AIM Rules 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...

STOP PRESS: A major, wide-ranging overhaul of the UK listing framework took effect on 29 July 2024, abolishing the premium and standard listing segments and introducing a unified category for equity shares of commercial companies. That commercial companies category is strongly disclosure-led and sits alongside other listing categories, including the shell companies, secondary listing and closed ended investment fund categories. A new UK Listing Rules sourcebook commenced to deliver these reforms, and the previous Listing Rules sourcebook was withdrawn at the same time. For more detail, see Practice Note: Reform of the UK listing regime—fundamentals for guidance. This Checklist represents the listing regime as it existed before 29 July 2024. A limited company may acquire its own shares if certain conditions set out in the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) are satisfied under that statute. This is commonly referred to as a share buyback or a purchase of own shares. In addition to the provisions of the CA 2006, further rules and guidelines are relevant to a listed company...

In brief In summary, EU data protection rules are designed to ensure information about living people, within the meaning of ‘personal data’, is used fairly and responsibly. To help ensure that aim, the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (EU GDPR), sets numerous obligations on those ‘processing’ personal data, and on the controllers overseeing such processing, whenever they fall within the scope of the regime. The rules also grant rights to individuals whose personal data is processed (the ‘data subjects’). ‘Processing’ covers doing almost anything with personal data, including storing, sharing, deleting or using it in practice. Operating a business or any other organisation without handling personal data is virtually impossible. Among other requirements, the controllers of personal data processing must provide certain information to data subjects, so they know why their personal data is being collected, how it is being used, who it is being shared with, and their own key rights; this is referred to as the ‘right to be informed’)...

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 ...

In this issue: Company law and regulatory matters Corporate governance Tax treatment Useful information Trackers Dates for your diary Weekly highlights from other practice areas Company law and regulatory matters Companies (Directors’ Remuneration and Audit) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 published The Companies (Directors’ Remuneration and Audit) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/439) have been issued and will take effect on 11 May 2025, having previously been laid for sifting last month (see News Analysis: Share Incentives weekly highlights—6 March 2025—Company law and regulatory matters). They remove most of the 2019 reporting obligations imposed on quoted companies in relation to directors’ remuneration, introduced to implement aspects of EU Directive 2017/828 (the revised Shareholder Rights Directive). This change reflects substantial overlap with pre‑2019 UK rules on directors’ pay reporting that remain in force and continue to apply. The instrument also updates the audit regulatory framework to address inconsistencies identified by the government and the Financial Reporting Council, which arose during...

In this issue: Regulatory framework for medicinal products Research and development Data protection and life sciences Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Regulatory framework for medicinal products Commission releases Communication to boost biotechnology and biomanufacturing The European Commission has issued a Communication on building the future with nature, outlining the obstacles and constraints in the EU’s biotechnology and biomanufacturing arena and setting out a suite of targeted measures to invigorate biotechnology and biomanufacturing across the EU. The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) welcomed the Commission’s Communication and urged the Commission to bring forward, in its next mandate, a comprehensive health and life science strategy so that European patients can access innovative new treatments and technologies. See: LNB News 20/03/2024 81. MEPs adopt proposal to improve EU pharmaceutical legislation The Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee has adopted its proposals...

In its 25 March draft regulatory technical standards, ESMA set out essential guidance on the data that must be submitted to national competent authorities (NCAs), which will oversee the vetting of proposed acquisitions of a qualifying holding in relevant CASPs. By way of context, MiCA establishes a harmonised authorisation regime for running a CASP across the European Union and for accessing the EU passport. The overarching aim is to foster fair competition among CASPs and a more secure landscape for crypto-asset investors by verifying the robustness and reliability of authorised service providers, together with their leadership and shareholders, regardless of the member state that granted authorisation. Thereafter, any subsequent alteration to the governance or ownership of an authorised CASP stemming from a merger or acquisition must undergo prior scrutiny by the NCA supervising the target. This review is poised to materially influence how future M&A deals involving a CASP are structured, turning sound foresight and comprehension of the assessment criteria into a central task. Against this backdrop, a close examination...

UK real estate investment trusts (UK REITs) The UK regime for real estate investment trusts (REITs, termed UK REITs in statute) took effect on 1 January 2007. There are now in excess of 150 REITs, several of which moved into the structure when the framework first commenced. Those early adopters have since been joined by many more participants owing to revisions to the entry criteria, in particular the following: the removal of the entry charge; permission for REITs to invest in other REITs; and a relaxation of the listing condition so that companies without a formal listing, but admitted to trading and actually traded on a recognised stock exchange (for example on markets such as AIM), can also qualify. Further amendments have been introduced to the REIT rules in recent years with the stated intention of making the regime more appealing to prospective entrants. The principal legislative provisions for the REIT tax regime sit in Part 12 of the Corporation Tax...

STOP PRESS: A major overhaul of the UK listings regime took effect on 29 July 2024, scrapping both the premium and the standard listing segments and replacing them with a single category for equity shares in commercial companies. That commercial companies category is heavily disclosure-led and sits alongside other listing categories, including the shell companies category, the secondary listing category and the closed ended investment fund category, among others. A new UK Listing Rules sourcebook came into force to deliver these changes, and the previous Listing Rules sourcebook was revoked. For further information and detail, see Practice Note: Reform of the UK listing regime—fundamentals. This Practice Note reflects the regime as it existed prior to 29 July 2024. A limited company may buy back shares in itself, provided conditions set out in the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) are satisfied, where applicable. This is known as a share buyback or a purchase of own shares. In addition to CA 2006, there are other rules and guidelines that are relevant...

The determination of a company’s financial year Setting a company’s financial year involves identifying its accounting reference date (ARD) and accounting reference period (ARP). The financial year aligns with the ARP, although the directors may resolve that it should finish on a day up to seven days either side of the ARP’s end. The ARP itself is fixed by the ARD, concluding on that date. Certain statutory rules about a financial year may equally extend to other companies, for example overseas companies, and to other entities; nevertheless, consideration of those applications falls outside the scope of this Practice Note...

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...