Legal News

What has happened? An automatically delivered update to Crowd Strike Falcon (cyber security software built to oversee and safeguard computers) is, in numerous instances, triggering crashes on Microsoft Windows machines, leading to the notorious ‘ Blue Screen of Death’. Critically, indeed, the issue is especially severe as systems that fail in this manner become totally unusable in practice. As a result, hands-on remediation—and at times on-site presence—is needed to repair every impacted device individually (be that staff laptops, servers, cash points, e POS (electronic point of sale) units, etc). This remains true even though Crowd Strike has rolled back the update in question......

GH v H [2024] EWHC 2869 ( Fam) What are the practical implications of this case? The decision aids practitioners in ascertaining who has standing to seek a charging order over a debt owed by a third party that flows from a financial remedy order, holding that a party to the original proceedings may apply. In spelling out the legal position, it removes what would otherwise be an undesirable situation in which a child would be required to take action against a parent within the broader parental dispute. The judgment further underscores the need for care so that order headings accurately identify the court seised of the matter. Because the bundle contained inconsistent captions—some describing the High Court and some the Family Court—the judge paused twice to consider whether his order on interest had in fact been correctly made. In the end, the wife was...

The Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts ( HCCH Principles) The Official Commentary to the Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts, Hague Conference on International Private Law, The Hague 2015, serves as companion guidance to be consulted alongside the instrument’s full text. It is supporting material to be read in conjunction with the instrument’s complete text. What are the HCCH Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts? Every contemporary legal order maintains domestic private international law rules, which frequently vary from State to State. Divergent decisions and differing readings of private international law provisions (including those governing choice of law) generate significant uncertainty for international trade and commerce. For years, the challenge of preventing inconsistent judicial outcomes has stood at the forefront of concern for international lawyers. That concern has driven, among others,...

Antitrust General Court dismisses HSBC’s appeal against the Commission’s re-adopted Euribor cartel fine The General Court delivered its judgment in Case T-561/21, HSBC Holdings and Others v Commission, concerning an action challenging the Commission’s re-adopted decision of 28 June 2021, which identified an infringement and levied penalties on HSBC for its conduct in the Euro interest rate derivatives market ( Case SA.39914). The General Court dismissed the appeal in its entirety and thereby affirmed the revised fine. Commission’s 2016 decision In December 2016, the Commission issued a decision concluding that Crédit agricole, HSBC and JPMorgan Chase had taken part in a single and continuous infringement that restricted and/or distorted competition in the Euro Interest Rate Derivatives ( EIRD) market ( Case SA.39914) (the Commission’s 2016 decision). For that infringement, the Commission imposed a fine of €33.6m on HSBC. Appeal against the Commission’s 2016 decision ( Case T-...

( Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co Ltd , No 24-532, US Sup) Interpretative split Nigeria’s petition dated 7 November 2024 maintains that the New York Convention governs only “persons”, a term which in ordinary English excludes a sovereign—particularly one acting in a sovereign capacity. It submits that the DC Circuit erred in upholding an award against Nigeria that rested solely on the conduct and contracts of Ogun State, an autonomous constituent state of Nigeria. According to Nigeria, when the Convention was concluded, it was widely accepted that “person” could cover a government‑owned company, but not the government itself as a sovereign. Extending the Convention’s enforcement machinery to sovereigns would have marked a dramatic departure; the drafters, it says, repeatedly described the Convention’s scope as confined to “private law” disputes. Nigeria further asserts that the relevance of this...

My Contracts Ltd v 74 Hamilton Terrace Freehold Ltd [2024] EWHC 2896 ( TCC) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision offers a timely reminder of the way time periods are to be construed within construction contracts, and acts as a useful sequel to the judgment in Elements ( Europe) Ltd v FK Building Ltd, which likewise involved a JCT form of contract. At bottom, though, it principally reiterates that the courts will give effect to the contractual text as agreed, and will decline to interpolate wording into a clause that the parties neither drafted nor intended. What was the background? My Contracts Ltd ( MCL) and 74 Hamilton Terrace Freehold Ltd (74HTF) entered into a contract based on the JCT Design and Build Contract 2016 edition, incorporating extensive bespoke amendments and dated 2 March 2023 (the Contract), for the execution of works...

Subsidy control The Subsidy Advice Unit will prepare a report advising Homes England on its planned subsidy for Liverpool Central Docks—see further, case page The Subsidy Advice Unit has finalised its report to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham Council on the proposed subsidy to Barking and Dagenham Homes Limited—see further, final report NOTE— For all referrals under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, see further, UK subsidy control—ongoing cases tracker Mergers The CMA is consulting on accepting final undertakings following its phase 2 review in Lindab/ HAS‑ Vent—see further, case page NOTE— For all live mergers before the CMA, see further, UK mergers—ongoing cases tracker NSI Act 2021 The Cabinet Office has made a Final Order under the National Security and Investment Act 2021 conditionally clearing: (i) Future Industry Investment Fund II’s 48% stake in Nanjing Techcomp Era...

AJ Bell’s chief executive contacted HM Treasury on 25 November 2024, pressing for a reconsideration of reforms first set out by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the 30 October 2024 Budget, which would, from 6 April 2027, fold unspent pension pots and pension-related death benefits into an individual’s estate for inheritance tax ( IHT) purposes. Under the proposals, beneficiaries receiving lump-sum pension assets exceeding £325,000 from a deceased person’s estate would face a 40% tax charge. Up to now, retirement savings worth as much as £1,073,100 have been excluded from inheritance tax. The letter urged a rethink of these proposals specifically......

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...

Under the reforms, the watchdog will release to defence teams any material bearing on its inquiry, rather than limiting disclosure to papers that help or weaken its position. Such extra papers could enable defendants to see the FCA’s case in the round, allowing their white‑collar solicitors to shape a stronger defence, said Tom Bushnell of Hickman & Rose. In document‑laden cases (and where memories have dimmed) the ability to assemble all pertinent material can be decisive, helping the subject of enforcement to grasp what occurred and deliver a coherent reply to the claims, Bushnell said. At times, pivotal records or communications can be properly grasped only with context supplied by other material. Previously, the FCA was obliged to disclose the documents it relied upon in regulatory enforcement, as well as any potentially exculpatory evidence. The agency now proposes to give defence lawyers...

See Q& A: Where a claim under the Inheritance ( Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 is notified against an estate with two beneficiaries, and one is prepared to pursue alternative dispute resolution and weigh up settlement, but the other will not entertain either option, can the first conclude a deal with the Claimant ( C) limited to the share said to be 'their half' of the estate, leaving C to continue the contest with the remaining beneficiary? Further, could such an arrangement be structured so that any subsequent costs order in C's favour does not reduce the entitlement of the beneficiary who has compromised? This is a thought-provoking point......

HMRC v The Taxpayer and others [2024] UKUT 364 ( TCC) Absent any appeal to the Court of Appeal, the decision will be republished without anonymisation on 11 December 2024. In September 2021, the First-tier Tax Tribunal ( FTT), by way of an unpublished ruling, ordered that preliminary steps on the taxpayer’s substantive appeal be conducted in private. That appeal related to HMRC’s refusal of certain tax deductions, and HMRC challenged that privacy direction. In January 2024, the UT set aside the FTT’s order ( HMRC v The Taxpayer [2024] UKUT 12 ( TCC)), concluding there were material errors of law. That subsequent ruling was itself anonymised while any further appeal was in prospect. In April 2024, the taxpayer appealed to the UT against the January 2024 decision, seeking a direction that, if the taxpayer’s bid for anonymity were refused, the...

As the financial sector awaits the FCA’s policy statement on non-financial misconduct—intended to finalise the rule changes consulted on in September 2023—the regulator, in October 2024, released the findings of its survey on non-financial misconduct. In short, the FCA expects: senior leadership and boards of directors to discuss, challenge and properly oversee non-financial misconduct firms to maintain robust systems and controls that identify and address workplace issues, and firms to take immediate steps to ensure they have effective policies and practices in place The results In February 2024, the FCA issued a compulsory information request to more than 1,000 regulated wholesale financial services firms concerning non-financial misconduct. The FCA requested data and information from 2021 to 2023 on: the number of non-financial misconduct incidents logged by type or category, and how those incidents were detected the number of non-financial misconduct incidents recorded by incident type or category and the...

Conservative MP Bob Blackman, co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group ( APPG) on investment fraud and fairer financial services, stated that the document draws on evidence from over 170 individuals, among them serving and former FCA staff. Scheduled for publication on 26 November 2024, the report sets out the regulator’s shortcomings in detail as described within. Across 380 pages it will highlight concerns about competence and accountability, and claim bad faith within the FCA as alleged by numerous witnesses and contributors. Blackman also argued that systemic failings flagged in earlier reviews remain unaddressed by the authority. He pointed to botched case handling, including the collapse of major firms such as the Woodford investment fund, London Capital & Finance Plc ( LCF), the British Steel Pension Scheme, and Philips Trust Corp. The MP maintained there are still 'deep-rooted cultural problems' inside the FCA. He added that, 'if...

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal concluded it would be unjust to allow survivors of the May 2017 suicide bombing to pursue their claims, as they should have been lodged swiftly after the Manchester Arena Inquiry report was issued in March 2023, rather than many months later. The tribunal noted the claims were only put in during February 2024, emphasising the delay Writing for the tribunal, Court of Appeal Justice Rabinder Singh and High Court Judge Judith Farbey said the start of the proceedings had not been accorded the objective priority it deserved, stating that the requirement to file promptly following the Inquiry Report was not treated with the urgency it demanded or given the priority it required The claimants argued that the security services, including MI5, displayed institutional defensiveness about their failings and breached their human rights by missing opportunities to uncover evidence that might have...

The final report (part 2), published in November 2024, sets out the CJC Working Group’s recommendations for reform in respect of the following personal injury specific PAPs: Pre- Action Protocol for Personal Injury Claims Pre- Action Protocol for the Resolution of Clinical Disputes Pre- Action Protocol for Disease and Illness Claims Pre- Action Protocol for Resolution of Package Travel Claims For additional details about the CJC’s concluding report, consult News Analysis: Reforming the pre-action protocols— CJC second phase report ( November 2024)......

Background to the consultation Between 22 March and 29 April 2022, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ( OECD) undertook a public consultation, concluding with a meeting on 23 May 2022. This led to OECD-level finalisation of the rules and commentary for both the CARF and updates to the CRS, promoting consistency across jurisdictions. In November 2023, the UK, together with 47 other countries and territories—including the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man, and the UK’s Overseas Territories of the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar—signed a Joint Statement committing to swiftly transpose the CARF into domestic law and to activate exchange agreements so that exchanges can commence by 2027. Although the OECD CARF/ CRS suite followed a public consultation, it includes optional components and does not prescribe detailed practical implementation. Consequently, HMRC held a consultation from 6 March 2024 to 29 May 2024 to...

Subsidy control Department for Business and Trade launches consultation on refining the UK subsidy control regime The Department for Business and Trade ( DBT) has opened a consultation to fine-tune the UK subsidy control framework and gather stakeholder perspectives. It now invites further detailed feedback on: adjusting the thresholds in the Subsidy Control Act 2022 for referring subsidies to the Competition and Markets Authority ( CMA); and introducing additional streamlined routes that public authorities can rely on to award subsidies faster and with less friction in certain situations. Within the regime, two separate classes of subsidy or scheme are recognised as posing a higher risk of distortive impact: Subsidies or schemes of interest ( SSo I) and Subsidies or schemes of particular interest ( SSo PI)......

Neven v Nole , ARB 010/2024 What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment is a timely reminder of the wide latitude available to the DIFC Court of First Instance (the DIFCCFI) when assessing costs under the RDC. In applying that discretion, the DIFCCFI will not hesitate to take full account of the parties’ conduct in the proceedings before it. That scrutiny reaches the reasons a party chose to engage the DIFCCFI’s curial functions under the 2008 DIFC Arbitration Law (the DIFC Arbitration Law) to seek twin applications—an injunction and an order for document production—in support of arbitration, in circumstances where the arbitral tribunal, rather than the DIFCCFI, would have been the proper first port of call for any such interim relief. In addition, where interim relief is pursued, an undertaking offered in response should be put forward as soon as is...

Mergers The Commission cleared Inter IKEA Systems’ acquisition of sole control of the IKEA Baltics franchise in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania after a phase I review ( M.11713)—see Midday Express. The Commission received the International Paper/ DS Smith notification ( M.11564). NOTE— For live merger probes, see EU mergers—ongoing cases tracker. State aid Following an in-depth review, the Commission found French aid (€853.6m) for Corsica Linea and La Méridionale to operate Marseille– Corsica routes ( Ajaccio, Bastia, Propriano, Porto- Vecchio and L'Île Rousse) in 2023–2030 compatible with EU rules—see press release. The Commission approved a Swedish recapitalisation (€122.2m) for Sediavia, which runs 10 international and regional airports—see Midday Express. Anthony Whelan was appointed Deputy Director- General for ‘ State aid policy’ at DG COMP—see Midday Express. NOTE— For live State aid decisions and formal...