AIM meaning

Introduction to freezing injunctions and scope of this checklist A freezing injunction (also known as a freezing order) is a temporary court order that prevents a respondent from disposing of or transferring its assets out of the relevant jurisdiction—namely England and Wales—or, in the case of a worldwide freezing order (WFO), from moving them anywhere in the world. The court’s principal aim in granting such relief is to preserve the respondent’s assets so that, if the applicant later obtains judgment against the respondent, there will be assets available for recovery by the applicant and, if necessary, enforcement action. This Checklist explains how to make an application for a freezing injunction where claims are contemplated or already underway in a corporate or personal insolvency context. As the precise circumstances of each matter must be assessed, this Checklist does not claim to be exhaustive; rather, it provides an overview of the key considerations at each stage when seeking an order of this kind. The focus throughout is asset preservation pending determination...

This checklist sets out the key matters to weigh up when preparing post-termination restrictions for a client, whether the aim is to safeguard trade secrets and confidential material, a trade connection, or the stability of the workforce. For guidance on leading rulings and key decisions concerning the enforceability of post-termination restrictions, see Practice Note: Decisions on post-termination restrictions and garden leave in employment contracts. General the individual instructing you on the restrictions should be sufficiently senior and engaged in day-to-day operations to brief you on the business and the employee’s function in it, the legitimate interests to be protected, and the proportionality and reasonableness of the restraints and restrictions, to ensure instructions can be provided for these points pinpoint the employer’s legitimate business interests, namely trade secrets and confidential information, trade connection, and the stability of the workforce—see the Practice Note: Legitimate business interest for reference assess whether the employee’s duties involve access to, or control over, any of these specific legitimate business interests...

Repair under the common law Under the common law, a landlord, relative to a tenant, bears notably heavy duties regarding upkeep and repair of the leased premises, see Practice Note: Repair clauses in commercial leases in Scotland—Repair under the common law. Within commercial leasing, landlords will almost invariably aim to exclude all such common law repairing liabilities for the demised premises, though not for common areas in multi-let buildings; see Practice Note: Service charge and outgoing provisions in commercial leases in Scotland. Consequently, tenants usually shoulder substantial repair commitments. The prevalent model is the full repairing and insuring (FRI) lease, under which the tenant assumes responsibility for repairs of every kind save for damage arising from insured risks; see Practice Note: Repair clauses in commercial leases in Scotland—Contracting out of the common law—the full repairing and insuring (FRI) Lease and The modern commercial lease: Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia [466]...

Aim of this flowchart Under section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, anyone who carries on a regulated activity in the UK in the course of business, without an applicable exclusion or exemption, must hold authorisation from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and/or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). This requirement is referred to as the general prohibition. For further detail on the general prohibition and the scope of regulated activities, consult the Practice Notes: The general prohibition and implications of its breach, and What are regulated activities? This flowchart is intended to assist in deciding whether a person is undertaking the regulated activities of effecting and carrying out contracts of insurance as principal, pursuant to article 10(1) and (2) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (SI 2001/544) (RAO). Any references here to PERG are to the FCA’s Perimeter Guidance Manual, which provides regulatory guidance within the FCA Handbook. It serves as a guide to the FCA Handbook...

Purpose of the CBTL flowchart The aim of this flowchart is to support firms in deciding whether they are required to register to carry on regulated activities in connection with consumer buy-to-let (CBTL) mortgages under the Mortgage Credit Directive Order 2015, SI 2015/910 (MCD Order 2015). That Order transposed the EU Mortgage Credit Directive (Directive 2014/17/EU) (the EU MCD) into the UK regulatory framework ahead of the UK’s decision to leave the EU. It should also be read alongside Practice Note: Regulation of consumer buy-to-let lending in the UK. The CBTL flowchart...

This decision tree outlines a logical route for deciding whether you can carry out live telephone marketing and, if permitted, who you may contact. For guidance on other forms of marketing, see: Direct marketing decision tree—postal—data protection and Direct marketing decision tree—email and other electronic mail marketing—data protection. Direct marketing refers to the communication (by any means) of advertising or promotional material directed at specific individuals. Live or automated telephone calls? This decision tree is not intended for automated calls, as the rules governing automated calls are far more stringent than those for live calls. You must not make automated marketing calls to an individual unless they have given explicit consent to receive that precise type of call from you. General marketing consent, or consent applicable only to live calls, is insufficient—it must expressly include automated calls. Consequently, there is little value in a decision tree for automated marketing calls—this tree covers live marketing calls only. See Practice Note: Direct marketing compliance—Automated calls. Claims management services ...

Nick Ephgrave Nick Ephgrave acknowledged it was no secret that the SFO has witnessed a slight drop-off in the number of companies approaching the specialist anti-corruption body with suspected fraud and bribery within their organisation. To address this, the SFO intends to invest further in covert intelligence-gathering so it can better understand what is happening in corporate settings and, in turn, either pursue targets or encourage them to come forward, he told Law360 and reporters from other news outlets. Ephgrave said he wants to be more in control of the referrals received by an agency that largely depends on businesses volunteering information, with the aim of invigorating and provoking self-reporting by companies. He added that he is really seeking to drive up the number of corporates the SFO deals with, whether through self-reporting supported by revised corporate guidance, via intelligence from whistleblowers, or by relying on good old-fashioned covert policing techniques such as surveillance, the deployment of undercover officers, and the use of informants...

What is the background to the call for evidence? Following Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt’s Mansion House address the night before, the DWP launched the call for evidence. Issued in tandem with several other DWP publications, these materials covered a broad spread of topics affecting UK pension schemes. Their shared aim was to boost investment in UK productive finance whilst shielding members’ benefits and giving precedence to a resilient, diversified gilt market. The Chancellor characterised the proposals across the various papers as the ‘Mansion House reforms’. The DWP placed the Response alongside further papers pertinent to DB pension schemes, including: the Autumn Statement 2023, which confirms that the Government will reduce the authorised surplus payments charge, currently payable on a return of surplus to a scheme employer, from 35% to 25% from 6 April 2024; and Call for evidence outcome: Pension trustee skills, capability and culture What was the outcome? ...

Illuminate Skin Clinics Ltd v HMRC [2025] UKUT 341 (TCC) The appellant’s services were carried out by Dr Shotter, a registered medical practitioner acting for the appellant. It was common ground that a number of those supplies, including make-up and retail skincare products, also attracted the standard rate of VAT. The question was whether other services, for example procedures that reduce fat cells, fell within the exemption in item 1, Group 7, Schedule 9 to the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (VATA 1994)...

This Practice Note forms part of the Lexis+® UK Corporate private equity buyout transaction toolkit. The reporting process Every adviser appointed to carry out due diligence ought to flag principal findings as they emerge, particularly any significant risks or concerns, and then prepare a due diligence report to highlight material issues arising from their review work and analysis. The advisers’ engagement letters must clearly define the agreed timetable, format and scope of the due diligence report. Draft or interim reports can be produced and shared at intervals during the process, enabling material issues to be promptly addressed as they arise. Frequently, by the point the final report goes to the private equity investor, they will be aware of all material matters that could affect the transaction in question. The aim of a legal due diligence report is to: provide the investor with adequate information about the target and to summarise that material in a succinct and comprehensive ...

CASE HUB ARCHIVED This archived case hub reflects the position as at the judgment of 7 December 2022; it is no longer maintained. See further, timeline. Case facts Outline Appeal before the General Court seeking annulment of the Commission’s readopted infringement decision of 17 December 2020, which imposed a reduced fine amounting to €9.4m (AT.39563). Latest development On 7 December 2022, the General Court delivered its judgment and dismissed the appeal in full. In particular, it found that: (i) CCPL grasped the Commission’s reasoning, and the material presented by CCPL was insufficient to overturn the presumption applied by the Commission that CCPL exercised decisive influence over entities within the CCPL group; and (iii) the Commission did not err in concluding that a fine reduction can only be warranted by the aim of preventing the undertaking’s economic viability from being irreparably endangered and its assets stripped of value, so the applicant’s intention to develop operating companies of the CCPL group cannot, in principle, justify such...

What is the Pensions Advice Allowance? Following consultation in 2016/17, the government brought in, from 6 April 2017, the Pensions Advice Allowance. It enables eligible pension scheme members to withdraw a fixed sum from their pension pot tax-free to cover holistic retirement advice. At the member’s instruction, the scheme may therefore reduce the value of the member’s pot by the advice fee and pay the funds straight to the member’s adviser. This measure stemmed from the Financial Advice Market Review, which highlighted an advice gap affecting people who require retirement planning support but cannot meet the cost from net-of-tax income or savings. It is available in addition to other existing advice allowances and payment routes for advice. These include adviser charging, which does not permit pension monies to be used to fund holistic retirement advice. For further details, see Other types of pensions advice measures below. The government’s aim is to help those preparing for retirement to use the Pensions Advice Allowance to fund holistic...

Memorandum prepared by [ Name of Firm ] for the directors of [ insert company name ] (the Company) providing guidance on annual environmental reporting obligations and disclosures 1 Scope This memorandum sets out the principal environmental disclosures the Company must present in its annual report and accounts. It reviews and explains the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) obligation to provide climate-related disclosures in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), the need to state greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, energy consumption and actions to improve energy efficiency under the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) regime, and other environmental legislation [ , as well as relevant principles and provisions within the QCA Corporate Governance Code (QCA Code) and the Wates Corporate Governance Principles for Large Private Companies (Wates Principles) ]. It also offers practical guidance for companies when assembling their environmental disclosures for reporting purposes. [ As an AIM company, the Company is subject to continuing disclosure obligations under the AIM...

We conduct our business [ es ] with integrity. We must all work together to ensure our business [ es ] remain [ s ] free from bribery and corruption. This FAQ, which is central to that aim, sets out how we can achieve our business objectives in a way that aligns with our commitment to combating bribery and corruption. 1 Do the same rules and regulations relating to gifts and hospitality apply in every country? No. Rules and regulations vary from country to country, and in the United States the rules for the federal government are different from those for individual states, and they also differ among the various states. [ Insert organisation’s name ] specifies the appropriate limits for gifts and hospitality in the countries where it operates in our [ international permissible gifts/hospitality limits table ]. 2 A vendor gave me a seasonal gift. May I accept it?...

STOP PRESS : Significant reforms to the UK prospectus regime came into force on 19 January 2026 Major changes to the UK regime for public offers and admissions to trading took effect on 19 January 2026. The framework for securities offers and UK market admissions is now chiefly contained in the Public Offers and Admissions to Trading Regulations 2024, SI 2024/105 (the POATRs), together with the FCA sourcebook, The Prospectus Rules: Admission to Trading on a Regulated Market (PRM). The UK Prospectus Regulation and the FCA Prospectus Regulation Rules have been repealed. The reforms aim to simplify capital raising and substantially lessen the circumstances in which a company must publish an FCA-approved prospectus for a further share issue. For full details of the changes, see Practice Note: UK prospectus regime reform. This Practice Note sets out the prospectus regime that applied before 19 January 2026...

Recognised growth market exemption from stamp duty and SDRT The recognised growth market exemption from stamp duty and SDRT covers securities admitted to trading on a recognised growth market, provided they are not listed on any market. Although people often say AIM shares are ‘listed on AIM’ or ‘AIM listed’, they are in fact unlisted; it is therefore better to describe them as ‘AIM traded shares’ or simply ‘AIM shares’. They are classed as unlisted because they are not included in the UK official list. Under section 1005(3) of the Income Tax Act 2007 (ITA 2007), a security admitted to trading on a UK recognised stock exchange counts as ‘listed’ only if it appears on the UK official list. Furthermore, section 99A(3) of the Finance Act 1986 confirms that the meaning of ‘listed’ in ITA 2007, s 1005(3)–(5) also applies to the references to ‘listed’ within the recognised growth market exemption from stamp duty and SDRT...

Section 2 of the Mental Health Act 1983 (MeHA 1983) Under MeHA 1983, s 2 permits a person to be taken into hospital and kept there once an application for admission for assessment has been properly and lawfully made, the aim being to evaluate their mental health. MeHA 1983, s 3 in turn authorises admission to hospital and continued detention where an application for admission for treatment has been successfully made. The Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA 2005) sets out a number of governing principles which are to be appropriately applied for the purposes of that Act, in connection with its application...