<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.

6 April 2025 has now been confirmed as the "go live" date for most of the consumer law provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 ("DMCCA"). These changes will give the UK one of the toughest enforcement regimes in the world, with the prospect of fines of up to 10% of global turnover on B2C businesses for infringing UK consumer law.

Leading independent law firm Travers Smith LLP announces that it is to open a new office in Brussels, the heart of the European Union, further strengthening its international Competition Practice. 

On 5 March 2025, the UK Financial Conduct Authority published a report (the Report) containing observations and feedback from its Private Market Valuation Review (PMVR).  This had been trailed during the previous week in the FCA's Asset Management and Alternatives Supervisory Strategy letter as a key FCA supervisory priority for 2025.

The process of investor onboarding is traditionally labour intensive, time consuming and costly. Completing subscription agreements and collating investor KYC materials can be arduous and can incur high costs for work that is largely process driven.

The UK Government considers ransomware attacks to be the greatest of all serious and organised cybercrime threats. In response, it has launched a consultation on three measures to reduce payments to cybercriminals and increase ransomware incident reporting.

Paddy Power's consumer terms and conditions failed to protect it against having to pay out over £1 million after an online game mistakenly indicated that a player had won a "Monster Jackpot".  We discuss what lessons can be drawn from this dispute and two previous cases involving similar claims for million pound wins.  We also look at the wider implications for B2C contracts, beyond the sphere of online games.

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in an appeal from various case management decisions in the long-running Alame & Ors v Shell plc & Anor [2024] EWCA Civ 1500 environmental group litigation ("Alame 3").  The decision emphasised the importance of parties' freedom to plead their case in a manner of their own choosing and the difficulties that can arise where claimants face an inequality of arms. The Court heard appeals from the first instance decisions in Alame & Ors v Shell plc & Anor [2023] EWHC 2961 ("Alame 1") and [2024] EWHC 510 ("Alame 2"). 

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.

Travers Smith has advised Bank J. Safra Sarasin AG, a global leader in private banking and wealth management, on its acquisition of a 70% stake in Saxo Bank A/S from Geely Financials Denmark A/S (a subsidiary of Geely Holding) and Mandatum Group.

For businesses within the scope of the Online Safety Act, achieving compliance and swiftly adapting to extensive new guidance is a significant challenge. The contrasting approaches in Europe to online safety and the tensions with the US over content moderation further complicate the landscape.

Travers Smith LLP is delighted to announce the hire of Jeremy Dennison as a partner in the Private Equity & Financial Sponsors (PEFS) group, further strengthening its market leading Private Equity offering.

Travers Smith LLP is delighted to announce the hire of Funds lawyer John Daghlian as a Senior Consultant, further strengthening the firm's Asset Management sector group.

Travers Smith LLP was thrilled to win Law Firm of the Year at last night's Pensions Age Awards ceremony held in London.

Under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 ("CA 2006"), a member of a company may apply to the court for relief by way of petition if they are or have been unfairly prejudiced as a result of an act or omission of the company or the way in which the company's affairs are being or have been conducted. A section 994 petition is the primary procedural tool that minority shareholders can use to seek relief if they are being unfairly prejudiced by the conduct of a majority shareholder or a group of shareholders who are acting as a majority.

Private capital executive remuneration is commonly a mixed bag of returns from a variety of sources. This can make the tax analysis complex, and unless detail is provided to it, hard for HMRC to check.

The Commonhold White Paper was published today, 3 March 2025. It contains the Government's proposals for legislating that all new flats, subject to certain unspecified exemptions, will be offered for sale under the commonhold model instead of the current leasehold model.

In Issue 8 of ThoughtLeaders4 Competition Magazine, Joseph Moore and Imogen Nolan discuss the Court of Appeal's decision in the Umbrella Interchange litigation regarding the law of limitation and its implications for competition claims in the UK post-Brexit.