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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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As he unveiled the organisation’s annual review, Richard Horne, who heads the government’s National Cyber Security Centre ( NCSC), issued a warning, noting that malicious cyber activity is becoming more frequent and sophisticated. According to the eighth annual review, its incident response team dealt with nearly 2,000 reports in the 12 months to August 2024 and marked 430 incidents as needing support from the team—up from 371 in the previous year. Close to 90 of these were classed as ‘nationally significant’, while 12 sat at the highest end of the scale and were judged severe—a threefold rise on the year to August 2023......
Business Minister Justin Madders has set out plans to double the period staff have to lodge most employment claims, outlined within a 59-page schedule of amendments to the bill. A six-month timeframe already applies for submitting equal pay cases and statutory redundancy claims. Several changes are far-reaching. One proposal would create a statutory probation period lasting three to nine months, linked to the section of the law that removes the current rule requiring two years’ continuous service before bringing an unfair dismissal claim. A further amendment would bar gig economy firms from relying on substitution clauses in their contracts, a common device used to sidestep higher pay and tax liabilities. Extending the deadline for claims was a policy advanced by the government during the general election campaign and is included in its ‘ Make Work Pay’ programme......
ECCTA and the failure to prevent fraud offence The offence of failing to prevent fraud was brought in by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023) as part of a suite of initiatives designed to combat financial crime. It was also one of a number of measures directed at tackling financial crime. It extends the corporate failure to prevent framework, building on the failure to prevent bribery and failure to prevent the facilitation of tax evasion offences, created by the Bribery Act 2010 and the Criminal Finances Act 2017, respectively. Set out in sections 199–206 of ECCTA, it seeks to hold large organisations, regardless of their form, incorporation, or formation, to account for fraud carried out by employees, agents, subsidiaries, or others delivering services for or on its behalf, where the fraud was intended to benefit the...
In this issue: Practice Compliance forecast Financial sanctions Other financial crime Cybersecurity Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Practice Compliance forecast New Practice Compliance forecast as at 20 November 2024 Our latest Practice Compliance forecast (as at 20 November 2024) is now available. This edition covers: Release of long‑anticipated government guidance on the failure to prevent fraud offence; FATF consulting on revisions to its Standards and refreshing grey‑listing criteria to intensify risk focus; The Legal Ombudsman’s transparency proposals and forthcoming Scheme Rules amendments; SRA consultation on publishing regulatory decisions, updating the financial penalties regime, and client money in legal services. See News Analysis: New Practice Compliance forecast as at 20 November 2024. Financial sanctions FCDO implements new sanctions against international...
OFSI investigations into Russia sanctions breaches Giles Thomson, director of the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation, told MPs on the Treasury Committee that probes into suspected Russia sanctions violations are now at ‘mature’ stages. These cases, he said, will demonstrate the regulator’s readiness to pursue the most ‘egregious’ rule-breaking. ‘ You should expect to see further numbers of cases of both wider range and higher value in the coming months,’ he added, aiming to show the growing breadth and depth of its work. Thomson would not disclose how many of OFSI’s 400 live matters might be made public. Most, he said, relate to low-value, minor breaches that end with no further action or a warning letter. Only a ‘single-figure percentage’ surpasses the misconduct threshold that justifies public identification or financial penalties. He acknowledged that enforcement has, to date, issued only one £15,000 fine for breaches of the...
On 21 November 2024, the prosecutor, working with its French peer, the Parquet National Financier ( PNF), launched a bribery inquiry concerning the French aviation and defence conglomerate. Thales maintains a major footprint in the UK, with its subsidiary employing over 7,000 people across 16 locations. The company, which is partly owned by the French state, produces technology, sensors and software fitted to civilian and military aircraft, among them the Rafale fighter. A French judicial source told MLex last week that the case centres on a PNF investigation opened in July 2024 into suspected bribery of a foreign public official, influence trading and money laundering tied to an Asian arms deal. The PNF has now teamed up with the SFO on the case, each authority respectively concentrating on its own jurisdiction in parallel......
In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Financial sanctions Changes to sanctions legislation introduced On 14 November 2024, the Sanctions ( EU Exit) ( Miscellaneous Amendments) ( No 2) Regulations 2024 ( SI 2024/1157) were laid before Parliament. The instrument revises 35 pieces of secondary sanctions legislation, including: adjustments to licensing and exceptions provisions; amended notification duties in specified situations; changes to reporting obligations for relevant firms and involved persons; an amendment to certain asset-freeze prohibitions; and new civil monetary penalty powers for breaches in relation to Russia land prohibitions. Taken together, the package is intended to strengthen HM Treasury’s Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) in implementing and enforcing financial sanctions. See: LNB News 15/11/2024 26. New sanctions guidance for Insolvency Practitioners and Letting Agents The Sanctions ( EU Exit) (...
Failure to prevent fraud by a corporate organisation On 6 November 2024, the UK Home Office issued long-awaited guidance on the new ‘failure to prevent fraud by a corporate organisation’ offence, commonly referred to as the corporate fraud offence. This development adds another avenue for an expanding cohort of claimants to pursue companies over climate-related matters, including alleged greenwashing. It represents one, albeit major, component within a shifting environmental compliance regime. As frameworks mature, businesses must move quickly to remain compliant. At the same time, a broader mix of actors—from regulators such as the Advertising Standards Authority ( ASA) and the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA) to non-governmental bodies focused on environmental concerns—is adopting more sophisticated and forceful tactics to shape corporate conduct. Consequently, the legal pathways for environmental compliance claims have multiplied and grown more imaginative, with novel arguments pushed into areas once...
As at 20 November 2024, our Practice Compliance forecast monitors proposed regulatory shifts relevant to law firm compliance, enabling you to prepare for developments pertinent to your organisation. Please review it thoroughly; nevertheless, we flag a few points that should be on your radar below. New items we’re tracking this month FATF consultation on amendments to the FATF Standards — The Financial Action Task Force ( FATF) is considering updates to its Recommendations to better align with measures that promote financial inclusion. This forms part of FATF’s programme to address the unintended consequences of AML/ CTF measures. The consultation closes on 6 December 2024. See: AML, CTF and counter-proliferation financing. FATF updates grey listing criteria to sharpen risk focus — The FATF has revised its criteria for listing countries, aiming to relieve pressure on the least developed nations and...
What does the government guidance tells us about what reasonable procedures businesses are expected to take to avoid committing the new failure to prevent fraud offence? Government guidance explains the steps expected of businesses to avoid liability for the new failure to prevent fraud offence. Relevant organisations can rely on a defence to FTPF where they have reasonable procedures to prevent fraud (in this context, fraud intended to benefit the organisation), or if they can show it was not reasonable to expect any prevention measures at all. The Guidance to organisations on the offence of failure to prevent fraud (the Guidance) outlines, in broad terms, the procedures companies may adopt to deter associated persons from committing fraud offences. It states that a company’s FTPF framework should be shaped by six principles: top level commitment risk assessment ...
In October 2024, the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) revealed that 42 UK companies are being investigated for breaching the Russian oil price cap. Even so, the heftiest UK sanction for compliance failings this year did not come from OFSI; that distinction sits with the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA). On 4 October 2024, the FCA imposed a £28.9m penalty on Starling Bank for what were characterised as 'shockingly lax' sanctions screening practices and 'systemic issues' within the bank's financial sanctions framework. By comparison, OFSI's first penalty for contravening the financial restrictions introduced after Russia's invasion of Ukraine (a £15,000 fine against London-based Integral Concierge Services Ltd in September 2024) appears decidedly modest. With that context, this article examines the UK and EU's stance on sanctions enforcement. Taken together, these events set the scene for a comparison of...
In this issue: Financial sanctions Other financial crime Data protection Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions FCDO announces sanctions against Russia’s military industrial complex The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office ( FCDO) has unveiled 56 new sanctions targeting Russia’s military industrial complex and Russia-backed mercenary groups, limiting access to essential military equipment for its war on Ukraine. The package comprises 56 designations under the Russia ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the Central African Republic ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2019, the Libya ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2020, the Mali ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2020 and the Chemical Weapons ( Sanctions) ( EU Exit) Regulations 2019. See: LNB News 07/11/2024 60. OFSI announces extension of Frozen Asset Review 2024 deadline The Office of Financial Sanctions...
In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Data protection Other Practice Compliance updates this week Question of the week Lex Talk®Practice Compliance: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions OFSI removes licensing ground on guidance to apply for sanctioned trade services licence The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) has withdrawn the licensing ground that permitted services to persons with Russian links via a UK parent or that parent’s subsidiary, bringing this into line with its guidance on applying for a licence to provide sanctioned trade services. See: LNB News 31/10/2024 46. OFSI updates its UK Financial Sanctions FAQs On 5 November 2024, OFSI revised 14 Frequently Asked Questions ( FAQs) on its FAQs page. FAQs 49–51, 55, 61–66, 72–73, 76 and 84 sit under the...
The SFO disclosed via a Freedom of Information Act request that it had spent £16m over a decade probing ENRC, before abandoning the prosecution in 2023 due to a lack of admissible evidence. Since 2016, the agency has further paid £12m to external lawyers, including Eversheds Sutherland LLP, on civil proceedings as it defended the original decision to commence the criminal inquiry. An SFO spokesperson on 6 November 2024 said the expenditure reflected a lengthy, complex investigation that pursued every reasonable lead, alongside a robust defence of ENRC’s claims following the launch of the probe. The figures were posted on the SFO’s website on 31 October 2024. However, ENRC’s sought damages in the civil action could yet surpass those sums. ENRC, the mining giant at the centre of the probe, was investigated for ten years, with the SFO stressing that...
Equality ( Race and Ethnicity) Bill In October, the Labour government reignited its longstanding goal to require employers to disclose pay disparities across racial groups, resurrecting a plan shelved by the Conservatives as unworkable. The draft Equality ( Race and Ethnicity) Bill would compel organisations with over 250 employees to publish ethnicity and disability pay gaps, mirroring gender reporting. It will need further regulations and likely will not arrive until the latter part of Labour’s five-year term. Lawyers warn this sweeping framework will pose fresh tests for employers: from methods for gathering and submitting data to government, to managing employee and stakeholder reactions to the process—and to any disparities exposed. Many had anticipated ethnicity reporting would come first, as some major employers already gather those figures voluntarily. Yet even ethnicity reporting—more familiar than the uncharted task of calculating disability gaps—is far more...
See Q& A: Does preparing a deed of surrender amount to a reserved legal activity? If it does, can a solicitor employed by a non‑authorised organisation draft such a deed? Reserved legal activities Under section 13 of the Legal Services Act 2007 ( LSA 2007), only certain persons may undertake reserved legal activities: authorised by an approved legal services regulator identified in LSA 2007, Sch 4; or exempt under LSA 2007, Sch 3, which provides tailored exemptions for each reserved legal activity; or (pursuant to transitional provisions still in force) non‑commercial bodies, eg not‑for‑profit organisations and trade unions The reserved activities are listed in LSA 2007, s 12, and the scope of each is defined in LSA 2007, Sch 2......
In this issue: Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Data protection Other Practice Compliance updates this week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Financial sanctions OFSI issues new Legal Services General Licence INT/2024/5334756 The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) and HM Treasury have introduced a successor Legal Services General Licence INT/2024/5334756, commencing as soon as Legal Services General Licence INT/2024/4671884 ends at 23:59 on 28 October 2024. This licence permits a UK law firm or counsel that has provided legal advice to a person designated under the Russia or Belarus regimes to receive payment from that individual without obtaining an OFSI specific licence, provided the conditions in General Licence INT/2024/5334756 are fulfilled. Notable revisions include raised caps for fees and expenses, a limited allowance for payments into non‑ UK bank...
In December 2023, OTSI was set up as a new government body within the Department for Business and Trade ( DBT), tasked with civil enforcement of certain trade sanctions connected to UK services and overseas trade with a UK nexus. On 10 October 2024, the UK government formally launched OTSI, mandating it to reinforce sanctions enforcement and assist businesses with compliance. Trade sanctions cover restrictive measures relating to: the movement of goods the transfer of technology the provision of services Breaching trade sanctions is also a criminal offence, with enforcement by HM Revenue and Customs ( HMRC). This article examines OTSI’s principal civil enforcement powers under the new legislation, how it will work alongside other law enforcement authorities, and the potential effect on the UK’s interwoven sanctions landscape. We also consider a distinct difference between OTSI and HMRC in how they may pursue trade...
In this issue Financial sanctions AML, CTF & counter-proliferation financing Other financial crime Data protection and cyber security Other Practice Compliance updates this week Question of the week Daily and weekly news alerts Trackers New and updated content Latest Q& A Financial sanctions OFSI reports expiry of General Licence INT/2024/4919848 HM Treasury and the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation ( OFSI) have confirmed the expiry of General Licence INT/2024/4919848, which had authorised transactions with Russia’s National Settlement Depository. The licence has now been moved into the collection titled ‘ Expired General Licences’. See: LNB News 23/10/2024 10. OTSI issues information on navigating trade sanctions with OTSI's guidance The Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation ( OTSI) recognises the complexities of trade sanctions and reiterates its aim to help UK businesses navigate them effectively. Its recent blog...
According to the SRA, Alexandra Jones assumed the position at the start of August 2024, after her predecessor, Colette Best, left in early June, the SRA said. Jones previously also served as chief executive of Registry Trust, the not-for-profit that runs the public database of monetary judgments in the UK. Board papers from the SRA, released on 23 October 2024, add that Jones has held senior posts at the Financial Ombudsman Service and within banking. Her Linked In profile indicates she spent more than nine years at HSBC. Paul Philip, chief executive of the SRA, said in a briefing to journalists on 22 October 2024 that he......
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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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