Legal News

State aid General Court overrules Commission’s finding that German measures constituted State aid financed through State resources The General Court delivered its judgment in Case T- 409/21, Germany v Commission, challenging the Commission’s decisions in State aid Cases SA.56826 (overhaul of support for cogeneration) and SA.53308 (modification of support for existing CHP plants). For context, between 2019 and 2021, Germany informed the Commission of legislative changes: (i) introducing financial support for operators of combined heat and power ( CHP) plants and other installations linked to the cogeneration of heat and power; and (ii) placing a cap on a levy that could be imposed on hydrogen producers. The Commission regarded those measures as State aid financed through State resources but considered them compatible with Article 107(3)(c) TFEU and raised no objections. Germany appealed to the General Court, contesting that the measures were granted through State...

Using the findings of a forthcoming risk review led by EU governments, the European Commission plans, towards the end of 2025, to consider whether a fresh mechanism is required to oversee the bloc’s outward investments. This idea forms part of a bundle the EU executive is set to unveil tomorrow, aimed at protecting European interests from the mounting risk of China’s economic and military ascendancy. Although numerous member states scrutinise inbound capital, the commission argues that far more focus should fall on the Union’s outward flows in cutting-edge technologies, and related strategic sectors, which China and others could repurpose for defence uses......

Keighley and another v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 30 ( TC) The lead appellant, Keighley, was a shareholder and part of the senior leadership at Primeur Ltd, a trading company that imported doormats. He put sizeable private spending on a corporate credit card, which the company settled in full, yet neither the company’s books nor his self-assessment properly reflected the income tax and National Insurance contributions ( NICs) due. HMRC raised discovery assessments and penalties against Keighley, alleging deliberate conduct, covering every year from 2001 to 2017 inclusive. While HMRC held data on the personal expenditure from the 2013–14 tax year onwards, it instead calculated assessments for earlier years on a presumption of continuity. In parallel, HMRC also issued NICs determinations, penalties and assessments to Primeur during the period. Keighley additionally held shares as a shareholder in Valley Dale Properties Ltd ( VDP) at the time. He and...

Anti-suit injunctions, and injunctions more generally, cannot ordinarily be obtained against states unless an exception in section 13(3) or section 13(4) of the State Immunity Act 1978 ( SIA 1978) applies, as confirmed in UK P& I Club N. V. and other companies v Republica Bolivariana de Venezuela [2023] EWCA Civ 1497. What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal’s judgment emphasises that section 13(2)(a) reflects the UK’s policy of granting states immunity from injunctive relief enforcing legal rights, whether the context is commercial or not. This ruling is especially significant for parties advancing commercial claims against states. It confirms that SIA 1978, s 13(2)(a) will be upheld by the English courts, with the result that anti-suit injunctions—and injunctions in general—are unavailable against states unless one of the statutory exceptions in SIA 1978, s 13(3) or SIA 1978, s 13(4) is...

See Q& A: Where A is both sole executor and residuary beneficiary of testator T’s estate, survives T, yet dies before extracting a grant of probate, and leaves a Will naming B as executor of A’s estate, what must happen for B to deal with T’s estate? In such circumstances, because the only appointed executor ( A) died before the grant in T’s estate issued, the correct grant is therefore one of administration with the Will annexed. In the absence of any surviving or replacement executor in T’s Will, the chain of representation is treated as definitively broken. See Practice Note: The chain of representation. The Non- Contentious Probate Rules 1987, SI 1987/2024, r 20 sets out the order of priority for a grant where the deceased left a Will......

Axis Specialty Europe Se v Discovery Land Company Llc and other companies [2024] EWCA Civ 7 — What are the practical implications of this case? Condonation This appears to be the first time the Court of Appeal has addressed the meaning of the condonation clause in the SRA’s Minimum Terms of Cover ( MTCs). Although the outcome depended on its own facts, the Court of Appeal nonetheless set out some general guidance in that context: To ‘condone’ does not demand a positive act; passive tolerance or approval of another’s wrongdoing is sufficient on its own The MTC condonation wording also embraces claims ‘directly or indirectly arising out of, or in any way involving’ dishonest or fraudulent acts, errors or omissions committed or condoned by the insured. The court stated there must therefore be a causal nexus between the condoned conduct and the claim...

2024 Climate and Catastrophe Insight Report On 23 January 2024, Aon plc stated that the 2023 total far surpassed the long-run average of 43 disasters leaving bills above US$1bn. Of the 66 events recorded, 37 — including storms and floods — each produced insured losses of at least US$1bn, the reinsurer added. Earthquakes generated the highest overall economic losses, according to Aon’s analysis, while severe storms inflicted the greatest costs on insurers. Yet despite the unprecedented number of high-impact events, aggregate insurance payouts declined to US$118bn in 2023 — a 24% decrease from the previous year, when the figure was US$151bn......

What is the Ukraine Scheme? After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine intensified in February 2022, the UK introduced the Ukraine Scheme to issue visas to Ukrainians and their close family members. The scheme comprises three parts, each addressing different circumstances and routes to safety. Ukraine Family Scheme, launched on 4 March 2022, for Ukrainians and their close relatives who have a sponsoring family member with a specified immigration status. Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, launched on 18 March 2022, for Ukrainians and their close family who have a host able to provide six months’ accommodation in the UK (in some instances the Scottish and Welsh Government undertook to host people, but these ‘ Supersponsor’ hosts are no longer accepting new applicants). Ukraine Extension Scheme, launched on 3 May 2022, for Ukrainians who arrived in the UK by a specific date and who hold...

Mergers— Commission opens in-depth investigation into proposed acquisition of stake in ITA Airways by Lufthansa Brussels, 23 January 2024 The European Commission has formally initiated a thorough inquiry, under the EU Merger Regulation, to evaluate the planned acquisition of joint control of ITA Airways ( ITA) by Deutsche Lufthansa AG ( Lufthansa) together with the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance ( MEF)......

Lane Clark & Peacock LLP ( LCP) On 22 January 2024, Lane Clark & Peacock LLP ( LCP) publicly argued proposals trailed in November 2023, enabling employees to keep paying into one lifetime retirement pot, are not the optimal fix for the growing number of small pension arrangements. The ‘pot-for-life’ approach would replace the current system in which staff automatically begin a new savings scheme whenever they switch jobs. In its response to the Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP) consultation, the consultancy said these reforms are a major distraction from more urgent priorities, such as progressing recent legislation to increase automatic enrolment pension contributions. The consultation is scheduled to close on 24 January 2024. Since the government introduced rules in 2012 requiring employers to auto-enrol workers into workplace retirement saving schemes, the volume of small pension pots has increased markedly over...

Leicestershire County Council v Mother and others [2023] EWFC 174 What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment explored whether permanence for children can be secured through long‑term foster care and which considerations should guide the court when setting long‑term fostering against adoption. To make a placement order and allow a local authority to place a child for adoption, the court must be satisfied that nothing else will do; adoption is the avenue of last resort. The court confirmed that, where a placement is stable, long‑term fostering amounts to a permanent outcome and, in this matter, was the most fitting solution. In reaching its conclusion, the court surveyed key authorities and statutory provisions, including: Devon County Council v EB and others ( Minors ) [2013] EWHC 968 ( Fam) Re B ( A Child) [2013] UKSC 33, [2013] 2 FLR 1075 Section 1(3) of the Children Act 1989 ( Ch A...

The PMCPA has opened a consultation to revise: the 2021 ABPI Code of Practice the Constitution and Procedure, setting out how the PMCPA functions and how complaints are handled What has triggered the update? Revisions to the ABPI Code typically follow shifts in International/ European Codes of Practice or UK legislation. On this occasion, the PMCPA/ ABPI and the pharmaceutical sector are leading the changes, tightening specific clauses, embedding learnings from cases and ensuring the Code remains fit for purpose. The Constitution and Procedure has not been refreshed since 2019 and is due an update. It is continually stress-tested via the complaints process, company appeals against PMCPA Panel decisions and the landmark 2023 case that resulted in Novo Nordisk being suspended from the ABPI for two years. See: LNB News 17/03/2023 14. What are the key proposals to the ABPI Code? QR codes to...

What’s the issue? Established in 1971, the common law identification doctrine sets the benchmark for determining when the conduct and state of mind of an individual can be treated as those of a corporate person. It has historically been the principal mechanism by which criminal culpability is fastened onto companies. Under this approach, attribution only arises where the offence is committed by the corporation’s ‘directing mind and will’. In reality, this typically captured only the managing director or proprietor, provided they were directly engaged in running the business. Consequently, prosecutors have long faced a demanding threshold. Section 196 of ECCTA alters the landscape: where a senior manager, acting within the actual or ostensible scope of their authority, perpetrates a ‘relevant offence’, the organisation itself commits that offence. Practical implications for commercial organisations The practical upshot is that businesses are vulnerable to findings of primary economic crime, with...

According to a High Court action, Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe SE failed to honour its policy with Paul Wilson — proprietor of the Bolton Castle pub in north‑west England — and other firms, by leaving their claims neither reviewed nor paid. In a claim dated 29 December 2023, recently disclosed, Wilson states he sought indemnity in July 2022 after three government lockdowns compelled the Bolton premises to shut, leading to loss‑making ‘interruption’ and ‘interference’. The filing adds that Liberty Mutual declined cover for Wilson and other claimants including pub operators, a café, a hotel and a salon, who pursue insurance payouts. The quantum of their claim has not yet been finally fixed......

Walkers Snack Foods Ltd v HMRC [2024] UKFTT 31 ( TC) Under Group 1 of Schedule 8 to the Value Added Tax Act 1994, food is ordinarily zero‑rated for VAT, yet the legislation lists excepted items that fall within the standard rate rather than the relief. By way of illustration, potato crisps, potato sticks, potato puffs, and comparable goods made from potato, or from potato flour or potato starch, are chargeable at the standard rate where they are packaged for human consumption with no further preparation. At the FTT hearing, the parties accepted that Sensations are packaged for human consumption without any further preparation, matching the description above and consistent with the agreed facts......

To watch the video of their discussion, simply click here. A written summary of the issues examined, with onward links to our related materials, appears below. Why has the issue of whether annual bonuses should be taken into account when calculating holiday pay become a hot topic? Employers have typically (rightly or wrongly) left annual bonuses out when working out a worker’s holiday pay. Concern has arisen that the amended wording brought into the Working Time Regulations 1998 ( WTR 1998), SI 1998/1833, from 1 January 2024, requires at least some annual bonuses to be factored into holiday pay in certain cases. What is an annual bonus? The reply may appear straightforward: it is a bonus paid once each year. Yet bonuses differ in nature, and that distinction could ultimately affect how we respond to the question of whether they ought to be included when...

But what happens when the criminal property is only a fraction of the sums held in an account? Case law has meant that, even where only a small portion of an account is tainted, the entire balance had to be frozen, an outcome widely seen as unfair. Parliament has now remedied this through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 ( ECCTA 2023). Section 183 of the ECCTA 2023, ' Money laundering: exemptions for mixed-property transactions', took effect on 15 January 2024. It revises the POCA 2002 provisions that set out the principal money laundering offences. The change introduces an exemption for regulated firms that maintain a client account or hold client funds while knowing or suspecting that only part of the funds or property is criminal. In those circumstances, the regulated firm may carry out transactions on the account or property...

Mergers The CMA has opened its phase I inquiry and published an invitation to comment regarding Pharmacy2U’s completed purchase of Lloyds Direct—see case page for details The CMA has also released an invitation to comment on the proposed acquisition of Serato Audio Research Limited by Alpha Theta Corporation—see case page for more NOTE— For all active mergers before the CMA, please refer to the UK mergers—ongoing cases tracker Upcoming dates For timings of forthcoming UK competition developments, consult the UK Competition calendar......

The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air ( CREA) reported 20 January 2024 that the UK is the leading underwriter of seaborne Russian oil, with marine insurers backing roughly €120.6bn of exports from March 2022 to November 2023. The UK permits services, including insurance, for ships transporting Russian oil, as long as the price paid for the oil sits below a price ceiling set by G7 leading industrial nations, presently US$60 per barrel for crude oil......

Insurance broker Willis Towers Watson ( WTW) said in its annual pensions de‑risking report that insurers are set to complete around £60bn of bulk annuity buyouts this year. Such policies safeguard members’ benefits by offloading exposure to prevailing interest-rate movements and inflationary pressures, among other risks. The firm further forecast approximately £20bn of so‑called longevity swaps, transferring the risk of members living longer than expected from schemes to insurers. WTW said expectations of higher activity, following last year’s tally of more than £50bn in bulk annuity deals, reflect stronger funding positions. Both mechanisms aim to secure members’ benefits by transferring key risks to insurers this year, too......