Legal News

The new guidelines The new guidelines mark a significant reorientation of anti‑bribery enforcement, centring on national security risks and safeguarding the capacity of American businesses to compete on a level field. They set out four non‑exclusive considerations for prosecutors when assessing FCPA matters: DOJ will elevate matters where bribery, whether directly or indirectly, enables the criminal activities of cartels and transnational criminal organisations ( TCOs). This has become a primary consideration in FCPA actions, with attention moving away from cases lacking this security dimension. Prosecutors are urged to deploy the FCPA to protect US economic interests and preserve fair competition for US companies, making schemes that disadvantage law‑abiding US firms a central focus. Priority will be placed on conduct tied to national security domains, including defence, intelligence, and critical infrastructure. Efforts should concentrate on serious wrongdoing, rather than expending resources on alleged minor, routine business practices or de...

Rogers v Wills [2025] EWHC 1367 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Reimbursement of costs of caring for family members— In this claim the claimant sought repayment from her late mother’s estate for expenses incurred in providing care. Although outcomes will always depend on the specific facts, this ruling may pave the way for comparable claims where contractual arrangements or unjust enrichment are pleaded. Intention to create legal relations— It is unusual for a court to find that relatives intended a binding contract. Yet the judge appeared to dismiss any presumption against such intention. Rather, the issue was said to be a matter for the evidence available (with the nature of the relationship only one component) as to whether there was an intention to create legal relations. Capacity— Having considered the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the judge...

Targeted support regime set to launch in 2026 The targeted support regime, due in 2026, will permit banks, financial advisers and others to recommend products to cohorts of similar customers, described as segments. Businesses employ segmentation to cluster consumers and deliver targeted support, narrowing suggestions to fit attributes commonly shared within each group. Yet the main barrier is the danger that firms could breach current rules by issuing marketing communications to investors. Regulatory lawyers are relying on the government to publish a policy paper on Tuesday 15 July 2025 setting out changes to financial services rules to make targeted support proposals workable. While commentators are generally positive about governmental backing for legal adjustments, they also note uncertainty about how the wider approach aligns with existing consumer protection measures under the FCA’s Consumer Duty. ‘ There is significant tension between what the FCA is...

Mergers Commission sends Italy a preliminary assessment under Article 21 of the EUMR regarding conditions imposed on the acquisition of BPM by Uni Credit The Commission stated that it has forwarded a letter to Italy setting out its preliminary assessment that a Decree issued by the Italian Prime Minister, imposing specific obligations on the entity formed through Uni Credit S.p. A.’s ( Uni Credit) acquisition of Banco BPM S.p. A. ( BPM), may infringe Article 21 EUMR as well as other provisions of EU law. Under Article 21 EUMR, concentrations with an EU dimension fall within the Commission’s exclusive jurisdiction. As a result, Member States must not enforce their national rules on such transactions and may only adopt suitable measures to safeguard legitimate interests, provided those measures comply with EU law. Any actions other than those protecting the legitimate interests of public...

Online Following IOSCO’s statement, on 28 May 2025 the European Securities and Markets Authority ( ESMA) revealed it had contacted a number of social media and platform firms, urging proactive measures to curb the promotion of unauthorised financial services and drawing attention to IOSCO’s drive (see: ESMA urges social media platforms to prevent unauthorised financial promotions, LNB News 28/05/2025 39). “ An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Credited to Benjamin Franklin amid fire risks in Philadelphia in 1736, the maxim is equally apt for online harms in financial services, an area of mounting regulatory concern as digitalisation accelerates and retail involvement in capital markets expands. Thus far, supervisors have struggled to take effective action against those behind fraud, unauthorised activity and deceptive advertising enabled by social media. The cross‑border nature of many offenders’ operations, coupled with the practical...

Standish ( Appellant) v Standish ( Respondent) [2025] UKSC 26 What are the practical implications of this case? This is the first occasion since Miller v Miller; Mc Farlane v Mc Farlane [2006] UKHL 24, [2006] 1 FLR 1186 that the nation’s highest court has revisited the substantive financial remedies law of England and Wales. In contrast to that judgment and its predecessor ( White v White [2000] UKHL 54, [2000] 2 FLR 981), Standish gives little attention to the companion ‘strands’ of needs and compensation—its spotlight rests squarely on the sharing principle, and it will therefore be of primary interest to practitioners advising high net worth and ultra-high net worth clients, for whom it is essential reading. The most immediate practical effects are likely to be felt in wealth planning, not least given the general dicta on assets transferred for tax reasons, ie such...

Hymans Robertson, commenting on 8 July 2025 to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government ( MHCLG) consultation, said the suite of proposals for the LGPS in England and Wales is positive, yet their rollout must be appropriately timed. MHCLG opened the consultation in May 2025, setting out a number of suggested reforms to the LGPS, such as making all maternity, shared parental and adoption absence automatically pensionable for scheme members. Whitehall also suggested revising the definition of child-related leave so staff can accrue pensionable pay during the final 13 weeks of the full 52-week period, which currently does not count towards pension. In addition, the package would confirm that any unpaid leave shorter than 30 days should be treated as ordinary pensionable earnings, alongside a range of other measures......

Open AI, Microsoft and Google were among leading AI firms as the European Union unveiled the final version of the EU AI Act’s code of practice for general‑purpose AI models today, even though significant compliance concerns remain unsettled. The code had been slated to appear alongside two other pivotal papers: guidance to clarify core concepts (including what counts as a general‑purpose AI, or GPAI, model) and a template requiring model providers to disclose training data. Those guidance and template documents are still subject to internal scrutiny by the European Commission, with no publication date confirmed. While the guidance could emerge as soon as next week, the template may not be ready before the GPAI rules start applying on 2 August 2025, MLex understands. It is also unclear whether AI companies will sign up to the code before seeing the template, as the...

Bunyan ( Valuation Officer) v Fridays Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 666 What are the practical implications of this case? Although Fridays succeeded in the Court of Appeal, the court rejected their broader submission. To qualify as an ‘agricultural building’ (and thereby benefit from the exemption) a structure must satisfy an occupation test—that it is occupied with agricultural land—and a use test—that it is employed solely for agricultural operations on that land or on other agricultural land. The Upper Tribunal concluded that the 2003 revision to the definition displaced earlier authority which had required the building and land to comprise a single agricultural unit. It held instead that the correct approach was that the building and land needed to be held as part of the same enterprise and be geographically proximate, if not adjoining. The Court of Appeal found that analysis to be mistaken and...

P& ID asks UK Supreme Court to convert £44m costs to naira At a hearing, Process & Industrial Developments Ltd ( P& ID) pressed the UK Supreme Court to translate the £44m it has been ordered to pay Nigeria into naira, asserting that, because the currency has fallen sharply since 2023, Nigeria would otherwise gain an unwarranted windfall of about 70bn naira. The costs arise from Nigeria’s successful High Court challenge to the arbitral award made in 2017 in favour of P& ID, tied to a natural gas refinery and electricity generation project that unravelled. In October 2023, Judge Robin Knowles concluded that the award had been secured through fraud and bribery. Knowles J also held that the company’s legal team, including Trevor Burke KC and commercial solicitor Seamus Andrew, hid the fact they had obtained Nigeria’s privileged legal advice and other internal documents during the...

Max Serwin, formerly known as Emil Ingmanson According to a High Court ruling dated 8 July 2025, Max Serwin, previously known as Emil Ingmanson, created Falcon Funds SICAV Plc as a means to direct pension investments into companies in which he held personal interests. Judge Mark Pelling KC concluded that Serwin presented Falcon as a legitimate investment fund when, to a substantial extent, it was not. As the designer of the Falcon arrangement, his conduct and failures were the unlawful acts that caused Sweden’s losses. Sweden asserted that the fund formed part of a broader operation that allegedly extracted €115m from more than 46,000 Swedish pensioners. Sweden had earlier pursued criminal proceedings against Serwin in relation to his involvement. In April 2020, he was convicted in Sweden of aggravated fraud, aiding and abetting disloyalty to a principal, and aggravated giving of bribes......

Care homes, construction defects and commercial loss—guidance from the Technology and Construction Court ( Toppan & Abbey v Simply) (1) Toppan Holdings Ltd, (2) Abbey Healthcare ( Mill Hill) Limited v August 2008 LLP (formerly Simply Construct ( UK) LLP) [2025] EWHC 1691 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision will be of interest to the construction industry in a number of key respects: Contractors and designers will be expected to meet rigorous fire safety compliance standards The TCC has reaffirmed the established position that defects will be treated seriously, even when latent and uncovered only after practical completion. As emphasised in His Honour Judge Bowdery KC’s judgment, the court will take a dim view of parties who appear to ‘underestimate’ or ‘under‑appreciate’ the consequences of fire safety defects. The judge recorded on several occasions that the...

Mergers The Commission approved the acquisition of joint control over Island Energy Investor Holdings LLC by Fortress Investment Group LLC and First Reserve Management LP ( M.12048) following a phase I review—see also, Midday Express. The Commission has received notification of Helvetia/ Baloise ( M.12003) under the simplified merger procedure. Note— For all ongoing merger enquiries before the Commission, see the EU mergers—ongoing cases tracker. Upcoming dates— For schedules of forthcoming EU competition developments, see EU Competition calendar......

Insurers, among them subsidiaries of AXA and Allianz, told the Court of Appeal that the non-disclosure amounted to a breach of the duty of fair representation of the risk under the Insurance Act 2015 ( IA 2015). Delos Shipholding SA, owner of the Win Win, together with the vessel’s commercial and technical managers and its mortgagee, sued the insurers for declining cover. Counsel for the insurers, Philippa Hopkins KC of Essex Court Chambers, argued—according to the judgment—that Delos knew, yet failed to disclose, that director Evangelos Bairactaris was criminally charged in March 2018 in relation to the alleged financing of drug trafficking. She said the non-disclosure induced the insurers to issue the policy on those terms and that it should be voided under the IA 2015. In March 2024, High Court Judge Julia Dias ( Dias J) rejected the insurers’...

Antitrust Court of Appeal’s judgment dismissing Phones4U’s appeal regarding allegations of collusion against EE, Vondafone and O2 The Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Phones 4U Ltd v EE Ltd & Ors, determining an appeal from the High Court’s decision that had dismissed a standalone claim issued by Phone4U Limited ( Phones 4U) against a number of UK mobile network operators ( MNOs) and their parent companies. Phones 4U alleged infringements of Article 101 TFEU and the Chapter I prohibition under the Competition Act 1998, contending there was coordination to cease dealing with it. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal in full. Background Phones 4U was one of the two leading retail intermediaries for mobile telephones in the UK until it went into administration in September 2014. Its collapse followed decisions by three MNOs not to renew contracts for the supply of...

The US administration has already imposed a 25% duty on most imported vehicles and components, alongside 50% charges on incoming steel and aluminium. In a Cabinet session on the morning of 8 July 2025 that was broadcast on C- SPAN, Trump declared, ‘ Today we are doing copper’. He said he expects that the rate will be 50%. The White House did not promptly answer a request for further details at the time. This statement follows Trump’s February 2025 order instructing the US Department of Commerce to examine copper imports under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962. He drew on the Cold War-era statute repeatedly during his first term, most prominently to set a 25% tariff on imported steel and a 10% duty on foreign aluminium, measures the White House has since tightened......

Asset Management & Investment Funds: EU & International Developments– June 2025 Amendment to EU Benchmarks Regulation Regulation ( EU) 2025/914, which updates the EU Benchmarks Regulation ( BMR), has now appeared in the EU’s Official Journal. Its clear purpose is to lighten compliance obligations for smaller EU benchmark administrators. It took effect on 8 June, while the specific amendments will apply from 1 January 2026 thereafter. By narrowing the scope, the changes ensure, in practice, that only UCITS management companies, UCITS funds and AIFs relying on critical or significant benchmarks (as defined), certain commodity benchmarks, EU climate transition benchmarks, or EU Paris-aligned benchmarks must comply with the BMR’s benchmark user requirements. IOSCO report and guidance on liquidity risk management for collective investment schemes The International Organization of Securities Commissions ( IOSCO) has publicly issued its Final Report setting out Revised...

In this issue: Public company takeovers Corporate governance Accounts and reports Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Trackers Useful information Public company takeovers Takeover Panel proposes reforms to address dual class share structures, IPO disclosures and share buybacks The Code Committee of the Takeover Panel ( Panel) has issued consultation paper PCP 2025/1, setting out proposed revisions to the Takeover Code ( Code) to deal with the regulation of dual class share structures ( DCSS), to clarify what must be disclosed on IPO, and to streamline the framework for share buybacks. The package is designed to update the Code for current market practice, in particular following the Financial Conduct Authority ( FCA)’s overhaul of the UK Listing Rules last year, and to maintain robust, equitable safeguards for...

In this issue: Personal insolvency Restructuring Creditors’ participation R& I in Scotland Daily and weekly news alerts Key dates for restructuring and insolvency professionals New content New Q& As Personal insolvency Court rules on meaning of ‘ Place of Residence’ in bankruptcy jurisdiction appeal ( Mobile Telecommunications Company KSCP v HRH Prince Hussam Bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud) The Court of Appeal ( Lord Justice Newey, Lord Justice Snowden and Lady Justice Whipple) was asked to consider whether the High Court had correctly dismissed a bankruptcy petition issued by Mobile Telecommunications Company KSCP. The Company and Prince Hussam, a Saudi royal, have long disputed unpaid arbitration awards totalling about US$900m. The pivotal question was whether, for section 265(2)(b)(i) of the Insolvency Act 1986, Prince Hussam had “a place of residence in England and Wales”. The...

In this issue: UK private actions UK antitrust EU antitrust EU Digital markets EU State aid Lex Talk®Competition: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts Caselex UK private actions Court of Appeal rejects challenges to the CAT’s decisions on third‑party litigation funding arrangements supporting collective claims against Apple, Sony, Visa and Mastercard. In Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe Ltd v Alex Neill Class Representative, the Court of Appeal resolved appeals in four distinct collective competition damages actions, upholding the CAT’s approval of amended funding agreements that had been revised following the Supreme Court’s judgment in PACCAR. Background On 26 July 2023, the Supreme Court delivered its judgment in R (on the application of PACCAR Inc) v Competition Appeal Tribunal. That ruling stemmed from disputes over the litigation funding arrangements used by class...