Legal News

NSI Act 2021 On 28 August 2024, the Cabinet Office issued a final order granting conditional approval to KXP Immigration Limited’s acquisition of control of an 80 megawatt battery energy storage system, via the award of an Ofgem electricity generation licence—see further, Final Order. NOTE— For additional detail and background on the NSI Act and its journey through the parliamentary process, see further, National Security and Investment Act—progress tracker Subsidy control The Subsidy Advice Unit released its final report offering advice to Greater Manchester Combined Authority ( GMCA) on its proposed GMCA Brownfield Housing Scheme—see further, report. NOTE— For all decisions referred to the Subsidy Advice Unit under the Subsidy Control Act 2022, see further, UK subsidy control—cases tracker Upcoming dates For dates of forthcoming UK competition developments, see further, UK Competition calendar......

They seek nearly 900m euros from the central bank as compensation for losses he claims to have incurred due to the ECB's direct oversight of Banca Carige, where he served as principal shareholder and vice-president of the board at the time......

Laker v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2024] UKFTT 568 ( TC) What are the practical implications of this case? It is self-evident that legislative text only makes sense when read in its proper setting. Although terms and expressions are generally to be accorded their plain or ordinary meaning within the statute’s scheme, the surrounding context can, on occasion, require that words carry a specialised or technical sense. Here, even though logic, everyday usage, and common sense backed the taxpayer’s position, the framework within which the word ‘year’ was to be construed — notably the NHS Pension Scheme rules, the NHS Pension Scheme Guide, and L’s contract of employment — led the tribunal to adopt the interpretation advanced by HMRC. What was the background? Between 1979 and 2018, L was a consultant in forensic psychiatry and, for most of that employment, participated in the NHS Pension Scheme. L opted out of the...

Mergers Clearance granted for IK Investment Partners and Next Stage AM to assume joint control of Eurobio Scientific SA ( M.11661) after a phase I review—see further, Midday Express Clearance granted for ABN AMRO Bank N. V. to obtain sole control of Hauck Aufhäuser Lampe Privatbank AG ( M.11612) following a phase I review—see further, Midday Express Notification received in Engie/ Macquarie/ Tag South ( M.11720) under the simplified merger procedure NOTE— For all live merger investigations before the Commission, see further, EU mergers—ongoing cases tracker Antitrust The application has been published in Case C-386/24 Centro Petroli Roma— II, an Italian reference seeking clarification on the application, among other points, of Articles 101 to 106 TFEU to tax warehousing for liquefied petroleum gas and other energy products—see further, Application NOTE— For all national references before the Court of Justice, see further, Court of Justice...

Commodities & Minerals Enterprise, Ltd v CVG Ferrominera Orinoco C. A. 19-cv-25217- DPG, US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit What are the practical implications of this case? This decision clarifies which law governs when a party resists confirmation of an arbitral award on public policy grounds. If a public policy defence is raised against confirmation of a New York Convention award, the court must first decide whether the United States is the primary or secondary jurisdiction. The court leaned on Corporacion AIC, SA v Hidroélectrica Santa Ri ta SA, 66 F.4th 876, 886 (11th Cir. 2023), which differentiates primary from secondary jurisdiction. Applying that approach, it stated that, in Convention cases where the United States is the primary jurisdiction—the legal seat of the arbitration, or the country whose law governs the conduct of the arbitration (internal citations omitted)—the grounds to set aside an...

WSW Projects Ltd v Pensions Regulator [2024] UKFTT 573 ( GRC) What are the practical implications of this case? The FTT’s rebuke of TPR for not emailing WSW, and for appearing more focused on levying a penalty than achieving compliance, marks a notable shift from earlier decisions. This stands in sharp contrast to similar cases where other judges have tended to accept that TPR may simply impose a penalty. Whether TPR will take these remarks on board and attempt to email employers to encourage compliance before issuing notices remains to be seen. Also striking was the tribunal’s ready acceptance of the employer’s evidence that the compliance notice was received only after the penalty notice. Employers still generally face the difficult task of proving non-receipt of correspondence, often without knowing why a posted letter did not arrive. Although the explanation for non-receipt in this matter was...

Russian Coms Russian Coms was a service exploited by hundreds of offenders to place more than 1.3 million fraudulent calls, defrauding victims around the world between 2021 and 2024. This highly developed spoof-calling operation enabled scammers to ring victims while making each call appear to originate from pre-selected numbers, including financial institutions, telecommunications companies and law enforcement agencies, deceiving targets, gaining their trust and stealing their money and personal details. So advanced was the ruse that handsets were sold by criminals pre-loaded with sham applications, meaning that if the device was seized or retrieved by investigators or law enforcement officers it would appear to be a standard smartphone on casual inspection. The phones were also fitted with a burn app that erased the handset immediately, blocking any unwanted scrutiny or examination. The NCA believes that Russian Coms was deployed to target...

Hong Kong-jurisdiction of arbitrator existence of dispute between contracting parties ( CMBICDHAW v CDH FUND & others) CMBICDHAW INVESTMENTS Ltd v CDH FUND V Ltd PARTNERSHIP, CDH GRAND CATTLE HOLDINGS Ltd, CDH INVESTMENTS MANAGEMENT ( HONG KONG) Ltd [2024] HKCA 516 What are the practical implications of this case? Practitioners should ensure there is genuinely a dispute between the contracting parties to an arbitration agreement. This goes to the exact wording of the agreement and whether the arbitrator has jurisdiction. Practitioners should also note that a ‘dispute’ need not involve a formal legal claim or cause of action advanced by one side against the other; it is sufficient that one party makes an assertion which the other contests......

Takeaways from first EU foreign subsidy M& A investigation This matter concerns the planned purchase by Emirates Telecommunications Group Company PJSC (e&) of PPF Telecom Group B. V. ( PPF), excluding PPF’s Czech operation. e& is a UAE state-controlled telecommunications operator, while PPF is a European operator. Under the FSR, the Commission may scrutinise and remedy subsidies granted by non- EU states to companies active in the EU, including EU-based firms. The regime covers certain large M& A deals and public procurement, and the Commission can also open investigations into other market situations on its own initiative. The duty to notify qualifying transactions for clearance has applied since 12 October 2023. The FSR now acts as a third layer of general regulatory oversight for some EU-relevant deals, alongside merger control and foreign direct investment screening. Whether a deal must be notified depends in part on the...

Bilfinger Salamis UK Ltd v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 736 ( TC) The appellant, Bilfinger UK, had originally provided services to an operator of North Sea oil platforms using its own staff. The structure was later altered to an offshore employment model intended to sidestep employers’ NICs. Under this arrangement, the core Bilfinger UK workforce was moved to a Guernsey entity, Bilfinger Guernsey, which then supplied that labour back to Bilfinger UK. That team continued working on the platforms, taking direction from Bilfinger UK, in order to discharge Bilfinger UK’s contract with the platform operator. The question for the FTT was whether paragraph 9 of Schedule 3 to the Social Security ( Categorisation of Earners) Regulations 1978, SI 1978/1689 (para 9) applied so that, notwithstanding the core team being employed by a foreign ( Guernsey) employer, Bilfinger UK was the party liable for...

This update follows Dalriada announcing it had secured pension benefits with Standard Life for members of the distressed Norton Motorcycles retirement schemes, subsequent to compensation of £9.8m being paid out by the FCF thereafter......

Marks ( Executor of Hilda Marks) v Revenue and Customs Commissioners [2024] UKFTT 706 ( TC) What are the practical implications of this case? Lower rate matter The case underscores the need for precise Will drafting where charitable aims are involved. It is crucial to set out clear directions about how prospective beneficiaries are to be treated and how the charitable gift is to be applied. The tribunal also serves as a caution that attempts to unwind arrangements will not be entertained where unfavourable tax results—although contrary to the deceased’s wishes—were foreseeable by professional advisers... BPR matter With looming changes to how holiday lets are categorised and taxed, focus may again fall on whether such a property business amounts to trading. That renewed scrutiny is unlikely to shift the stance already adopted by the courts in IHT cases......

According to the consultancy, proposals advanced under Rishi Sunak’s administration for the Pension Protection Fund to serve as a consolidator for smaller retirement arrangements that cannot otherwise secure an insurance buyout of liabilities would be well received by the market. Although absent from the new Labour government’s Pension Schemes Bill set out in the King’s Speech in July 2024, the idea would aid trustees of smaller schemes as they evaluate long‑term endgame strategies, Broadstone noted in its latest report on settlement pathways for pension schemes across the pensions market at the current time......

From 1 September 2024, all European patents enjoying unitary effect will extend automatically to the eastern European country, according to the European Patent Office. Romania will likewise become part of the Unified Patent Court, so the unitary patent regime (often billed as a one-stop shop for patents) will span close to 350 million EU residents. ‘ Romania’s accession plainly highlights how pertinent the unitary patent system is for EU member states seeking to engage in the internal technology market and deepen European economic integration,’ said António Campinos, president of the European Patent Office. Under the arrangement the EPO announced in June, Romania will enter a framework that has seen ‘strong demand’ since it took effect in June 2023, the agency noted. Nearly one in four European patents issued in 2024 have been converted into a unitary patent, the agency added, according to the...

Abbey v Augusta 2008 (formerly Simply) On 9 July 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its judgment in Abbey v Augusta 2008 (formerly Simply), holding that a collateral warranty executed by a contractor was not a construction contract within HGCRA 1996, s 104. Accordingly, the warranty did not fall within the statutory adjudication regime that applies to construction contracts under HGCRA 1996, s 108. In Abbey, the issue of whether the collateral warranty was a construction contract depended on whether it was a contract ‘for...the carrying out of constructions’ under HGCRA 1996, s 104(1)(a). The essence of the court’s reasoning was that a collateral warranty can only be a contract for construction operations if the contractor assumes to the beneficiary an obligation to carry out construction operations that is ‘separate or distinct’ from its obligation under the building contract. The collateral warranty in Abbey...

Mercer highlighted three central problems: inadequate retirement saving, modest performance from long-term pots, and limited participation by savers. It called on policymakers to widen auto-enrolment in pension schemes and to lift the statutory minimum contribution rates. According to Mercer — one of the four operating subsidiaries within the global professional services firm Marsh Mc Lennan Companies Inc. — such reforms would raise future retirees’ living standards and strengthen the UK’s economic resilience. Phil Parkinson, the firm’s UK head of wealth, voiced unease about the system’s current path, stressing that many are putting aside too little to secure a comfortable later life. ‘ We are inching towards a cliff edge for pensions and long-term saving, yet there remains a chance to tackle these issues,’ Parkinson noted in the years ahead......

TPR called on master trusts, which oversee 95% of the nation’s defined contribution ( DC) workplace pensions, to adopt the framework early and ‘help us understand what succeeds and what doesn’t’. ‘ This will also help shape the legislative regime that will follow in the Pension Schemes Bill,’ wrote Nina Blackett, TPR’s interim executive director for strategy, in a blog. How value is provided to pension savers has been a regulatory priority for a considerable period now......

Original news FCA fines Pw C £15m for failure to report LCF concerns, LNB News 16/08/2024 21. Background In August 2024, the FCA levied a £15m penalty on Pw C over its audit work on LCF, arising from issues connected to that engagement. LCF was a financial services company that offered minibonds to retail investors, positioning the products to individual savers. After the FCA intervened in December 2018 over LCF’s minibond marketing practices, the company entered administration in January 2019, causing heavy losses for thousands of investors and widespread detriment. Before administration, LCF had sold minibonds to more than 11,000 investors, with an aggregate face value of around £237m, reflecting the scale of its distribution. LCF’s failure has prompted various civil, criminal and regulatory proceedings, among them an SFO criminal inquiry into suspected fraud and money laundering offences, alongside other related actions. Pw C served as LCF’s...

Ángel Samuel Seda, et al v Republic of Colombia, No ARB/19/6, ICSID. ICSID made public the award on 22 August 2024. It had been sent to the parties on 27 June 2024 by the tribunal, consisting of professor Klaus Sachs as chair, professor Hugo Perezcano Díaz, designated by the claimants, and Charles Poncet, designated by Colombia. The tribunal dismissed all claims brought by US investors Ángel Seda, JTE International Investments LLC, Jonathan M. Foley, Stephen J. Bobeck, Brian Hass, Monte G. Adcock, Justin T. Enbody, Justin T. Caruso and The Boston Enterprises Trust. It granted no compensation to either side and directed the parties to share the arbitration costs and bear their own legal fees. Luxury investment In 2007, Seda started to invest in hotels and housing assets in Colombia via his firms Royal Realty and Newport S. A. S. In November 2012, he signed a...

R (on the application of Dr Andrew Boswell) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero [2024] EWHC 2128 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The court observed that the Claimant is deliberately overlooking national policy on the pathway to net zero and the necessity of CCS/ CCUS. His real dispute is with the So S’s stance—shared by the Climate Change Committee—in backing this project. He is attempting to undermine the policy basis for the Scheme by alleging a contradiction in the So S’s reasoning where none exists. The foundation of the So S’s position is plainly set out in the policy materials, together with the Ex AR and DL in this matter. This section of the judgement underscores the long‑standing position that challenges of this kind must be brought strictly on points of law; any indirect attempt to attack the...