The EU’s much-anticipated AI Act has finally reached the statute book, with the legislation due to formally enter into force in early August. The arrival of the legislation represents a genuinely momentous shift in the focus of regulation of AI and its associated technologies, stepping away from the line of thinking that AI is just another category of software which should be subject to the same laws, standards and regulation as other, similar technologies ...
The Chancellor’s statement on 8 July 2024 stated that mandatory housing targets will be restored as part of the reform of the National Planning Policy Framework in England and Wales. This is expected to be included in the King’s speech on 17 July. The planning regime in Scotland is devolved and it is the National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) that applies. Challenges and court cases followed the publication of NPF4 in February 2023 ...
The Supreme Court has decided that most collateral warranties will not be construction contracts and unanimously allowed the appeal of the Court of Appeal decision in Abbey Healthcare (Mill Hill) Limited v Simply Construct (UK) LLP [2022]. Background Under s.108 of the Housing Grants, Construction & Regeneration Act 1996 (Construction Act), parties to a construction contract have a right to refer disputes arising under those contracts to adjudication ...
The Firm’s managing partner, Dr Joe Borg Bartolo, welcomed the new interns who have joined its summer internship programme for this year. As part of the programme, university law students are given the opportunity to obtain hands-on experience in the legal field across the Firm’s various practice areas ...
A recent appeal case upheld a breach of contract claim over a lifetime rail travel benefit delivered by a third-party provider. We examine the case and how employers can avoid such disputes through clear terms and conditions for employee benefit schemes ...
Continuing the series on protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 we focus on gender reassignment and the need for employers to understand the legal protections and the potential consequences of failing to comply with them. What is gender reassignment? A somewhat misunderstood protected characteristic, gender reassignment protects those who are either proposing to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone a process designed to change their sex ...
In recent years many automotive brands and manufacturers have been reviewing their sales and distribution channels often considering moving to agency arrangements (in whole or in part). Traditionally one of the main disadvantages of appointing agents was an agent’s entitlement to potentially significant mandatory payments on termination in certain circumstances but that could be about to change ...
Roskomnadzor (Russian Data Protection Authority) plans to make it easier for personal data subjects to revoke consent to the processing of personal data Roskomnadzor proposes making it possible to ****revoke consent**** to the processing of personal data “in one click” ...
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), an EU regulatory framework which came into force in January 2023, will replace and enhance the Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), demanding a broader range of companies to disclose detailed data on environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors, in accordance with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (“ESRS”) ...
The much-anticipated Court of Appeal judgment in C.G.Fry & Son Ltd v SSLUHC [2024] EWCA Civ 730 was handed down on Friday 28 June 2024. It dismissed the appeal on all three grounds. The case was centred on the widespread issue of developments being required to demonstrate that they are ‘nutrient neutral’, so as not to add nutrient load on designated habitats ...
Back in February 2023, The British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA) revised and relaunched its model documents for early-stage investments. The model documents are widely used throughout the growth company ecosystem in the UK and provide a basis for the constitutional arrangements of most privately held businesses backed by institutional growth capital at all stages - from seed to pre-IPO ...
In this article we look at some of the key factors that influenced deal term trends through analysing the many transactions Shoosmiths advised on over the last year. For the third successive year Shoosmiths remained the UK’s most active law firm advising on mergers and acquisitions (according to Experian MarketIQ), acting on over 400 deals worth over £7bn in 2023 ...
A podcast series that explores privacy themes within some of the most well-known movies. In this episode, William Moore and Paula Kelly return to the Wizarding World to once again discuss the Harry Potter films. Whether you are a film buff, a privacy advocate, or simply curious about the intersection of storytelling and privacy, take a journey with us as we explore how the big screen tackles privacy ...
Shoosmiths’ Commercial Energy and Mobility partner, Chris Pritchett moderated a panel discussion on the progress towards net zero adoption in passenger vehicles at the recent SMMT International Automotive Summit 2024. An overarching theme applying to all sessions across the day was the industry roadmap for the transition to net zero ...
Since our last edition, our team hosted a seminar regarding ad hoc and institutional arbitration. In this edition we present some of the key takeaways from this event. This edition also include an analysis of the use of limitation of liability clauses, based on guidelines set out in the most recent case law. Further we follow up on the latest climate litigation trends. We give you the details on the UK Supreme Court’s ruling concerning environmental impact assessments of combustion ...
Malta has been a forerunner in regulating digital assets with the introduction of the Virtual Financial Assets Act, Chapter 590 of the Laws of Malta (the “VFA Act”) back in 2018. Following its approval in 2022 and publication in 2023, Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and Council on markets in crypto-assets (“MiCAR”) has an 18-month window to become fully enforceable by 30th December 2024 ...
Shoosmiths brings together leading developers, asset managers and investors, as well as energy, planning, policy and legal experts, for a roundtable discussion on overcoming power supply challenges to support the delivery of innovative and resilient developments that balance financial and environmental objectives ...
Ban on foreign information security services from “unfriendly” jurisdictions Decree No. 250 of the Russian President dated 1 May 2022 “On Additional Measures to Ensure the Information Security of the Russian Federation” previously imposed restrictions on the ****use of foreign information security means**** ...
The Board concluded that the NDPA does not have authority to impose coercive fines in ongoing cross-border cases. Only in exceptional cases may concerned data protection authorities, such as the NDPA, adopt provisional measures until three months on its own territory. The GDPR sets out that national powers, such as coercive fines, shall not impair the effective powers of the cooperation and consistency mechanism ...
The Automated Vehicles Act (the Act) outlines the safety requirements that manufacturers and operators of automated vehicles will need to meet in order to deploy their goods and services on UK roads. In this article Ben Gardner outlines the key safety areas that will need to be considered ...
The latest YouGov election poll is predicting that we are likely to have a Labour government on 4 July and this brings uncertainty for the Private Equity (PE) industry, specifically around the carried interest regime.Historically, it seemed to be a forgone conclusion that the carried interest ‘loophole’ would be closed should Labour take control of parliament ...
In its Primary Market Bulletin 49 (PMB 49) (published in May 2024), the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issues a reminder to premium listed companies incorporated in the UK of their continuing disclosure obligations under the Listing Rules (LR). FCA issues reminders to listed companies on disclosure obligations The reminders emerged following a thematic 2023 review (the review) looking at disclosures made pursuant to LR 9.4 and LR 13 ...
Whilst the impact of the upcoming general election remains to be seen, the Government has recently proposed scrapping the Commercial Agents Regulations for new agency arrangements. Background The Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (CAR) implement the Commercial Agents Directive (86/653/EEC) (Directive) ...
Shoosmiths’ FinTech partner, Luke Stubbs, was a speaker at the recent FinTech Week London Conference, participating in a panel discussion focused on international payments. FinTech Week London reflects the City's role as a FinTech hub and comprises a week of events culminating in a major conference, which Shoosmiths was proud to sponsor ...
On 23 May, the Procurement Act 2023 (Commencement No.3 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2024 were signed, setting out the confirmed go-live date of the Procurement Act of 28 October 2024. On 24 May, the Cabinet Office published the latest tranche of its official guidance on the Procurement Act. The Cabinet Office has arranged the guidance documents under the four stages of the commercial pathway: Plan; Define; Procure; Manage ...
