Trade contract meaning

STOP PRESS The Loan Market Association (LMA) has released refreshed editions of the standard terms and conditions for Par and Distressed Trade Transactions, the complete set of Funded Participation and Risk Participation Agreements, and the Secondary Debt Trading Documentation User Guide, with effect from 17 March 2026. The changes remove LIBOR references, update IBOR rate definitions and the Target2 definition, and revise ERISA representations to incorporate additional exemptions to the prohibited transaction rules under ERISA and the US Internal Revenue Code. The revised documentation is available exclusively to LMA members, accessible via the LMA’s Documentation Hub. These publications are updated versions issued by the LMA. Summary A core principle of trading under the LMA protocol is that ‘Trade is a Trade’; i.e. once a trade is struck—including an oral contract agreed by telephone—it is binding, and subsequent developments, even if adverse to one or both parties, do not entitle either party to cancel or ‘break’ the trade. By way of example, a failure to secure consent for...

Contracting-out provisions Most claims pursued in the employment tribunal arise from a jurisdiction conferred by statutory measures. Each such statutory scheme typically includes a clause preventing the parties (or prospective parties) to a tribunal dispute from concluding an arrangement that purports to settle the claim and, by doing so, purports to displace the employment tribunal’s authority to decide the dispute. These clauses are commonly known as 'contracting-out provisions', and they appear, in broadly similar terms, across a wide range of employment legislation, eg the Employment Rights Act 1996 (ERA 1996), the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULR(C)A 1992) and the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010). The aim of these provisions is to protect claimants (or potential claimants) by ensuring they do not sign away the right to commence or continue a claim without appropriate safeguards being observed. The fundamental position is that any agreement reached between persons which purports to stop an individual from making, or proceeding with, a claim to an employment tribunal is void...

FORTHCOMING CHANGE: On starting employment, workers must receive specified information. A forthcoming entitlement will require that a worker is provided with a written notice of their right to join a trade union, issued at the same time as the section 1 statement of employment particulars. This will be introduced by proposed amendments to Part III of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992, as provided for in section 58 of the Employment Rights Act 2025 (ERA 2025). The precise content of that notice, its format, and the way it must be issued will be set out in secondary legislation following consultation. Further particulars will outline the items to be included, the layout the notice should adopt, and the mandated method of delivery. To track the implementation of ERA 2025, see Practice Note: Employment Rights Act 2025—tracker. This Checklist sets out the requirements relating to a written statement of employment particulars under sections 1 to 3 of the Employment Rights Act 1996. The entitlement to a written statement...

In this issue: Advertising, marketing and sponsorship Agency and distribution Consumer protection Contracts E-commerce International Public procurement Supplier management LexTalk®Commercial: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Advertising, marketing and sponsorship ASA rulings—31 July 2024 The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has flagged the Person(s) unknown trading as Mendio Life for inquiry after insights from its Active Ad Monitoring system. A Meta promotion by Mendio Life for an acupressure clip asserted medical effects for a device lacking the necessary conformity marking and absent from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) register. This decision sits within the ASA’s wider work on advertisements asserting treatment for prostrate issues, as part of a consumer-protection drive against such claims. The ASA also received a complaint about Nultqh GB’s Meta advert for a prostate patch, which advanced medicinal claims for an unlicensed item. The...

Pharmaceuticals—regulatory framework European Parliament adopts Critical Medicines Act proposal to address supply shortages The European Parliament has endorsed plans to bolster the availability and supply of essential medicines across the EU, approving the proposals by 503 votes in favour, 57 against and 108 abstentions. The package seeks to lessen the EU’s reliance on non‑EU countries and strengthen pharmaceutical competitiveness by backing strategic industrial projects to expand and modernise manufacturing capacity within the Union. Under the proposals, contracting authorities would be required to apply procurement criteria that favour manufacturers producing a significant share of critical medicines in the EU, with price no longer the sole determinant for contract awards. The measures also lower the bar for joint cross‑border procurement from nine to five countries and create an EU co‑ordination mechanism for national stockpiles of critical medicines, empowering the Commission, as a last resort during shortages, to reallocate medicines between Member States. Industry has reacted critically to the current text, warning that certain provisions could dilute the original intent of...

Campaigners have applauded the amendment to the Employment Rights Bill (ERB), laid before Parliament on the evening of 7 July 2025. They argue contracts intended to safeguard trade secrets have instead been deployed to mask unlawful conduct and mute victims of sexual harassment within workplaces and across sectors. Employment lawyers have long publicly backed tighter limits on unethical NDAs, yet privately worry about an outright prohibition in non‑commercial disputes and its broader ripple effects. On 8 July 2025 they cautioned that ministers should carefully weigh unintended effects of any ban and significantly boost funding for the tribunal system to handle a likely increase in harassment claims. David Greenhalgh, a partner at Excello Law, warned the reform 'may work counterintuitively' and prove 'detrimental in the short term for victims' if employers see no value in settlements that lack confidentiality in practice and meaningful closure. Greenhalgh said, in many cases, 'Not many employers will be open to accepting liability and reputational damage by agreeing to a settlement agreement without an NDA, and...

Quick view This Practice Note explores whether an employee can be engaged by two or more employers for the same role at the same time—joint employment (also termed dual employment or multiple employment). It examines the general assumption, the issue of vicarious liability, and the position of agency workers, office-holders and teachers. It also considers the setting of collective bargaining, the effect of TUPE 2006, and tax questions that may arise. Finally, it reviews the factors relevant to written contracts that involve multiple employers. Joint employment is typically discussed in relation to vicarious liability, for instance negligence (see: Vicarious liability, below). Regarding an individual’s employment rights, it appears reasonably clear that the prevailing presumption—that an employee cannot have more than one employer for the same work at the same time—can be displaced in these situations: where the person has two roles with separate employers and the roles are compatible; and where two or more employers act together within a partnership or joint venture ...

This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews employment law matters that can emerge in connection with volunteers and voluntary workers engaged in voluntary or charitable activity. It covers how volunteers are recruited (notably criminal record vetting and immigration considerations), arrangements made with volunteers, the national minimum wage, equality and banned conduct, data protection, and health and safety. In broad terms, a person is regarded as a volunteer where they are free from any duty to work but choose to carry out tasks without remuneration. In the absence of consideration, no binding contract can exist (whether of employment or worker status). That said, volunteers may have out-of-pocket expenses properly repaid without jeopardising their volunteer status. A volunteer may generally arrive and leave at their own discretion. Because volunteer positions are frequently loosely defined, if any form of consideration is identified, the role performed by the individual for the organisation may in fact amount to that of a ‘worker’ or an ‘employee’, thereby conferring statutory employment protections. In February 2026, the...

This Practice Note explores why post-termination restrictions (restrictive covenants) might be required within contracts of employment, as well as the usual categories commonly adopted in practice. For guidance: on interpreting post-termination restrictions, see Practice Note: Construing post-termination restrictions on whether a post-termination restriction is incorporated into the contract, see Practice Note: Incorporation of post-termination restrictions on assessing the reasonableness of post-termination restrictions, see Practice Note: Post-termination restrictions—reasonableness on leading decisions concerning the enforceability of post-termination restrictions, see Practice Note: Decisions on post-termination restrictions and garden leave in employment contracts The need for post-termination restrictions During employment, including any spell of garden leave directly before termination of employment (see Practice Note: Garden leave and the right to work), an employee remains subject to a range of implied obligations owed to their employer and must observe them accordingly...

This Agreement is made on [ insert day and month ] 20[ insert year ] Parties [ Insert name of company in administration ] (in administration), being a company incorporated in [ England and Wales OR [ insert country of incorporation ] ], with registered number [ insert company number ], and having its registered office at [ insert address ] (the Seller), acting through its [ joint ] Administrator(s) [ Insert name of administrator(s) ] of [ insert name of firm ], whose registered office is at [ insert address of firm ] (the Administrator(s)) [ insert name of purchasing corporate entity ], a company duly incorporated in [ England and Wales OR [ insert country of incorporation ] ], with registered number [ insert company number ], and with its registered office address at [ insert address ] (the Buyer); and each of the Seller Administrator(s) and the Buyer being a Party, and together the Seller Administrator(s) and the Buyer being the...

[ Insert in para 6.1 of response form ET3: ] It is [ accepted OR not accepted OR denied ] that the Claimant was engaged by the Respondent as a [ insert job title, eg ‘Senior Accountant' ] from [ insert start date of employment ] up to [ his OR her OR their ] dismissal on [ insert end date of employment ]. It is further [ accepted OR denied ] that the Respondent is [ insert brief description of the nature of the Respondent, eg an internet service provider ]. The Respondent rejects any assertion that the Claimant was unfairly [ and/or wrongfully ] dismissed [ and/or that there was a failure to comply with the statutory right to be accompanied by a trade union representative or colleague at a disciplinary hearing ], whether as alleged or at all. [ The contract of employment ] [ It is [ accepted OR not accepted OR denied ] that the...

IN THE COUNTY COURT AT [ insert ] Claim No. [ insert number ] Parties (1) AA (2) BB Claimants -and- CC Defendant PARTICULARS OF CLAIM At all material and relevant times, the Defendant carried on trade in the capacity of a tour operator, supplying package holidays to travellers. On 2 July 2025, the First Claimant accessed the Defendant’s website and concluded a contract to purchase a package holiday in Greece from the Defendant. Pursuant to that agreement, the First Claimant and her husband, the Second Claimant, were to depart East Midlands Airport for Athens on 8 August 2025, with an onward transfer thereafter to Santorini. The contract also provided for their return on 15 August 2025, travelling from Santorini to Athens and then onwards back to East Midlands Airport. Following completion of the flight arrangements, the Defendant, by means of a website link, transmitted the Claimants’ names together with the First Claimant’s payment details and email address to D Hotels Ltd. The...

The process whereby a trade union can seek to be recognised by an employer for the purposes of collective bargaining comprises elements of both voluntarism and compulsion. At the outset, recognition is settled through negotiation between the employer and the relevant union or unions, including whether recognition is granted, for which purposes and at what organisational level. This is known as ‘voluntary recognition’. Where recognition rests purely on a voluntary basis, the employer may reverse its position and withdraw that recognition at any time. Such a step can have industrial relations ramifications, but there is little the union can achieve in law to stop it, unless the recognition agreement is a binding contract, which is highly unusual. For further detail, see Practice Note: Trade union recognition, under the section headed ‘Voluntary recognition where no request for statutory recognition’. If the employer is not prepared to concede recognition immediately and refuses voluntary recognition, the union may commence the statutory recognition process and seek to persuade the employer by submitting a...