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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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Beyond the items reported in depth in the Financial Services news feed on 19 March 2024, subscribers might wish to note the following further developments set out here below: Council Regulation ( EU) 2024/898 of 18 March 2024, which revises Regulation ( EC) No 147/2003 on specific restrictive measures applicable to Somalia Council Decision ( CFSP) 2024/882......
Alongside the articles reported in depth in the Financial Services news feed dated 15 March 2024, subscribers might wish to note the following further updates of interest: The Global City: Transition Finance Market Review call for evidence ESMA: SMSG Advice on the Draft Guidelines on ......
UK developments FCA's new greenwashing rules lack clarity, city firms warn Law360 reports that City firms are urging the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA) to amend its draft guidance for the forthcoming anti-greenwashing regime, seeking the removal of key uncertainties and clearer direction on the breadth of application. See: FCA's new greenwashing rules lack clarity, city firms warn. Useful information For more on sustainable finance and ESG, consider the following resources: Overviews: Sustainable finance and ESG—overview; Types of ESG finance—overview; Reporting, disclosure and regulatory issues in sustainable finance transactions—overview. Practice Note: Introductory guide to sustainable finance for banking and finance lawyers. Practice Notes: Sustainable finance—recent news; Sustainable finance and ESG—timeline. Practice Note: Sustainable finance and ESG—horizon scanner. ......
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 ( FSMA 2023), or FSMA, established the basis for a CTP regime, with the finer points to be taken forward by the UK’s financial regulators this year. They have initiated a consultation on proposed rules, which closes on 15 March 2024. Regulated financial services firms and financial market infrastructures routinely rely on CTPs for essential behind‑the‑scenes services, notably IT such as cloud solutions, which are increasingly significant. Yet, to date, these providers have not been under direct regulatory oversight. Supervisors are concerned about risks stemming from firms’ dependence on a limited number of CTPs and the potential repercussions of their failure for financial stability. This article explores the UK’s CTP regime and how it compares with the EU’s new Digital Operational Resilience Act ( DORA)... By way of comparison...
In this issue: Authorisation, approval and supervision Accountability, culture and social governance Prudential requirements Operational resilience Financial crime and sanctions Conduct requirements Complaints, compensation and claims management Investigations, enforcement and discipline Regulation of capital markets Sustainable finance and ESG Banks and mutuals Mi FID II Regulation of personal pension and stakeholder products Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets Financial Services Enforcement Database Daily and weekly news alerts Intraday news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Latest Q& A Authorisation, approval and supervision European Parliament sets out first reading stance on plans to simplify financial services reporting and disclosure duties The European Parliament has confirmed its first reading position on a draft regulation to amend Regulations ( EU) No...
Beyond the articles reported in full in the Financial Services news feed on 13 March 2024, subscribers may wish to note these further developments: ECB: The single supervisor ten years on: experience and way forward APPG Banking: Building our SME Manifesto: call to action Insurance Europe: Insurers: EU’s Package Travel Directive review must strike the right balance AFME: Buy and sell side unite on joint AFME/ IA proposals for a future UK post-trade transparency model for corporate and sovereign bonds OJ: Council Implementing Regulation ( EU) 2024/849 of 12 March 2024 implementing Regulation ( EU) No 269/2014 concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine OJ: Council Decision ( CFSP) 2024/847 of 12 March 2024 amending Decision 2014/145/ CFSP concerning restrictive measures in respect of actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and......
In February 2023, the Bo E and HM Treasury opened a consultation, working on the basis that a digital pound is probably required to keep up with shifts across the digital payments landscape. While the response stops short of confirming whether a digital pound will in the end be introduced, it does set out an update on the proposed approach and the forthcoming steps on the agenda for a possible launch. Opting for a phased programme to assess the issues, costs and benefits of a digital pound, and holding off a definitive decision on issuance, is sensible given the potentially far‑reaching effects such an instrument could have on the UK economy and the architecture of the financial system. This staged path also allows private sector participants, e.g., banks, time to prepare for a launch and to build services that would enable them to take part in the...
Throughout 2023 and into early 2024, attention was firmly fixed on the implementation and enforcement of sanctions under the UK’s autonomous post‑ Brexit regime, with Russia the prime focus. Per the most recent officially reported data, as at 31 March 2023 the UK’s consolidated list of financial sanctions targets, maintained by the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI), named 3,883 designated persons. Those individuals and entities were subject to an asset freeze (or other restrictions) across 35 sanctions regimes. These totals are likely to have increased substantially over the past 12 months, and we expect them to rise further between now and the end of the year. Alongside the expansion of the roster of sanctioned persons, 2023 also brought a suite of new financial and trade prohibitions. Measures introduced under the Russia regime have included limits on providing trust services and legal...
Additional developments Alongside the full coverage in the Financial Services news feed on 8 March 2024, subscribers may wish to note the following: FCA: Whistleblowing quarterly data 2023 Q3 FCA: Whistleblowing quarterly data 2023 Q4 OJEU: Commission Implementing Regulation ( EU) 2024/796 of 4 March......
Amid these developments, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office’s ( FCDO) strategy, ‘ Deter, disrupt and demonstrate— UK sanctions in a contested world’, released on 22 February 2024, sets out reflections on achievements, challenges and what lies ahead for the UK sanctions framework. The paper highlights that: international co-operation is central for the FCDO, covering both aligned sanctions and tackling circumvention routes in third countries businesses must balance strong, effective sanctions compliance systems and controls with avoiding over‑compliance the government may bring forward a new humanitarian exception to financial sanctions designated persons could soon seek the unfreezing of assets to fund Ukraine’s reconstruction the government is watching closely how the courts interpret relatively new UK sanctions regulations UK government focus A defining strand of the strategy is collaboration. It stresses the need for international...
EU developments European Commission adopts RTS on the disclosure of information related to the principal adverse impacts on sustainability factors under the Securitisation Regulation The Commission has issued a Commission Delegated Regulation laying down regulatory technical standards ( RTS). These RTS specify, for simple, transparent and standardised ( STS) non- ABCP traditional securitisation, and for STS on-balance-sheet securitisation, the content, methodologies and presentation of information concerning the principal adverse impacts of the assets financed by the underlying exposures on sustainability factors, in line with Regulation ( EU) 2017/2402 (the Securitisation Regulation). See: LNB News 05/03/2024 59. Source: Commission Delegated Regulation ( EU) …/.........
In this issue: Spring Budget 2024 Brexit UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Authorisations, approvals and supervision Prudential requirements Financial crime and sanctions Complaints, compensation and claims handling Investigations, enforcement and discipline Capital markets regulation Benchmark regulation and IBOR reform Derivatives regulation Dispute resolution for financial services lawyers Sustainable finance and ESG Banks and mutuals Investment funds and asset management Insurance regulation Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets Competition in financial services EEA Agreement Annex IX ( Financial Services) Financial Services Enforcement Database Daily and weekly news alerts Intraday news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Spring Budget 2024 Spring Budget 2024—key Financial Services announcements In the Spring Budget 2024, the chancellor of the...
Alongside the items reported in depth in the Financial Services news feed on 6 March 2024, subscribers may wish to note these further developments of potential interest: Treasury Committee: Correspondence from Money and Pensions Service following oral evidence......
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...
The FCA announced on 5 March 2024 that it has secured an agreement with the last outstanding providers of this cover to halt sales while issues with the product’s core design are addressed. Guaranteed asset protection ( GAP) insurance supplies an extra payment to motorists who are financing new cars that are written off after a crash or taken by thieves. However, the watchdog considers the policy, typically sold by car dealers as an add-on to compulsory motor insurance, to deliver poor value for consumers In February 2024, the FCA confirmed it had reached deals with 80% of GAP insurers to suspend sales until the product is reworked, and on 5 March 2024 it said the pause would soon extend to the remaining providers. Michael Sicsic, a former head of insurance supervision at the FCA and now managing partner at regulatory...
Peter Carter KC of Doughty Street Chambers, who headed the FCA prosecution, obtained the guilty verdict against Mohammed Zina, sentenced to 22 months’ imprisonment in February. The matter carried notable intricacies, particularly because Goldman Sachs’ server sat in the US, which influenced the timing of transactions. From April 2019, Carter devoted over 800 hours to preparation and spent ten weeks before the court, supported by his junior counsel, Rachel Barnes KC of Three Raymond Buildings. Carter has tried other prominent insider‑dealing prosecutions for the FCA and its precursor. He has handled similar high‑profile insider‑dealing matters for the FCA and its predecessor body before, and knows their challenges. He understands how hard it is to secure a conviction, and tells Law360 how, for all the government’s lip service, it gives inadequate backing to the FCA’s related enforcement work. As every major bank, insurer, wealth...
A judge at Southwark Crown Court has allowed the FCA to pause its civil action against Wealth Tek LLP for a year, concluding that a delay would not expose wealth manager’s principal, John Dance, to a real risk of prejudice that might result in injustice. Sitting as a High Court judge, Judge Toni Baumgartner found the regulator’s application was brought on substantial grounds. She observed the FCA considers the conduct it says it has uncovered to rank among the most significant frauds ever committed by an approved person at an FCA authorised firm. Dance is the principal partner of the Tyneside-based firm. He was arrested by the FCA in April 2023 on suspicion of fraud and money laundering following serious regulatory and operational issues at the now-closed company. He has not been charged. Judge Baumgartner accepted City watchdog’s position that the criminal...
Abby Thomas, chief executive at the Financial Ombudsman Service ( FOS), told the Treasury Committee that the FOS anticipates a rise in claims from victims of authorised push payment ( APP) fraud once compulsory reimbursement comes into force in October 2023. ‘ Pragmatically, we are expecting some uplift towards the end of the year, though we hope the picture will settle after that,’ Thomas said. To prepare for the likely increase in complaints when the Payment Systems Regulator begins requiring all banks to repay fraud victims, Thomas explained that the FOS has made its claims processing more efficient. ‘ We have reduced the time it takes us to resolve all cases, including fraud cases, despite the widening range of methods used by fraudsters and the growing complexity of the matters we see,’ Thomas added......
The recommendations accepted by the government On 12 February 2024, the government issued its reply to the Law Commission’s report. Although most of the Commission’s recommendations were accepted, wholly or in part, the practical impact on the current SARs framework is slight, and real change is limited. Measures that keep matters as they are were approved, including retaining the consent regime, leaving unchanged the process for handling SARs linked to international criminality, and declining to provide a statutory definition of suspicion. Several other recommendations were endorsed only in a qualified way, with caveats and constraints. Further research into targeted reporting (where in specified circumstances filing a SAR is mandatory) was agreed in principle; however, the government said it had already covered this when passing the ECCTA 2023 and elected not to pursue it further. The question of how a financial...
In this issue: Brexit UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Culture, diversity and inclusion Prudential requirements Financial stability Operational resilience Financial crime and sanctions Consumer protection Complaints, compensation and claims management Investigations, enforcement and discipline Dispute resolution for financial services lawyers Regulation of derivatives Banks and mutuals Investment funds and asset management Consumer credit, mortgage and home finance Regulation of insurance Payment services and systems Fintech and cryptoassets EEA Agreement Annex IX ( Financial Services) Financial Services Enforcement Database Daily and weekly news alerts Intraday news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Brexit Finance Act 2024 The Act sets out measures relating to finance. It commences in part on 1 January 2024, 22 February 2024, 1 April 2024 and 1...
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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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