A consultation published by the EU Commission on which over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives identifier would best facilitate price transparency closed at the end of last week. While we will need to wait until mid-2024 to hear the Commission’s findings, there are a couple of points of much broader impact and interest to all those interested in operating a multinational business, market structure, technology, digital assets, regulation, cross-border rule harmonisation and data privacy ...
With businesses now building back up following the pandemic, focus has moved onto ensuring organisations are as efficient, effective and resilient as possible. Key to this is ensuring that managers are fully equipped to handle workplace issues. The session focuses on dealing with DSARS and other practical data protection issues for employers. The key takeaway points are set out below: Brexit and Data Protection The Data Protection Act 2018 continues to apply in the UK ...
European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) published its final report on “guidelines of MiFID II product governance requirements” yesterday ...
ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has become a familiar phrase and, in practice, the component parts of it are developing at different rates. ESG in leasing models: focus on the ‘social’ ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has become a familiar phrase and, in practice, the component parts of it are developing at different rates ...
Law and regulation in this area are developing at pace and it’s no longer just those businesses looking for ESG linked products which need to be analysing their Environmental, Social & Governance (‘ESG’) behaviours. This article considers what businesses may wish to be doing voluntarily, either as good practice or in preparation for a financing, in terms of developing their ESG practices ...
The planning system has a key role to play in both facilitating and legislating for environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. In the final instalment of Shoosmiths’ planning video series, legal director Sam Grange and associate Eram Watson examine how the real estate industry and planning system is incorporating ESG ...
Shoosmiths has launched ESG 360, a free online compliance audit tool to enable organisations to understand their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. ESG 360 users receive a personalised report providing red, amber or green ratings in relation to various elements of ESG compliance performance, alongside commentary and suggestions for improvement. Built around an online questionnaire, ESG 360 allows users to assess their general ESG performance or focus on specific aspects ...
Two recent articles in The Times and The Sunday Times highlighted the attractiveness of the affordable housing sector to investors keen to promote their ESG credentials. During the pandemic, ESG has gone from being a niche term used mainly by private equity funds and their investors to being a mainstream term used across a range of sectors and industries ...
Expectations are increasing and there is mounting pressure from investors and consumers for private and public sector organisations and charities to be seen to be doing something about ESG factors, including equality, diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion are increasingly recognised as crucial factors in building sustainable and successful supply chains in the private, public and charity sectors ...
A podcast series that explores privacy themes within some of the most well-known movies. In this episode, William Moore and Max Schrems discuss “The Social Network”. 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 ...
A podcast series that explores privacy themes within some of the most well-known movies. 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. In this episode, William Moore and Alice Wallbank discuss “The Terminator”. So tune in to hear if the Terminator’s creator, Cyberdyne Inc ...
A podcast series that explores privacy themes within some of the most well-known movies. 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. In this episode, William Moore and Mike Vallance discuss the “Marvel Cinematic Universe” ...
A podcast series that explores privacy themes within some of the most well-known movies. 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. In this episode, William Moore and Becky Gray discuss the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy ...
Following the publication of its guidance on environmental claims in September 2021, the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA) will start reviewing potentially misleading claims in January 2022. Enforcement action may follow if claims breach consumer law ...
EIS is a direct investment in a small unquoted company, which meets strict HMRC criteria. The tax advantages of such an investment are: Income tax relief at 20% on a maximum investment of £500,000 ...
The timing of challenges to an expert witness’s evidence has been considered in the Supreme Court case of Tui Ltd v Griffiths [2023] UKSC 48, with judgment handed down on 29 November 2023. Although the case emanated from a holiday claim in the County Court, this Supreme Court decision is of significance to all cases where parties seek to rely on evidence from experts or witnesses of fact ...
On October 24, the Head of Enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gurbir Grewal, addressed the New York City Bar Association. Grewal's speech covered a range of topics, highlighting the landscape of regulatory enforcement and compliance by the SEC with three themes: education; engagement; and execution ...
The headlines of the just announced energy strategy were already well known and the comments of ‘missed opportunities’ by various interested parties were equally predictable. Green targets to reduce demand such as energy efficiency measures and improving home insulation have fallen by the wayside, as have those for businesses and organisations on the demand side, with no mention of measures such as plant and equipment switching, on-site renewables or fuel switching ...
Employers can face a civil penalty under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 (“the Act”) of up to £20,000 per illegal worker for failing to carry out the prescribed right to work document checks. It is a criminal offence to knowingly employ anyone who does not have the right to work in the UK or where an employer had ‘reasonable cause to believe’ they did not have the right to work in the UK ...
Like many employers, Google LLC is considering how to increase employee office attendance. Over the pandemic, employees in a variety of roles showed that their jobs could be done effectively from home, and few companies have returned to a policy of asking their employees to work in the office on a full-time basis ...
There has been a further decision considering the effectiveness of arrangements entered into by property owners for the purposes of mitigating the effect of the rates charged on empty properties. In an earlier article on Landlords' relief over empty rates ruling, we commented on the High Court decision of Makro Property Limited v Nuneaton Borough Council concerning the availability of empty rates relief ...
Under the Trade Deal, the UK has agreed and committed that it will not reduce the level of protection for workers and that it will not reduce employment law rights below the standards that exist as at 31 December 2020 in a manner that affects trade or investment ...
All employment related securities (ERS) annual returns for the 2022/23 tax year must be filed by 6 July 2023. The returns are filed via HMRC’s online service (via the PAYE for Employers – Employment Related Securities section). There are separate returns for the tax-advantaged employee share schemes (i.e. EMI, CSOP, SAYE and SIP) and one for all other arrangements (e.g. non-tax advantaged options, or the direct issue of shares to employees or directors) ...
This article discusses the key employment law cases since October 2023 and what employers can learn from them. This follows our previous article in which we discussed relevant cases that arose during the summer months ...
In this article we highlight the most significant employment law cases since July 2023 and the lessons that employers should take from them. Making reasonable adjustments during recruitment The case of AECOM Ltd v Mallon is a useful reminder of the duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments for job applicants who are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 ...
