Milestone meaning

The Checklist seeks to outline the principal actions that arbitrators should consider across the entire course of a proceeding, beginning with appointment and the first procedural order and ending with delivery of the award and completion of their obligations. It offers direction on the types of provisions that may feature in procedural orders addressing data security throughout the duration and lifespan of an arbitration. Please be mindful, in light of the evolving cybersecurity ecosystem and applicable laws and regulations, that this is not an exhaustive catalogue. Rather, the checklist functions as guidance on best practice and clarifies the considerations that may arise at each milestone. Arbitration phase: pre-appointment of the Tribunal Legal Steps Safeguard your digital identity so you are seen as independent and impartial, notwithstanding the difficulties posed by an online presence. Refer to: Checklist for Arbitrators on the Use of Social Media and the Duty of Impartiality—the cybersecurity approach to arbitration. Technical Steps Adopt appropriate cybersecurity practices...

SM&CR—timeline This Practice Note charts policy and guidance progress and change on the SM&CR, along with key milestone dates, from 1 January 2025 onwards. For more detailed information and LexisPSL material on the SM&CR, see SM&CR and approved persons regime—overview. For a concise primer on the SM&CR, with additional notes on forthcoming developments, see Practice Note: SM&CR—one minute guide. For all activity before 1 January 2025, see: SM&CR—policy development and key dates—to 31 December 2024 [Archived]. For culture, diversity and inclusion (D&I), and non-financial misconduct related updates, see: Culture and social governance in financial services—timeline. Date Source Documents Description 23 January 2026 FCA FCA invites views on additional rules for cryptoasset firms CP26/4: Application of FCA Handbook for regulated cryptoasset activities – part 2 CP26/4: Application of FCA Handbook for regulated cryptoasset activities II [PDF] As a continuation of consultations on cryptoasset regulation, the FCA is seeking input on how it will categorise cryptoasset firms for the SM&CR. Consistent with its commitment in CP25/25 (paragraphs...

Signing The initial major milestone on the path to completing a loan transaction is 'signing'. Signing denotes the moment the parties execute the agreed forms of the documents and the bargain becomes binding (though, in many cases, this remains subject to conditions precedent being fulfilled). For more information, see Practice Notes: How to arrange execution of the finance documents in a loan transaction and Signing and completion phase in loan transactions. After signing, the parties move to satisfying the conditions precedent to funding. For more information, see Practice Notes: Conditions precedent and Conditions precedent phase in loan transactions. Once the conditions precedent have been met, the lender’s solicitors undertake final pre-completion searches prior to funding. For more information, see Practice Note: How to conduct pre-completion searches in loan transactions. At completion loan monies are transferred between the parties and the transaction is 'completed'. In a straightforward corporate facility, this will involve funds moving from the lender to the borrower or an existing lender whose loan is being refinanced...

CureVac On 27 March 2025, CureVac announced that the EPO has formally permitted it to retain a revised version of its mRNA technology patent. As of 28 March 2025, the EPO’s full written decision was not yet publicly available. In a statement, Alexander Zehnder, CureVac’s Chief Executive, said the bid to secure the patent is a ‘multi-step process’ in Europe and the US. He added that the ruling is a significant milestone on a journey they expect will result in acknowledgement of CureVac’s substantial contribution to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines as one of the earliest pioneers of mRNA technology...

Background Over three decades, Europe’s telecommunications regime has taken shape, starting with late‑1980s liberalisation and reaching a milestone with the 2018 European Electronic Communications Code (EECC), designed to harmonise Member State rules while spurring competition and infrastructure investment. Yet the landscape remains fractured, as differing national rules and enforcement approaches continue to restrict cross‑border operations. Consequently, the build‑out of very high‑capacity networks such as fibre and 5G is patchy and slow, and policies for spectrum assignment vary significantly. Noting these shortcomings, former Digital Commissioner Thierry Breton signalled a new course in his 2024 white paper ‘How to Master Europe’s Digital Infrastructure Needs?’, setting out a vision for an integrated, resilient telecoms market that would accelerate fibre and 5G/6G deployment, remove investment obstacles, and broaden consumer access, especially in underserved or rural areas. Moreover, the Commission’s ‘call for evidence’ of 6 June 2025 reports that transposing the EECC and earlier directives into national law has frequently resulted in overregulation. In contrast to previous telecoms directives, the DNA is expected to...

In this issue: Arbitration in England & Wales International arbitration Treaty arbitration Institutional and ad hoc arbitration Other arbitration and ADR-related news and developments Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Arbitration in England & Wales The Arbitration Act 2025 (Commencement) Regulations 2025 The Act revises the Arbitration Act 1996 on how arbitral proceedings are conducted and overseen in England and Wales, and in Northern Ireland. It adds rules on the governing law of arbitration agreements, arbitrators’ disclosure duties, emergency arbitrators, and the court’s supportive powers in aid of arbitration. Having received Royal Assent in February 2025, it will take full effect on 1 August 2025, pursuant to the Arbitration Act 2025 (Commencement) Regulations 2025 (SI 2025/905 (C. 41)). The Regulations bring the reforms into operation across these jurisdictions. See the SI dated 16th July 2025 and available here. Commercial Court rejects appeal under s 69 AA 1996 in cargo...

This Practice Note sets out the commercial and legal dimensions of transition in outsourcing arrangements. It distinguishes transition from transformation and outlines the core stages for moving services from an incumbent to a replacement supplier. It also highlights standard provisions commonly included in transition schedules to outsourcing contracts, covering creation of the transition plan, milestones and milestone credits (including earn‑back), rights of suspension, management and reporting. Transition is a pivotal phase of an outsourcing, during which specified business functions are handed over to the incoming provider... This Practice Note considers the following legal and commercial aspects of transition in outsourcing agreements: What is transition? Transition process Drafting the transition schedule Transition plan Milestones and milestone credits Right of suspension Management and reporting For an illustrative transition schedule, see Precedent: Transition schedule. For end‑of‑term transition matters, see Practice Note: IT outsourcing—transition and termination issues... What is transition? Transition is typically the initial phase following signature of...

Context The London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM) has partnered with Immunefi, a blockchain security platform, to develop the LCAM Blockchain Expedited Arbitration Rules (the 'Rules'), a bespoke arbitration framework designed for actors in the security vulnerability market. Immunefi is an online hub linking blockchain projects with security researchers, offering tooling to run security testing and to report the weaknesses they uncover, helping to prevent hacks. When these researchers — often called 'whitehat hackers' — find qualifying on-chain vulnerabilities, they can seek a reward known as a 'bug bounty', with advertised sums reaching multimillion-dollar levels. In this setting, bug bounty disputes emerge where a blockchain project and a security researcher fall out over the security work performed on the project. Such disagreements may manifest in several ways, including arguments about whether the reported vulnerability exists at all, debates over its alleged severity, or issues concerning payment of the bug bounty itself. These Rules set out a tailored arbitral scheme aligned with needs of participants in this market, for...

Historically, arrangements labelled ‘outsourcing’ were typically understood to involve handing over an existing in‑house operation to a specialist third‑party supplier (see: Traditional IT outsourcing below). As commercial practice has shifted, the ambit of outsourcing has expanded notably, to the point where, for certain regulated activities, it may encompass any form of arrangement (irrespective of whether there is a pre‑existing internal function) under which a firm engages a service provider to carry out a process, service or activity that the firm would otherwise perform itself. In parallel, the range of services falling within IT outsourcing has broadened as organisations have exploited—and become ever more dependent on—IT to run their businesses and to secure competitive advantage. Conventionally, outsourced IT services might have been those falling within the ‘IT department’s’ brief. These are frequently categorised in a structured manner as ‘IT service towers’, capturing, for instance, the delivery of support around desktop IT, servers, technical support, application development, networks and communications, data centre operations, cybersecurity and disaster recovery. Yet, in keeping with IT’s...

Precedent: Subscription and shareholders’ agreement—single investor Remove the following definitions in clause 1.1: Completion; Completion Date; Conditions; and Subscription Shares. Insert the following replacement definitions in clause 1.1: First Completion — the fulfilment by each of the Parties of their respective obligations set out or referred to in clauses 3.1 and 3.2; First Completion Date — [ the date of this Agreement OR [ insert date ] ] or such other date as the Parties may agree in writing; First Subscription Conditions — the conditions specified in clause 2.2, and First Subscription Condition means any one of those conditions; First Subscription Shares — the Shares to be subscribed for by the Investor under clause 2.1; Milestone Date — [ insert date ]; Milestones — the milestones to be achieved by the Company prior to Second Completion as set out in Schedule 8; Second Completion — the fulfilment of the respective obligations of each of the Parties set out or...

Schedule—Transition 1 Introduction 1.1 This Schedule sets out the manner in which the Services will pass from the Customer to the Supplier on or before the scheduled Service Commencement Date. 1.2 It defines the obligations of both parties, the governance and reporting arrangements, and the repercussions of any delay or failure in delivering the Transition activities. 2 Transition 2.1 From the Effective Date, the Supplier will: 2.1.1 commence the Transition of the Services in line with the Transition Plan set out in the Annex to this Schedule; 2.1.2 ensure every Milestone is achieved on or before its Milestone Date; 2.1.3 undertake any further actions or services required to have the Services ready for provision on or before the Service Commencement Date, even where these are not expressly detailed in the Transition Plan. 2.2 The Supplier will hold end-to-end responsibility for managing Transition and will identify and remedy, or support the Customer in identifying and remedying, any issues...