Generation II meaning

In this issue: Commercial Competition and state aid Data protection and cybersecurity Financial services Environment Insurance and reinsurance IP Life sciences Regulatory Restructuring and insolvency TMT International Trade Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Commercial Temu’s practices found to breach EU consumer laws The European Commission has informed Temu that a number of its practices breach EU consumer law and has instructed the platform to bring them into line. A co-ordinated investigation by the Consumer Protection Cooperation (CPC) Network, the Commission and national authorities concluded that Temu misled shoppers with bogus discounts, pushed customers into purchases by falsely claiming limited stock and looming deadlines, and provided incomplete or inaccurate details about consumers’ rights on returns and refunds. Investigators also reported that users were forced to play a ‘spin the fortune wheel’ game to access the marketplace, that fake reviews were used, and that contact information was...

RWE AG, et al v Kingdom of the Netherlands, No ARB/21/4, ICSID. ICSID released the order on 15 February 2024, after the tribunal had dispatched it to the parties on 12 January 2024; the panel comprised Lucy Reed as president, James Boykin appointed by the claimants, and Toby Landau KC appointed by the Netherlands. Coal power dispute In 2015, the Eemshaven coal-fired plant in the Netherlands, said to have been constructed at the Dutch government’s behest, entered operation. RWE AG, a German company, with RWE Eemshaven Holding II BV, a Dutch company (together, RWE), is said to have invested over €3bn in the facility. In 2019, the Dutch parliament enacted the Coal Act, prohibiting coal use for electricity generation from 2030 onwards. In February 2021, RWE submitted a request for arbitration against the Netherlands at ICSID, asserting a breach of the ECT...

In this issue UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Accountability, culture and social governance Prudential requirements Operational resilience Financial crime and sanctions Consumer protection Complaints, compensation and claims management Regulation of benchmarks and IBOR reform Regulation of capital markets Dispute resolution for financial services lawyers Regulation of derivatives Sustainable finance and ESG Investment funds and asset management Consumer credit, mortgage and home finance Regulation of insurance FSMA regulated pensions activity Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets Regulation of AI in FS LexTalk®Financial Services: a Lexis®Nexis community Financial Services Enforcement Database Daily and weekly news alerts Intraday news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary UK, EU and international regulators and bodies The City is grappling with compliance as post‑Brexit rules shift. Leaving the EU opened the door for the UK to rewrite the financial services...

Undertakings engaged in competition matters, including merger investigations, before the European Commission (the Commission) benefit from rights of defence that safeguard their interests throughout the process. Respect for these rights by the Commission is a core tenet of EU law and has been reinforced by the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, which makes the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) legally binding and provides for the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Together, these instruments strengthen the legal framework within which the Commission must act. Rights of defence in Commission antitrust proceedings Several procedural measures adopted by the Commission during antitrust proceedings may have a lasting adverse impact on undertakings’ rights of defence. In view of this, Regulation 1/2003 aims at striking an appropriate balance between: (i) the effective enforcement of EU antitrust rules and (ii) the respect of undertakings’ rights of defence. These rights of defence for undertakings encompass, in particular: the privilege against self-incrimination ...

CASE HUB ARCHIVED This archived case hub reflects the position as at the decision date of 4 May 2023; it is no longer updated. For more, see the timeline. Case facts Outline of the European Commission’s merger investigation into Norsk Hydro’s proposed acquisition of Alumetal S.A. (M.10658). The transaction entails horizontal overlaps in the market for producing and supplying aluminium foundry alloys and master alloys. Latest developments On 4 May 2023, the Commission cleared the transaction without conditions. Parties Norsk Hydro (Hydro): A Norwegian aluminium company operating across the aluminium value chain, from bauxite and alumina production to energy generation and aluminium recycling. Alumetal S.A. (Alumetal): A Polish producer of aluminium foundry alloys and aluminium master alloys, with plants in Poland (Kety, Gorzyce and Nowa Sol) and Hungary (Komarom). Background On 29 April 2022, Hydro announced a tender offer to acquire 100% of the shares...

This Practice Note explains when the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA 1996) applies. In summary: the HGCRA 1996 extends to construction contracts what amounts to a construction contract is set out in HGCRA 1996, s 104 a construction contract concerns construction operations as defined in HGCRA 1996, s 105 a construction contract must contain specified terms dealing with adjudication and payment for hybrid agreements (ie covering construction operations alongside other matters), the HGCRA 1996 applies only to the construction operations the mandatory provisions are disapplied for contracts with residential occupiers for contracts made before 1 October 2011, the HGCRA 1996 only applied where the contract was in writing Significance of contract being a construction contract Statutory adjudication Parties have a mandatory right to adjudicate under the HGCRA 1996 only if the relevant agreement is a construction contract (as defined by HGCRA 1996, s 104). Where an agreement is a construction contract, it...