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Acquisition expenses meaning

What does Acquisition expenses mean?
Acquisition expenses are the costs a life company incurs to win and set up new insurance policies. They typically include intermediary commissions, distribution and marketing spend, underwriting and medical examination fees, and policy issuance and onboarding costs. They are distinct from renewal, administration or claims handling expenses and must be directly attributable to securing new business. This is a descriptive term used across insurance accounting, regulation and commercial agreements, rather than a single statutory definition. Recognition and measurement are addressed in accounting standards (including IFRS 17’s insurance acquisition cash flows and, where applicable, FRS 103/FRS 102) and in prudential regimes (Solvency II as onshored in the UK and applied in Ireland), which treat acquisition expenses as contract boundary cash flows for technical provisions and regulatory reporting. In practice, acquisition expenses are central to product pricing, commission structures, solvency calculations and disclosures, and to assessing “new business strain”. They also feature in distribution and reinsurance arrangements (for example, net acquisition cost metrics and clawback terms). Usage and meaning are broadly consistent across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland; differences arise mainly from the accounting framework and local reporting requirements rather than substantive legal divergence.
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View the related News about Acquisition expenses

NEWS
UK tax weekly: Centrica Supreme Court, GEFI treaty relief, JTI unallowable purpose; VAT grouping; King’s Speech; HMRC updates—18 July 2024

In this issue: Budgets and Finance Bills Companies and corporation tax Brexit and tax Real estate tax Individuals and income tax Stamp and transfer taxes VAT Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers New Q&As Useful information Budgets and Finance Bills King’s Speech 2024 His Majesty the King outlined the government’s priorities, agenda and intended measures for the forthcoming parliamentary session during the State Opening of Parliament on 17 July 2024. Initial reactions from the Private Client community to the announcements have been collated. See: LNB News 17/07/2024 92. CIOT letter to the new Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury The CIOT has written to the incoming Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray MP, setting out tax matters for the new administration. See: LNB News 17/07/2024 22. Companies and corporation tax Supreme Court finds advisers’ fees were capital in...

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View the related Practice Notes about Acquisition expenses

PRACTICE NOTES
Leveraged Buy-Outs: Equity, Senior Debt, Unitranche, Second Lien, Mezzanine, PIK and Notes - Structures and Key Considerations

In most leveraged buy-outs, funding combines equity and debt. Deployment of proceeds varies by deal, but finance is typically directed to: buying the target business—usually by making a direct payment to the seller meeting transaction costs and expenses, including advisers’ fees, and refinancing outstanding debt A transaction may instead aim to refinance existing liabilities or return capital to the sponsor without a full exit—known as a ‘leveraged recapitalisation’—rather than acquire a target (see Practice Note: What is acquisition finance?). This Practice Note considers: how investors inject equity into the group and the forms that equity may take the range of debt options, including senior facilities, mezzanine facilities, second lien facilities, PIK or payment in kind facilities, unitranche facilities, senior secured notes and subordinated notes, and the factors that influence the choice of funding structure For an introductory overview, see Practice Note: Introductory guide to acquisition finance. For a glossary of key terms and...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Software development agreements: payment mechanisms, risk allocation, expenses/disbursements, inflation uplifts, tax/VAT, late payment and revenue recognition (waterfall and agile)

Software development—in brief A software development agreement applies when a customer retains or commissions a software developer to design, build, test and, at times, install and maintain tailor-made software. Development activity is also commonly a core element of systems integration agreements as well. These contracts deal with the acquisition, development and integration of an entire IT system, comprising both hardware and software components. The software strand often entails the developer or integrator producing a substantial share of bespoke or modified software. In each scenario, the payment mechanism that sets out which fees the customer must pay (and when those payments fall due) is a crucial feature which—together with other contractual terms, including limits and exclusions on the developer’s liability for contract breach, the calculation of liquidated damages for late delivery by the developer, and the warranties and indemnities the developer gives to the customer—shapes how risk is allocated between the parties involved. The extent to which risk shifts from the customer to the developer will be determined by the...

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PRACTICE NOTES
Aviation finance: aircraft finance leases—structuring, security and enforcement, SPVs, rental and interest, taxes, insurance, market disruption and termination, including Cape Town, Blue Sky and LIBOR transition considerations

There are two main types of aircraft finance structure: secured lending, under which the lender advances funds to the purchaser to acquire the aircraft and takes security over the asset, and leasing, which in many cases provides greater flexibility to financiers in many instances Difficulties with secured lending Secured loan structure Under a conventional secured loan arrangement, the lender will lend money to the prospective owner of the aircraft to fund its purchase or acquisition by the borrower. In return for making the finance available, the lender will typically then take first‑priority security generally by way of a mortgage over, and in respect of, the aircraft (see Practice Note: Taking security over aircraft in aviation finance transactions). Once the loan has been paid in full, together with any other sums due under the transaction documents, the lender will release the aircraft from the mortgage, with unencumbered title reverting to the borrower...

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PRECEDENTS
Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) Deed Precedent: Controlling Interest Acquisition, All-Employee Benefit Compliance, Trustee Governance and Voting (TCGA 1992; IHTA 1984) (England and Wales)

This Deed is made on [ insert date on which this deed is executed by all parties ] Parties [ Insert name of Company ], with its registered office at [ insert address of registered office ] and registered number [ insert registered number of Company ] (the Company); and [ Insert name of Trustee ], whose registered office is at [ insert address of registered office ] [ and registered number [ insert registered number of Trustee ] ] (the Original Trustee). RECITALS The Company intends to create a trust for the benefit of the employees of the Company, to be called the [ insert name ] Employee–Ownership Trust, and designed to meet the requirements of section 236J of the Taxation of Chargeable Gains Act 1992. The Company has transferred to the Original Trustee the sum of £[ insert initial settlement amount ] as the initial Trust Fund...

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PRECEDENTS
AML/CTF red flag scenarios with model answers for UK lawyers: PEPs, source of funds, cash property, cross-border funding; SARs, NCA and POCA 2002

Scenario A: Politically exposed person You are instructed by a new client to act on the acquisition of a football club. He is a high-net-worth individual whose wealth was generated through mining in an emerging market, later entering politics before returning to private ventures. In line with the firm’s policy, enhanced due diligence was undertaken and his status as a politically exposed person was identified. When questioned on source of funds, he stated the purchase would be financed from the sale proceeds of a former mining enterprise. Throughout the engagement he has proved challenging, frequently altering his instructions without coherent justification. A junior lawyer has also flagged a recent press report alleging he bribed officials to secure the mining concessions underpinning his fortune. In addition, during his political career he was linked to an expenses scandal...

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PRECEDENTS
Share Incentive Plan Rules (Schedule 2 ITEPA): Eligibility, Awards, Holding Periods, Forfeiture, Trustee and Corporate Actions (England and Wales)

1 Definitions and interpretation 1.1 The terms below shall be interpreted as follows: Accumulation Period — with respect to Partnership Shares, the span during which the Trustee holds a Qualifying Employee’s Partnership Share Money before buying Partnership Shares or returning it to the employee; Acquisition Date — (a) for Partnership Shares where an Accumulation Period is in place, has the meaning given in paragraph 52(5) of Schedule 2; (b) for Partnership Shares where no Accumulation Period is in place, has the meaning given in paragraph 50(4) of Schedule 2; (c) for Dividend Shares, has the same meaning given by paragraph 66(4) of Schedule 2; Associated Company — has the same meaning as in paragraph 94 of Schedule 2; Award Date — in respect of Free Shares or Matching Shares, the date on which those Shares are granted; Award — (a) in respect of Free...

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