Advance percentage meaning

As the SFO's drive for whistleblower incentives gathers momentum, corporations should consider the implications for managing misconduct risk On 22 April 2025, the Home Office unveiled the second part of Jonathan Fisher KC’s fraud offences review, the first independent examination of UK fraud law since 1986. Spanning six phases of the fraud lifecycle, the opening phase features an in-depth appraisal of rewards for criminal informants and whistleblowers. The Fisher review is anticipated to be pivotal to the Labour government’s fraud agenda, offering the SFO a key platform to advance incentives reform within government. Soon after the announcement, the SFO stated it would liaise with the Fisher Review team to set out its case for change. These moves followed HM Treasury’s March 2025 commitment to introduce a fresh informants’ scheme aimed at tackling serious tax non-compliance, with a focus on major corporates. The Treasury made clear the model will mirror US-style whistleblower incentives programmes, granting informants a fixed percentage of tax recovered. The precise rate, together with further particulars, is...

What is retention? Holding back a retention from interim payments is a common feature of commercial construction contracts, particularly those using standard forms. Retention describes the portion of each interim payment an employer withholds as security for the contractor’s future performance and as an incentive to ensure every obligation is fulfilled. A set percentage is deducted from each payment; this amount is referred to as the ‘retention’ (or ‘retentions’). This approach is often mirrored down the supply chain—for example, a main contractor may retain sums from a sub-contractor. The arrangement facilitates part-payment as the works advance, while postponing the balance until all contractual duties are completed. In addition to promoting completion of the works, the retained funds can be used to pay for correcting defects where the contractor is in default under the contract. How much retention is retained? Retention levels can be as high as around 10%. On larger projects, the figure is more commonly between 3–5% (although some public sector clients adopt a policy of...

Contributory negligence Contributory negligence operates as a partial defence that may result in a reduction of damages. Other defences can be relevant too. See Practice Notes: Did the claimant consent to the risk of injury? and Was the claimant involved in an illegal activity? Where a defendant intends to advance contributory negligence, they must allege, plead, and prove that the claimant played a part in their own injury by failing to exercise all reasonable care for their personal safety. Section 1(1) of the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 provides, in essence, that if damage arises partly through the claimant’s fault and partly through the fault of another, the claim is not defeated by the claimant’s fault; instead, the damages recoverable are to be reduced to the extent the court considers just and equitable, having regard to the claimant’s share of responsibility. Courts record any finding of contributory negligence as a proportion—stated as a percentage or fraction—of the damages. The exercise involves comparing the respective fault...

How is a liquidator’s remuneration determined? Remuneration for an insolvency office-holder (in whatever capacity they are appointed) is determined under the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986) and the Insolvency (England and Wales) Rules 2016 (IR 2016), SI 2016/1024. In addition, office-holders should have regard to the Statements of Insolvency Practice (SIPs), which provide guidance on the basis of remuneration to be used. Any court considering the question of office-holder remuneration will apply part six of the Practice Direction on Insolvency Proceedings (PDIP), and this should also be taken into account by office-holders in practice. Fees can be fixed either: as a percentage of the value of the assets which are realised, distributed or both realised and distributed by reference to the time properly spent by the office-holder and the office-holder’s staff in attending to matters arising in the liquidation as a set (fixed) amount, or as a combination of all three In a members’ voluntary liquidation (MVL), it is...