Taylor Wessing LLP
21 Experts
4 Contributions by Taylor Wessing LLP
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note considers:
the key risks for financial institutions lending to commercial organisations that use artificial intelligence (AI) or to AI companies
the principal documentation issues when lending to commercial entities that use AI or to AI companies (as applicable)
the main considerations when taking security from commercial entities that use AI or from AI companies
To promote clarity and avoid inconsistent usage of AI-related terminology, defined terms in this Practice Note carry the meanings given in Practice Note: Artificial intelligence—glossary of terms for legal professionals. Where further expressions are introduced, their meanings for this Practice Note are set out within it.
For broader guidance on AI matters, see Practice Notes:
Artificial intelligence and machine learning—an introduction to the technology
Artificial intelligence (AI) resource kit
Key risks when lending to businesses that use AI or to AI
Banking & Finance
PRACTICE NOTES
Loan market and developments
The corporate finance landscape in Germany has shifted markedly, with clear trends and challenges compared to earlier years:
Interest rate environment and financing costs: In contrast to the era of zero rates once seen across Europe, borrowing costs remain relatively elevated, even though the European Central Bank has cut policy rates multiple times. Reflecting the wider macro backdrop and sector‑specific demand, financing margins climbed sharply in recent years but have now begun to ease. That said, in some segments—such as software, technology and business services—pricing has largely normalised again amid intense competition. Across the market as a whole, the macroeconomic setting has pushed up companies’ financing costs significantly when set against the near‑zero interest years that persisted until 2021. Despite some margin compression, the overall cost of debt remains materially higher than during that period.
Banking & Finance
PRACTICE NOTES
Archived
This archived Practice Note examines when a remittance has arisen for the remittance basis of taxation. In determining this, reference must be made to the Conditions contained in section 809L of the Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA 2007). ITA 2007, s 809L sets out four condition clauses: Conditions A and B, which operate together, and Conditions C and D, which apply independently. This Note concentrates on Conditions C and D, as well as the exclusions that apply to them...
Abolition of remittance basis from 6 April 2025
The remittance basis of taxation was abolished for UK-resident, non-domiciled individuals with effect from 6 April 2025. The final year in which the remittance basis can be claimed is the 2024–25 tax year. From 6 April 2025, a new four-year regime, commonly known as the foreign income and gain (FIG) regime, will be available, granting 100% relief on
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
ARCHIVED:
As an archived Practice note, this guidance explains how to identify when a remittance has arisen for the remittance basis of taxation. For this purpose, one must look to the Conditions in section 809L of the Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA 2007). Section 809L of ITA 2007 sets out four condition limbs: Conditions A and B, which operate jointly, and Conditions C and D, each considered separately. This Practice note outlines Conditions A and B, illustrates types of remittances, and highlights exemptions or exceptions to how Conditions A and B apply...
Abolition of remittance basis from 6 April 2025
The remittance basis of taxation was abolished for UK resident non-domiciled individuals from 6 April 2025. The last year for which the remittance basis can be claimed is the 2024–25 tax year. From 6 April 2025, a new four-year regime, commonly known as the foreign income and gain
Private Client
20 Contributions by Taylor Wessing LLP Experts
PRACTICE NOTES
Practice Note
This Practice Note sets out the principal updates to the mandatory clinical evaluation and performance evaluation pathways for medical devices under the EU regime brought in by Regulation (EU) 2017/745 (the Medical Devices Regulation, MDR) and Regulation (EU) 2017/746 (the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation, IVDR), together termed the MD Regulations. The MD Regulations represent a substantial shift in how the health and safety of devices are appraised, requiring a structured, rigorously evidenced clinical/performance evaluation that starts with the conformity process (CE marking) and carries on throughout the entire life cycle of a device. This Practice Note examines the practical consequences of the revised definitions and obligations for clinical data, clinical evidence and, notably, clinical investigations.
For further information on:
an introduction to the MD Regulations, see Practice Note: Introduction to the EU Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices
Life Sciences
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note explores the European database on medical devices (EUDAMED) and the obligations on economic operators, including manufacturers, distributors and importers of medical devices, arising under Regulation (EU) 2017/745, the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR), and Regulation (EU) 2017/746, the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR). For guidance on:
key provisions of the MDR and IVDR, refer to Practice Note: Introduction to the EU Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation
scope and classification of devices, conformity assessment procedures and Notified Bodies, see Practice Note: The EU Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation—scope, classification of devices and Notified Bodies
clinical evaluation and investigation of devices, consult Practice Note: Clinical evaluation and performance evaluation of medical devices in the EU
post-market surveillance, see Practice Note: Post-market surveillance of medical devices in the
Life Sciences
PRACTICE NOTES
Post-market surveillance
Post-market surveillance refers to manufacturers’ ongoing oversight of medical devices to confirm they remain safe and effective for patients once authorised and placed on the market. Its aim is to detect whether corrective or preventive safety actions are needed. While the former regulatory framework under the medical device directives did impose compliance duties, it faced criticism for lacking rigour in tracking safety when products are actually used by patients, and for failing to feed that experience adequately into the official safety profile and continuing authorisation. The device scandals involving Poly Implant Prothése (PIP) breast implants in the early 2000s, followed by a widespread hip implant crisis that harmed hundreds of thousands of patients across multiple countries, exposed the shortcomings of a safety certification regime unevenly carried out by different Notified Bodies, and triggered a comprehensive overhaul of medical device
Life Sciences
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note outlines the breadth and categorisation of devices governed by Regulation (EU) 2017/745, the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR), and Regulation (EU) 2017/746, the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR) (together, the MD Regulations), along with conformity assessment routes and the designation and oversight of Notified Bodies...
For information on:
key provisions of the MDR and IVDR — see Practice Note: Introduction to the EU Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation
clinical evaluation and investigation of devices — see Practice Note: Clinical evaluation and performance evaluation of medical devices in the EU
post-market surveillance — see Practice Note: Post-market surveillance of medical devices in the EU
European database on medical devices (EUDAMED) and the obligations of economic operators — see Practice Note: The EU Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices
Life Sciences
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note summarises Regulation (EU) 2017/745, the Medical Devices Regulation (MDR), and Regulation (EU) 2017/746, the In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation (IVDR), along with the steps for placing a device on the EU market, including how the intricate transitional rules apply to ‘legacy’ devices certified under the former directives system
For fuller analysis of how the MD Regulations affect related topics, see the following Practice Notes:
The EU Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation—scope, classification of devices and Notified Bodies
Clinical evaluation and performance evaluation of medical devices in the EU
Post-market surveillance of medical devices in the EU
The EU Medical Devices Regulation and In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Regulation—EUDAMED and economic operators
The EU MDR and IVDR implementing acts and guidance tracker
Medical devices—UK and EU regimes
Life Sciences
PRACTICE NOTES
What are incremental facilities?
An incremental facility is a provision in a credit agreement that, once certain pre-agreed conditions are met, gives a borrower the latitude to take on further, or enlarged, debt commitments. Those additional commitments will usually and ordinarily enjoy guarantees and security on the same footing as the existing facilities. Such arrangements are commonly nicknamed “accordion” facilities because the overall commitments under the credit agreement expand when incremental debt is raised.
Typical deal structure—where/when are they used
Flexibility for incremental debt is a familiar element of sponsor-backed transactions in both the large-cap and mid-cap space. The Loan Market Association’s leveraged finance form of loan agreement (the LMA Credit Document) now provides optional drafting to include this feature within the form. In mid-cap deals, the expectation is generally confined to pari passu ranking senior term incremental facilities, which also sit alongside the
Banking & Finance
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note sets out an overview of the principal legal papers used to bring a loan portfolio disposal to completion and highlights the usual negotiating stances taken by sellers and buyers. For a primer on loan portfolio disposals and a sample pathway these transactions often follow, see Practice Note: Introductory guide to loan portfolio sales. For an outline of some of the core matters that can arise on loan portfolio sales, see Practice Note: Loan portfolio sales—key issues. The market’s approach to documentation for portfolio disposals is not entirely uniform; however, over the last decade a number of recurring features and conventions have developed, which are considered in this Practice Note.
Key documents used in portfolio sales
The documents most frequently encountered in loan portfolio sales include:
Confidentiality agreements
Sale and purchase agreement
Disclosure letter
Banking & Finance
PRACTICE NOTES
ARCHIVED: This Practice Note gives an overview of the non-resident capital gains tax (NRCGT) charge that applied to certain non-UK resident persons when they disposed of UK residential property on or after 6 April 2015 and before 6 April 2019.
This note is archived and is no longer maintained. From 6 April 2019, changes to the taxation of gains realised by non-UK residents on UK immovable property took effect, as set out in section 13 and Schedule 1, Part 1 to the Finance Act 2019. For the position from 6 April 2019, see Practice Note: Non-residents and tax on chargeable gains from 6 April 2019—gains and UK immovable property.
For disposals taking place on or after 6 April 2015 and before 6 April 2019, NRCGT applied where non-UK residents disposed of UK residential property. The rules covered:
Non-UK resident
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES STOP PRESS :
On 8 December 2025, TPR unveiled a programme examining how DC and DB pension schemes approach allocating to growth assets, and identifying obstacles to investing in private markets and infrastructure. Through targeted engagement with investment consultancies, schemes and industry representative bodies, TPR is collecting market insight on opportunities, vehicles, constraints and enablers, with a particular focus on UK opportunities and investment routes. The regulator’s attention is on schemes of meaningful scale that are weighing, or have the capacity to pursue, investments in private markets and related assets. This outreach is scheduled to conclude by end‑2025; TPR will then share outcomes with government and issue a market oversight report in 2026. Executive Director Julian Lyne signalled that, where schemes do not meet required standards, TPR will invite trustees to consider whether
Pensions
PRACTICE NOTES
STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime
Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025), which gained Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, enacts the abolition of the remittance basis of taxation and introduces a residence-based system from 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also removes domicile as the principal test when determining liability to inheritance tax.
Other updates include:
amendments to the rules that set excluded property status,
abolition of the protected settlements status for offshore trusts,
modifications to overseas workday relief.
For analysis of these measures, see Practice Notes: The abolition of the remittance basis of taxation from 2025–26 and A new residence-based regime for IHT from 2025–26. See also: Finance Bill Tracking Service: Key dates (Finance Bill 2025) and Finance Act 2025.
This Practice Note explains the tax position of individuals who own a UK residential property, used as a home, through an offshore company. It does not
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
What is meant by ‘personalised medicines’?
The expression ‘personalised medicine’, sometimes called ‘targeted medicine’, commonly refers to therapies aimed at rare conditions. As outlined in this Practice Note, these medicines often involve small‑molecule products repositioned for fresh indications or for subsets of existing patient cohorts that share a predictive biomarker of disease. They can also be biological medicines characterised by functional attributes. Such products present distinct challenges for securing patents and for patent enforcement, some of which are yet to be determined by the English courts. This Practice Note also sets out the limits of patent protection and supplementary protection certificates (SPCs) for these approaches, and signposts other rights relevant to research in this field, including the protection afforded by data and market exclusivity.
What are rare diseases?
Rare diseases are conditions that affect a small minority of the population. In the US, a rare disease is
Life Sciences
PRACTICE NOTES
Factors influencing structure
How a contemplated buy-out should be shaped is usually addressed early in the timetable and is typically set out in a document produced by the sponsor’s tax advisers, commonly referred to as a tax structure paper or memorandum. As the transaction proceeds, the structure often develops as fresh information emerges and professional advice is finalised. In this setting, ‘structure’ generally encompasses:
the corporate framework put in place to effect the acquisition;
the injection of funds into that framework and their movement within the group so they are where they must be at completion; and
the steps required to implement the acquisition, the sponsor’s investment and any reinvestment by management
These components are naturally interconnected. The term can also at times be used more broadly to cover determining the capital structure, ie the sources of the
Banking & Finance
PRACTICE NOTES
What is a protector?
A protector is an individual who holds powers under a trust but is not a trustee. A protector is independent of the trustee and stands apart from the trustee’s role. The protector’s role is usually to monitor, oversee, or exercise a degree of control over the administration and running of the trust by the trustee. It is commonly the case that a settlor chooses to provide for a protector where a third party or an institutional trust company is formally appointed as trustee.
Why have a protector?
There is no requirement to have a protector of a trust, and the settlor must decide whether or not to provide for one at all. The power most commonly given to a protector is the power to appoint and remove the trustee of the trust as needed. If there is no protector, or no person who is
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
Principal private residence relief (PPR relief) removes some or all of the gain arising on the sale or disposal of an individual’s dwelling-house from capital gains tax (CGT) where the property was their sole or principal residence at any time during their ownership period.
UK-resident taxpayers may claim PPR relief on the disposal of a UK or a non-UK residence. Individuals who are not UK resident may claim PPR relief on the disposal of a UK dwelling-house.
From 6 April 2015, a residence will not qualify for PPR relief in a tax year unless the individual either:
was resident, in that tax year, in the country where the dwelling-house is situated; or
spent at least 90 nights in the dwelling-house (or in dwelling-houses within the same country) during that tax year.
Principal private residence relief: the basics
In general, gains realised on the disposal of an
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note is intended to be read alongside the following flowchart. For an introduction to the relevant property regime for trusts, see Practice Notes: Trusts—inheritance tax—overview and The meaning of relevant property. The inheritance tax (IHT) charge on relevant property arises on two occasions:
the periodic ten-year anniversary of the settlement’s creation (the principal (ten-year) charge), and
when property (or value) ceases to be relevant property other than on excepted occasions (the exit charge)
For further guidance on the exit charge as it applied prior to 18 November 2015, see Practice Note: before 18 November 2015. This Practice Note examines the calculation of the exit charge on relevant property on or after 18 November 2015 in more detail. The principal emphasis is on inter vivos trusts.
The exit charge—what constitutes an 'exit' subject to charge?
Before moving to the method of
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note outlines key tax considerations for businesses in the life sciences industry, including pharmaceutical, medical technology and biotechnology companies. It examines, among other areas, corporation tax topics such as research and development (R&D) reliefs and the patent box, together with cross-border matters including transfer pricing and investment reliefs...
Cross-border framework
On 31 January 2020, the UK left EU membership and entered an implementation period during which the EU continued to treat it as a Member State for many purposes. This ended on 31 January 2020, after which EU law and the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union largely ceased to apply to the UK. The trading relationship between the UK and the EU is thereafter governed by the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement...
State aid
Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the UK is no longer bound by EU State aid law,
Tax
PRACTICE NOTES
This Practice Note
This Practice Note reviews the principal issues that can emerge on a loan portfolio sale and that are likely to matter to banking law practitioners handling large-scale loan (and other financial product) disposals. For an outline of the usual participants and the sale process in a loan portfolio transaction, see Practice Note: Introductory guide to loan portfolio sales, and for an overview of the legal documentation typically deployed, see Practice Note: Loan portfolio sales—legal documentation. For additional insight into matters that may arise on single asset debt trades, see Practice Note: Introductory guide to loan transfers. Buyers and sellers alike should also assess whether the EU regime on non‑performing loans in Directive (EU) 2021/2167 and Implementing Regulation EU 2023/2083 is applicable. If it is, there will be specific supplementary obligations for buyers, sellers and ‘credit servicers’. There is, as yet, no
Banking & Finance
PRACTICE NOTES
ARCHIVED: This archived Practice note outlines the remittance rules affecting UK‑resident non‑domiciled individuals (non‑doms). It sets out what does and does not amount to a remittance, the extension of the remittance basis of taxation to temporary non‑residents, who may use the remittance basis, how to claim it, and the potential drawbacks of doing so. It includes references to the Finance Act 2012.
Abolition of the UK's existing tax regime for UK resident non-UK domiciled individuals
The UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, confirmed on 29 July 2024 that, with effect from 6 April 2025, the government will proceed with abolishing the UK’s existing tax regime for UK‑resident non‑UK domiciled individuals (non‑doms) and introducing the new four‑year FIG (foreign income and gains) exemption regime announced by the previous government at the Budget in March 2024—see: Spring Budget 2024—Private Client
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
ARCHIVED:
This archived Practice note addresses mixed funds in the context of the remittance basis. It reviews:
the statutory meaning of ‘mixed fund’ in section 809Q(6) of the Income Tax Act 2007
when a movement from a mixed fund is treated as a transfer
the steps for determining the make-up of a remittance (arising under Conditions A and B) drawn from a mixed fund
STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime
Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025), which obtained Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, introduces the abolition of the remittance basis of taxation and its replacement with a residence-based regime from 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also substitutes domicile as the key determinant of inheritance tax liability with residence. Additional reforms include revising the rules for excluded property status, removing protected settlements status for offshore trusts, and changes to
Private Client
PRACTICE NOTES
STOP PRESS: Abolition of non-dom regime and introduction of residence-based IHT regime
Finance Act 2025 (FA 2025), which received Royal Assent on 20 March 2025, enacts the abolition of the remittance basis of taxation, replacing it with a residence-based system from 6 April 2025. FA 2025 also substitutes domicile as the principal test for exposure to inheritance tax. Further measures include revisions to the rules on excluded property status, removal of the protected settlements status for offshore trusts, and updates to overseas workday relief. For details on these reforms, see Practice Notes: The abolition of the remittance basis of taxation from 2025–26 and A new residence-based regime for IHT from 2025–26. See also: Finance Bill Tracking Service: Key dates (Finance Bill 2025) and Finance Act 2025.
Register of overseas entities
A non-UK company that owns, or plans to acquire, legal title to an interest in UK land must
Private Client
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