Common interest meaning

Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) is the worldwide benchmark for routinely transmitting taxpayers’ financial details between jurisdictions to deter tax evasion. A trust resident in the UK is generally brought within the UK AEOI framework through the International Tax Compliance Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/878), as amended (the ‘ITC Regulations’). The ITC Regulations give domestic effect to the UK’s AEOI commitments under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) and the UK‑US FATCA Agreement (FATCA). Refer to Practice Notes: Automatic exchange of information-outline; Automatic exchange of information for UK trustees-key obligations; and FATCA and UK Trusts. HMRC’s guidance appears in the International Exchange of Information Manual (IEIM400000). This Checklist summarises the principal matters trustees must consider under the UK AEOI regime. Scope and Threshold Question: Does AEOI Apply? Has the trust’s UK tax residence position been determined for AEOI purposes? Has it been verified whether the ITC Regulations 2015 apply to the trust (CRS and/or FATCA)? Is the trust in scope of AEOI as a possible Financial...

This Checklist highlights the principal points to address when arranging payment or seeking the recovery of retention monies. It proceeds on the assumption that the contract falls within the HGCRA 1996 and focuses mainly on employer–contractor retention monies, though the same considerations extend to contractor–sub‑contractor retention monies as well. Refer to Practice Note: Retention of payment in construction contracts for a fuller explanation of retention, when it is usually paid, and the way retention is dealt with under JCT and NEC contracts, including typical timing and treatment. What does the building contract say? At the outset, scrutinise the contract’s retention provisions and clauses surrounding retention in detail. The usual pattern is a two‑stage release: the first 50% falls due on practical completion of the works, with the balance payable after any notified defects during the defects period have been remedied. This split release mechanism is the most common arrangement. Building contracts often state expressly that retention is to be held on trust; even if not expressed, case law...

In this issue: Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing Renewable energy Conventional power, waste to energy, biomass, and CHP projects Hydrogen, CCUS and emerging technologies Energy disputes Air emissions, efficiency, and climate change International energy LexTalk®Energy: a Lexis®Nexis community New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Energy resources on Lexis+® Daily and weekly news alerts Electricity and gas market regulation and licensing DESNZ confirms enduring governance for Smart Secure Electricity Systems DESNZ has issued its response to the 2025 consultation on enduring governance for the Smart Secure Electricity Systems (SSES) Programme, confirming that Elexon, through the Balancing and Settlement Code (BSC), will establish new Technical and Security Governance Groups to guide the technical and security frameworks that enable consumer-led flexibility. Using powers in section 245 of the Energy Act 2023, the government will amend the BSC so Elexon can run these groups as BSC Panel sub-committees and...

Vesnin v Queeld Ventures Ltd and another company [2025] EWHC 104 (Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling is of practical and procedural importance for practitioners working on cross-border insolvency and asset recovery. It confirms that a party must show a legitimate interest in the bankruptcy to have standing to resist a common law recognition application—such as a creditor, the bankrupt, or a party with a concrete economic stake in the bankruptcy acting in the same capacity from which that stake arises. A merely commercial or tactical interest—like attempting to thwart a claim to title to shares, as here—is insufficient. Advisers for prospective respondents should therefore consider whether their clients possess the requisite interest in the bankruptcy and advise accordingly. The court did not define what amounts to a tangible economic interest in the insolvency, though possible classes could include: beneficiaries of a trust forming part of the bankrupt’s estate; a secured creditor with rights over assets within the estate;...

DDR v BDR [2024] EWFC 278 What are the practical implications of this case? As well as offering a highly accessible distillation and application of the principles governing disputes over property between a sole legal proprietor and a non-legal claimant asserting a beneficial interest, this judgment underlines the truly basic distinction between the court’s declaratory function in property matters and its redistributive powers under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973). It also offers a template for the clear, targeted presentation of financial remedy applications. Where questions arise about the scope of a party’s bankruptcy estate, the approach must be equally disciplined. Its structured reasoning demonstrates how to keep such issues sharply defined and tightly analysed throughout the conduct of the application, from start to finish. The judge’s careful, methodical analysis should not mask the 'somewhat unfocused and unproductive' progression of the litigation for a substantial period, a consequence in large measure of both parties acting in person for most of the case. Happily, at a comparatively late juncture,...

The most common reasons for entering into derivatives are for the purposes of: Speculation — when a party seeks exposure to a given variable, for example taking a view on a commodity’s future price on the assumption it will rise or fall over a chosen period Hedging — aiming to offset exposure to the risk of an unfavourable shift in a variable, or to stabilise expected outcomes over time Arbitrage — seeking to take advantage of price discrepancies (between markets, or within the same market over time) to earn profit or cut costs, or where one participant can reach a price or market unavailable to another, including where prices differ over time Exposure to asset classes — obtaining access to a target market (eg commodities, shares, property) without incurring the expense, complexity and formalities associated with those markets, avoiding the same costs and complications Derivatives are commonly used alongside lending arrangements for hedging purposes in practice. In this context, the primary...

A well-maintained register of people with significant control (PSC) should make publicly available who ultimately owns and controls companies and other entities. The PSC framework applies to UK-incorporated companies limited by shares or by guarantee (including unlimited companies, unregistered companies, community interest companies and dormant companies), limited liability partnerships (LLPs), and eligible Scottish partnerships, namely Scottish limited partnerships and Scottish qualifying general partnerships (ESPs). For clarity, this guide chiefly refers to companies. For information on the regime’s scope, including how a company might most effectively obtain relevant beneficial ownership details, see Practice Note: PSC register—the people with significant control regime. Corporate transparency reform—changes to the PSC regime The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (ECCTA 2023) received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and is being introduced in phases across multiple commencement dates. Many provisions will only commence once detailed secondary legislation and guidance are in place, while others require the rollout of new technical processes and tools before they can operate. ...

This Practice Note reflects the law as it is understood in England. Local authorities and other public bodies owe a general obligation to act fairly. This applies to both process and substance, and stems from the two fundamental rules of natural justice, namely that: no one should be a judge in their own cause (nemo judex in causa sua), and issues are to be decided after hearing from both or all parties involved (audi alteram partem) The modern duty of fairness is a flexible, context‑dependent principle requiring those consulting or making decisions on the public’s behalf to act—and be seen to act—in a way that is demonstrably fair in all the circumstances, and untainted by any actual or perceived personal or other extraneous interest. Public authority decisions affected by actual or apparent bias (a prejudice towards a particular outcome) or by predetermination (where decision‑makers have settled the matter and closed their minds before the decision is formally taken) are, therefore, incompatible with the...

Conflicts, confidentiality and disclosure policy Our Conflicts, confidentiality and disclosure policy outlines our stance on when we may proceed in conflict situations. We also provide guidance for specific [ departments OR types of work ]. This guidance demonstrates how the policy might operate in varying scenarios, but it is not meant to be comprehensive or inflexible. For each matter addressed by these guidelines we must assess whether a conflict exists and, if it does, whether we are able to act...

This Agreement is entered into on the [ date ] of [ month and year ] between: 1 [ Name of Party ] of [ address ] (“the Discloser”) and 2 [ Name of Party ] of [ address ] (“the Recipient”). Recitals The Discloser claims legal professional privilege over each and every one of the Documents identified in the Schedule to this Agreement, and nothing contained in this Agreement shall reduce, limit, or otherwise affect the continuing force of that claim. By virtue of [ briefly state the nature of the common interest (“the Common Interest”) ], the Discloser shares a common interest with the Recipient and seeks to advance the Common Interest pursuant to this Agreement, whilst not waiving its legal professional privilege in the Documents. The Recipient acknowledges that the Discloser asserts, and will continue to assert, legal professional privilege in the Documents, and the Recipient undertakes to support the Discloser by preserving the confidentiality of the Documents and by refraining...

Thank you for instructing us to act on [ insert description of matter ]. We have sent you, under separate cover, a [ client care OR engagement ] letter along with our terms of business. This letter sets out our professional duties concerning conflicts of interest and confidentiality, and asks for your informed consent before we continue to act. Professional obligations We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). In line with those duties, we cannot act where there is a conflict—or a significant risk of conflict—between our separate obligations to act in the best interests of two or more clients in the same, or a related, matter, unless one of two limited exceptions applies. These exceptions apply where our clients: have a substantially common interest in relation to the matter, or a particular aspect of it, or are competing for the same objective Is there an actual or potential conflict of interest? ...

Service charges Service charges are imposed by landlords to recoup the expenditure they incur in delivering services to a building. The precise manner in which the service charge is organised and administered is defined in the tenant’s lease or tenancy agreement. Usually, the charge meets the expense of matters such as general maintenance and repairs, insurance of the building and, where services are supplied, central heating, lifts, porters, lighting, and cleaning of common areas. The charges may additionally cover management costs borne by the landlord or a professional managing agent, together with contributions made to a reserve fund. Relationship of landlord and tenant The landlord and tenant relationship stems from medieval land law and was at first a matter solely of contract in form. Nevertheless, from very early on, the agreement conferred on the tenant an estate or proprietary interest in the land whilst retaining, and not discarding, any of its essential contractual attributes as such...

When two or more people jointly own land together, it is held on a trust of land. Under a trust of land, the legal and equitable estates are distinct and separate. The legal title must be held by the co-owners as joint tenants. The beneficial interest may, however, be held by the co-owners beneficially either as: joint tenants tenants in common If they are joint tenants in equity, each holds an indivisible, concurrent interest in it: every owner is entitled to the whole, not an identifiable fraction. The rule of survivorship operates so that, on the death of a joint tenant, the deceased’s interest passes automatically to the other(s). Where the equitable interest is taken as tenants in common, shares can be unequal, and a deceased owner’s portion does not pass to the survivor but instead forms part of the deceased’s estate. A tenancy in common may arise on the original transfer or conveyance where there is an express declaration...