Expected return meaning

On 4 July 2025, the Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed challenges by Apple, Visa, Mastercard and Sony to the validity of commonly used funding arrangements that calculate a funder’s fee or return as a multiple of their outlay or costs in class actions and class action claims, a ruling expected to lift spirits across a funding sector seriously rocked by the Supreme Court’s PACCAR judgment and its effects. Macfarlanes LLP partner Malcolm Hitching said the outcome is significant because it recognises that collective proceedings are a necessary part of the legal landscape, that consumers do need protection, and that the Competition Appeal Tribunal is there to provide that protection. He observed that, had the Court of Appeal reached the opposite view, it would have been difficult to see how a funder could actually provide funding to a collective group of claimants. Sony and others had disputed whether litigation funding agreements, amended in response to a 2023 ruling by the top court, known as PACCAR, could be enforced....

What is the background to the Pension Schemes Bill? The Pension Schemes Bill reached the House of Commons on 5 June 2025, which was hardly unexpected. It had featured in the King’s Speech at the State Opening of Parliament for the new Labour Government in July 2024, and has been referenced on numerous occasions since. As is common with pensions legislation, it was designed to encompass a variety of issues, several of which had been under consideration by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) for some years. Accordingly, its eventual arrival was widely anticipated. What are the key measures/provisions in the Bill? The Bill is arranged in five parts. The first part concentrates on defined benefit (DB) schemes and addresses two quite distinct matters: Asset pooling for the Local Government Pension Scheme. Allowing trustees to agree to the return of surplus in a DB scheme to the employer, which, among other things, removes the restrictions under section 251 of the Pensions Act...

The Software Incubator Ltd v Computer Associates UK Ltd Case C‑410/19 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Justice has issued the most recent ruling in a protracted dispute first considered by the High Court in 2016, arising out of an agreement that was terminated in 2013. The case will now return to the Supreme Court which, pursuant to Articles 86 and 89 of the UK/EU Withdrawal Agreement, is obliged to give effect to that judgment. Although the Supreme Court’s final position is still awaited, the decision is expected to carry major consequences for software resellers who, acting as commercial agents, may rely on the protections and remedies provided by the Commercial Agents Regulations, SI 1993/3053, irrespective of the format or medium through which software is supplied to customers. It is likewise important for principals that deploy resellers as a route to market for software made available chiefly by electronic means. Such organisations should take practical steps to measure and quantify any potential exposure to...

In recent weeks, authorities have unveiled reduced notification thresholds in the UK for additional markets touching on national security, parallel reductions in Zimbabwe, the commencement of the new simplified notification procedure in the Republic of Ireland, and a return in Guernsey and Jersey to separate competition authorities. UK—revised notification thresholds for additional national security sectors to be introduced The UK intends to amend the notification thresholds for certain further sectors with national security implications, specifically the development, production or research of: artificial intelligence cryptographic authentication advanced materials For these sectors alone, the 25% share of supply threshold will be modified so that it can be satisfied solely by the target’s activities, and the alternative target turnover threshold will be lowered to £1m (from £70m). The amendments are expected to take effect within the next two to three months. The UK government has also introduced a power to intervene on public interest grounds in relation to transactions that affect the...

What is the aggregates levy? HMRC administers an environmental tax, the aggregates levy, on the commercial exploitation of aggregates across the UK. When does the levy apply? The levy becomes chargeable when both conditions below are satisfied: there is a taxable aggregate, and that aggregate is commercially exploited within the UK There are pending amendments to Finance Act 2001, s 16(2) to substitute ‘the United Kingdom’ with ‘England, Wales or Northern Ireland’ under Scotland Act 2016, s 18(3). The Act received Royal Assent on 23 March 2016, but the commencement date has not yet been appointed, and it is expected to change in line with the introduction of Scottish Aggregates Tax from 1 April 2026. Meaning of taxable aggregate Aggregate Aggregates means: rock gravel sand It also includes substances incorporated within, or naturally occurring alongside, those materials, such as spoil, waste, off-cuts and other by-products. Taxable aggregate ...

1. What is the applicable legislation? The main statute overseeing foreign direct investment (FDI) in Mexico is the Foreign Investment Law (FIL), published in the Federal Official Gazette (Diario Oficial de la Federación) on 27 December 1993 and most recently amended on 15 June 2018, together with its Regulations. The Regulations to the FIL and the National Foreign Investment Registry were published in the Federal Official Gazette on 9 September 1998. Additionally, international FDI treaties—ie where a foreign investor’s participation confers a majority or control of the entity, management rights, or other comparable entitlements (covering any corporate right, not only economic rights to receive a defined return)—known as Agreements for the Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments (Acuerdos de Promoción y Protección Recíproca de las Inversiones, or ‘APPRIs’) are intended to promote and protect capital cashflow directed into productive sectors. APPRIs are recognised for generating confidence among foreign investors, as they nurture a favourable setting for investment and encourage economic development. Mexico has subscribed to 32 APPRIs with...

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