on how to proactively and effectively engage with, where necessary, fellow regulators (see for example, updated SFO guidance on self-reporting and cooperation published in April 2025 (see here) and the Joint SFO-CPS Corporate Prosecution Guidance published in August 2025 (see here)).