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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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In this issue: Corporate governance Equity capital markets Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Corporate governance Parker Review Committee update broadens targets for ethnic minority representation The Parker Review Committee has issued its March 2024 analysis of ethnic diversity across UK businesses. Since the Review launched in 2015, representation of ethnic minorities on boards has risen markedly, with 96% of FTSE 100 and 76% of FTSE 250 companies now having more ethnically diverse boards. For the first time, the report also examines diversity across senior management teams and within some of the largest private UK companies. See: LNB News 12/03/2024 25. Equity capital markets CP23/31: FCA releases second tranche of draft UK Listing Rules The Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) has updated consultation paper CP23/31, first published on 20 December 2023, to add the...
In this issue Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Tax for corporate lawyers Financial services regulation Directors Corporate governance Market standards Lex Talk®Corporate: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( Commencement No 2 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2024 ( SI 2024/269) were made on 29 February 2024. They activate a substantial set of ECCTA 2023 measures on 4 March 2024, 5 March 2024 and 26 March 2024, and include transitional provisions. For an overview of the ECCTA 2023 provisions now in force, see Which sections of the ECCTA 2023 are already in force? in Practice Note: The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. See: LNB News...
On Wednesday, 6 March 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, presented the government’s Spring Budget. In a year when a general election is anticipated, he repeatedly cast it as a programme for long-term growth, concluding with the line ‘growth up, jobs up and taxes down’. He also outlined tax measures aimed at making the system ‘simpler and fairer’. While scrapping some reliefs may streamline matters, the backdrop of the main and small profits corporation tax rates holding at 25% and 19%, personal allowances and income tax bands staying frozen (and expected to remain so for a few more years), and the annual exempt amount for capital gains tax being halved to £3,000 from 6 April 2024, makes it uncertain whether the electorate will experience the changes as fairer. Key announcements...
What does the Market Standards trend report cover? This Lexis+® UK Market Standards Trend Report explores equity capital markets ( ECM) activity on the London Stock Exchange during the course of 2023. It reviews a total of 23 IPOs—14 on the Main Market and 9 on AIM—and 51 secondary offerings of £10m or above—21 on the Main Market and 30 on AIM—that completed in 2023, and benchmarks them against transactions finalised in 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 for comparative purposes. The report delivers analysis and commentary on prevailing and nascent trends across the market and also considers what we might expect to see in 2024. What are the highlights from the report? The report highlights the following core points: a five-year comparative overview of Main Market and AIM transaction volumes, market capitalisation and gross proceeds industry sector analysis covering IPOs and secondary...
In this issue Equity capital markets Corporate governance Accounts and reports Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Equity capital markets Market Standards Trend Report— Trends in UK Equity Capital Markets 2023 Corporate analysis: A study has been undertaken to assess prevailing trends in IPOs and secondary offerings on the London Stock Exchange in 2023. This Market Standards Trend Report delivers detailed examination of IPOs and follow-on issues completed in 2023, and reviews deals from 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 for comparison. The Report provides commentary on current and emerging patterns and shares insights on what we might anticipate in 2024. See News Analysis: Market Standards Trend Report— Trends in UK Equity Capital Markets in 2023. Corporate governance FRC announces intention to review the UK Stewardship Code The Financial Reporting Council ( FRC) has issued a statement signalling its intention to commence a review of the UK...
In this issue: Corporate governance Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Company disclosures, records and registers Daily and weekly news alerts Updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Corporate governance PLSA publishes 2024 update to Stewardship and Voting Guidelines The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association ( PLSA) has issued its refreshed 2024 Stewardship & Voting Guidelines. Intended for scheme investors, the guidance operates as a yardstick for corporate reporting and investor relations activity. Arranged into five parts that align closely with the UK Corporate Governance Code, it adds a new section on social factors and reflects the heightened interest in cyber security, AI and biodiversity. See: LNB News 19/02/2024 26. Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( Financial Penalty) Regulations 2024 SI 2024/ Draft: These draft Regulations empower the Registrar to levy a...
In this issue: Corporate governance Financial services regulation Share capital Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Corporate governance Sustainability reporting standards for listed SMEs and specific sectors to be postponed The Council of the EU and the European Parliament have reached a provisional accord to defer by two years the adoption of European sustainability reporting standards ( ESRS) for particular large third‑country businesses with EU turnover, alongside sector‑specific ESRS. This will modify Directive ( EU) 2022/2464 (the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, CSRD). The plan is to shift publication from 30 June 2024 to 30 June 2026, giving undertakings extra time to embed the ESRS already in force and get ready for sectoral disclosures. See: LNB News 08/02/2024 32. Financial services regulation FCA outlines steps firms can take to deter equity spread bet and CFD...
In this issue: Market Standards Accounts and reports Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Equity capital markets Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Market Standards Market Standards Trend Report— Ethnicity pay gap 2023 The report examines how FTSE 350 companies have handled voluntary ethnicity pay gap disclosures, drawing out frequent pitfalls and the key difficulties encountered when reporting on ethnicity pay gaps. See Corporate Analysis: Market Standards Trend Report— Ethnicity pay gap 2023. Accounts and reports FRC publishes review of reporting by the UK’s largest private companies The Financial Reporting Council ( FRC) has released its review of reporting by the UK’s largest private companies. It found the overall standard to be uneven, depending on how clearly organisations explained complex or material matters. See: LNB News 01/02/2024...
What does the Market Standards Trend Report cover? This Market Standards Trend Report looks at voluntary disclosure of ethnicity pay gaps, analysing how reporting on ethnicity pay gaps has been approached by a sample of 245 FTSE 350 companies......
In this issue: Corporate governance Financial services regulation Lex Talk®Corporate: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Corporate governance FRC publishes guidance supporting the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 The Financial Reporting Council ( FRC) has issued refreshed guidance to help companies apply the UK Corporate Governance Code 2024 (the Code). While not a formal component of the Code, it seeks to assist firms in adopting the updated provisions by providing additional advice, detail and illustrations. Instead of prescribing compulsory steps, the guidance is designed to promote collaborative dialogue and decision-making so organisations can embed the Code’s principles effectively... The 2024 Code applies to financial periods starting on or after 1 January 2025, except provision 29 (concerning the obligation for a board statement on internal...
In this issue: Economic crime and corporate transparency Corporate governance Private equity Directors and company securities Partnerships Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Economic crime and corporate transparency Companies House announces changes to company law expected on 4 March 2024 Companies House has set out its intended schedule for bringing into effect certain company law reforms introduced by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023). These measures require secondary legislation, meaning commencement depends on Parliamentary timetables, and they will not take effect before 4 March 2024. On that date, the expected changes to be delivered by Companies House will broaden its authority to challenge filings, query information and seek supporting evidence; permit more robust scrutiny of proposed company names; and...
With what it considers measured, targeted updates to the 2018 UKCG Code, the FRC aims to strike a balance: sustaining investor and stakeholder confidence in premium listed companies while keeping administrative and regulatory demands on businesses to the minimum required. Digital guidance linked to the 2024 UKCG Code is due for publication on 29 January 2024. Original news: FRC publishes revised UK Corporate Governance Code, LNB News 22/01/2024 18. The Financial Reporting Council has now issued its revisions to the UK Corporate Governance Code (the Code), intended to bolster transparency and accountability across UK companies and to underpin the UK’s growth and competitiveness... Why is the UKCG Code changing? On 24 May 2023, the FRC opened a consultation setting out 18 proposals to amend the 2018 Code, centred chiefly on building a stronger framework for prudent, effective risk management and internal controls. They also...
In this issue: Public company takeovers Market Standards Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 Accounts and reports General meetings; schemes of arrangement Key developments and horizon scanning Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Public company takeovers Takeover Panel releases bulletin on Rule 20.1 and representative directors The Takeover Panel has issued Panel Bulletin 6 on how Rule 20.1 of the Takeover Code operates, requiring equal information to be available to shareholders of an offeree company ( Offeree) and to those with information rights. It reminds participants in an actual or potential offer to consider Rule 20.1 where a representative director of the Offeree, who represents a shareholder of the Offeree, receives information from the Offeree and that information is passed to the...
Market Standards Trend Report—trends in UK public M& A in 2023 The Market Standards Trend Report delivers a detailed examination of the 56 firm offers, 39 possible offers and 11 notifications of formal sale processes and/or strategic reviews that were announced throughout 2023 by Main Market and AIM companies within the ambit of the Takeover Code (the Code). Alongside this, it sets out perspectives on public M& A movements and what Market Standards, Lexis+® UK Practical Guidance and our contributors anticipate will materialise in 2024 and beyond. It also distils key insights. What does the Market Standards Trend Report cover? The Market Standards Trend Report explores the following: 2024 outlook deal values and overall volumes transaction structures unrecommended, competing and mandatory bids public-to-private ( P2P) transactions jurisdiction of bidders industry focus offer timetables bid...
In this issue: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Environmental, social and governance issues Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Companies House sets out March 2024 measures following ECCTA 2023 The Chief Executive and Registrar of Companies House, Louise Smyth, has outlined a series of changes taking effect from March 2024, after the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023) secured Royal Assent in October 2023. ECCTA 2023 introduces wide-ranging reforms to enhance corporate transparency, improve the reliability of information held by Companies House, and strengthen its intelligence functions to support victims of fraud through new and improved approaches. The measures will be implemented in phases to give both companies and Companies House time to prepare. A significant portion of the regime will rely on...
Stephen John Hunt v Jagtar Singh [2023] EWHC 1784 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling is valuable for liquidators, as it sets out a clearer pathway for certain claims alleging breach of the duty to consider creditors’ interests. While actions against directors where a company was nearing, or tottering on the brink of, insolvency remain somewhat unsettled after BTI 2014 LLC v Sequana SA [2022] UKSC 25, [2022] 3 WLR 709, a different position applies where the company was, in reality, significantly insolvent unless a liability could be successfully contested. In that circumstance, the liquidator can proceed with greater assurance. The emphasis is not on calculating the precise probability of insolvency; rather, if there was a real prospect that the challenge to the liability might fail, the duty is engaged. The decision also offers a clear warning to...
Aston Risk Management Ltd v Jones and others [2023] EWHC 603 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Practitioners should be alert to these three core points: An individual can be treated as a company director even without a formal appointment. Whether that outcome arises turns on the extent of their involvement in day-to-day operations and their assumption of director-level functions. A so-called de facto director owes the same duties and faces the same liabilities as an officially appointed director. What as the background? The dispute concerned a subsidiary whose business was delivering audiology services. The company was first incorporated by CJ, who acted as its initial director. In time, CJ brought ML into the venture, and ML was also appointed as a director of the subsidiary. In 2014, the subsidiary and its owners attracted two new investors. The resulting investment structure comprised these...
Durose & others v Tagco BV & others [2022] EWHC 3000 ( Ch) Summary of the case Judge Bird held that the petitioners had entered a commercial arrangement whose terms were tightly controlled by a comprehensive suite of expertly drafted contracts and documents. On the evidence, he concluded the private equity investor had at all times adhered to the agreed terms. In those circumstances, it was fair and just to hold the petitioners to the legal agreements, and they were not entitled to protest that their treatment was unfair. The parties’ relationship was purely commercial, with all material dealings conducted through solicitors. The judge was satisfied that every signatory to the investment agreements had the opportunity to review the documents, contribute to their content and obtain legal advice on them. He found the petitioners knew this was not a risk‑free endeavour and that an...
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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