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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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Antitrust The CMA has issued the non-confidential edition of its infringement ruling following its probe into Leicester City FC merchandise, addressing alleged anti-competitive behaviour connected to the sale of Leicester City FC‑branded goods in the UK—see further, non-confidential decision. Note— For details of all live behavioural cases before the CMA, see further, UK behavioural investigations—ongoing cases tracker. Competition policy The CAT has confirmed the appointment of seven new members to the CAT’s panel of Ordinary Members—see further, press release. Note— For a summary of ongoing competition law, guidance, and wider policy developments, see further, UK competition law—ongoing legislation and policy tracker. Upcoming dates For dates of forthcoming UK competition developments, see further, UK Competition calendar......
Magomedov and other companies v TPG Group Holdings ( SBS), LP and other companies [2023] EWHC 3134 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? The court unequivocally affirmed the orthodox test for a freezing injunction: a good arguable case suffices, and there is no need for a detailed merits appraisal at the interim stage. It underlined that, even though the same terminology appears, the jurisdictional inquiry serves different purposes from the freezing-order analysis. Moreover, any look at the merits for jurisdiction is directed solely to demonstrating that a jurisdictional gateway is met, rather than embarking on a comprehensive merits evaluation. The court cautioned that transposing the three-stage jurisdiction framework into the context of freezing relief would draw both parties and the court into mini-trials at the interlocutory phase, with the attendant danger of depriving claimants of the protective remedy they seek. In...
Mergers The Commission approved: the acquisition of sole control over Casino, Guichard- Perrachon S. A....
Bolt Services UK Ltd v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 1043 ( TC) The taxpayer ran an on-demand private hire passenger transport offering. Journeys were requested and paid via a smartphone app by customers. Bolt asked HMRC for a non‑statutory view that the TOMS covered the service, but HMRC determined that it did not. That determination was appealed to the FTT. Through the Bolt smartphone app, users could arrange private hire vehicles to carry them from point A to point B. Bolt would take ride requests and give customers estimated fares and arrival times. Operations were mediated by the platform, which allocated journeys and communicated information. The model relied on separate contractual agreements on each side. Trips were assigned to private hire vehicle drivers. Those drivers acted as independent contractors. Bolt entered into separate contracts with drivers and passengers, and there was no contract between the driver and the...
According to XPS Pensions Group ( XPS), the combined surpluses across around 5,000 UK retirement savings schemes in total fell from £126bn to £98bn between 30 November 2023 and 30 December 2023. A scheme is in surplus when the value of its assets exceeds its liabilities. In that situation, it may approach the insurance market for a buy-out deal to strengthen security for members’ benefits. Pension plans hold substantial investments in government bonds, referred to as gilts......
The high court rejected a petition from Imperial Pacific International LLC, in which the casino developer contended that the justices should resolve the 'significant uncertainty' confronting federal appellate courts over whether arbitration agreements that expressly delegate to arbitrators the choice of the correct forum are displaced when a dispute arguably falls within a carve-out in the clause at issue. In a Ninth Circuit ruling last summer, the appellate court overturned an order that had permitted Imperial Pacific to arbitrate its force majeure defence in a licensing dispute with a local regulator, concluding that the operative arbitration clause expressly excluded such matters from arbitration. Imperial Pacific maintained that the circuit court improperly ventured into the arbitrability issue even though its agreement with the regulator provided that an arbitrator would decide the appropriate venue for the dispute......
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk branded the Horizon affair an ‘appalling miscarriage of justice’. Kevin Hollinrake, the minister responsible for postal services, said the ITV drama, ‘ Mr Bates vs the Post Office’, has only strengthened the government’s determination to see justice delivered as swiftly as possible. The mini-series offers a fictionalised portrayal of the ordeal faced by hundreds of branch managers who were unjustly prosecuted on the basis of the defective Horizon accounting system between 1999 and 2015. Addressing Parliament on the evening of 8 January 2024, Hollinrake explained that the government had ‘devised’ options to settle the remaining convictions, but that consultation with senior members of the judiciary was required before any announcement could be made. He stressed that it is vital “we get to the bottom of what went wrong, of who knew what, and when” to rebuild public...
Mergers The Commission approved: the establishment of a joint venture between Volvo Business Services International AB and Renault SAS ( M.11051) following a phase I review—see further in Midday Express the securing of joint control over Inter Continental Energy Holdings Group Limited by Investor S. L. P.......
Britain’s Pension Protection Fund ( PPF) has issued its January 2024 bulletin on the PPF 7800 index, outlining the projected funding status for the 5,050 defined......
Alongside the articles featured in depth within the Financial Services news feed on 9 January 2024, subscribers might also wish to note the following further relevant updates: The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation: Asset Reporting Privacy Policy Bo E: Letter from Sam Woods, Prudential Regulation......
HMRC v Blue Crest Capital Management LP and others and Andrew Dodd and others v HMRC [2023] EWCA Civ 1481 Blue Crest Capital Management LP functioned as an investment manager through a limited partnership structure. To retain and motivate its partners, it introduced a partner incentivisation plan ( PIP) from 2008. In outline, the PIP operated as follows: a newly formed corporate partner was admitted to the partnership; that corporate member was allocated the profit shares that, absent the plan, would have been attributed to the participating partners; the corporate partner then reinvested those profits into the partnership as a capital contribution, described as ‘special capital’; in consideration of foregoing their immediate profit share, the participating partners received a deferred entitlement to an equivalent amount of that special capital; and any entitlement to the special capital was...
R& D expenditure claim extinguished by going concern condition ( MW High Tech Projects UK Ltd v HMRC) MW High Tech Projects UK Ltd v HMRC [2023] UKFTT 1040 ( TC). The company, operating in engineering and construction, had incurred substantial losses by the close of 2016 due to technological hurdles within its business. Its accounts for the year ended 30 December 2017 were prepared not on a going concern basis. On 4 April 2019, the company filed its corporation tax return for that period, claiming an RDEC in excess of £1.93m. HMRC then refused the claim. A condition of entitlement to the RDEC was that the company had to be a going concern at the time the claim was made. As one of the qualifying conditions demanded that a company be a going concern when the claim was lodged......
Summary The DPO upheld a complaint, concluding that a pension scheme trustee committed multiple breaches of trust by directing scheme assets into speculative ventures and holdings in which he had a personal stake. He did not obtain advice before making these investment decisions. Given the trustee’s reckless conduct, the scheme’s exoneration and indemnity provisions afforded no protection. The Ombudsman’s decision emphasises that trustees can be personally liable for breaches of investment duties. What were the facts? Mr M and Mr Y were members of the Focus Administration Pension Scheme (the Scheme). Mr Williams acted as trustee, initially in his personal capacity and later indirectly through Focus Administration Ltd ( Focus), which he controlled as a director/shareholder. Brambles Administration Ltd ( Brambles) served as the Scheme administrator. The Scheme’s assets were allocated between: lending at below‑market rates to unregulated finance companies and small property...
Recent context Across the globe, 2023 proved a perfect storm for offshore wind. Between permitting delays and grid connection hurdles, together with inflation and supply chain pressures, a number of developers have looked to renegotiate their previously agreed offtake arrangements, or else to end their commitments under those off-take contracts by paying fines. In other parts of the globe, we saw an uncapped negative bidding auction in Germany’s 7- GW wind round, and in the UK we saw no offshore wind projects being awarded Contracts for Differences ( Cf Ds) in Round 5. So, what lies ahead for the rest of 2024? Key offshore wind sector themes in 2024 The following five key themes are likely to develop during the course of 2024: Bigger wind turbine generators ( WTGs) Cost pressures have played havoc with renewable project economics worldwide. In today's fast-growing offshore wind market, not only in Europe but also...
Alongside the pieces reported in full within the Financial Services news feed on 8 January 2024, subscribers may wish to note the following further updates at this time: HM Treasury and OFSI: Guidance: Who is subject to financial sanctions in the UK?......
On 18 December 2023, the EMA and HMA unveiled their 2023–2028 Multi‑ Annual AI Workplan. Designed to support the European Medicines Regulatory Network ( EMRN) — a co‑ordinated network of national competent authorities across EEA Member States working with the EMA and the European Commission — the plan encourages adoption of AI for internal regulatory activities and outlines a proposed pathway for regulatory evolution to capture AI’s promise in the medical field. Anticipated gains include higher productivity, automation of repetitive, time‑intensive tasks, and capacity to absorb and utilise far larger data sets in decision‑making. The Workplan Acknowledging that health regulators, like the regulated sector, are progressively deploying and building AI‑enabled tools, the Workplan presents a collaborative, co‑ordinated strategy for the coming five years to realise AI’s benefits in medicines regulation, while deliberately identifying and managing the attendant risks. Developed under the guidance of the HMA‑ EMA Big Data...
What was the background to the PPF's consultation on the 2024–25 levy rules? Created under the Pensions Act 2004, the Pension Protection Fund ( PPF) provides compensation to members of qualifying defined benefit ( DB) occupational pension schemes, including the DB section of hybrid arrangements, when certain criteria are satisfied: the sponsoring employer experiences a qualifying insolvency on or after 6 April 2005 the scheme’s assets are inadequate to secure benefits at PPF compensation levels Except where an exemption applies, every UK DB occupational scheme is required to pay an annual levy to the PPF. This levy comprises a scheme-based component and a risk-based component. The scheme-based part mirrors the membership headcount and the size of the scheme’s liabilities. The risk-based part reflects the extent of any funding shortfall and the likelihood of the scheme entering the PPF during the levy year....
Cox and Kings Ltd v SAP India Pvt Ltd and another SLP ( C) No 8607 of 2022 and with SLP ( C) No 5833 of 2022 What are the practical implications of this case? The Cox and Kings ruling carries significant consequences for Indian arbitrations involving multiple parties and interlinked contracts. The Supreme Court confirmed that the Group of Companies doctrine operates in India, but emphasised that binding non-signatories to an arbitration agreement depends on assessing multiple factors. These are discussed further below. Practitioners should pay attention to the participation of non-signatories in the contractual affairs of group entities. Where affiliates take part in negotiations or in performing the contractual duties of another company, or, through their conduct, display a unified intention, they can be regarded as bound by the arbitration clause in such circumstances too. What was the...
On 5 January 2024, the Metropolitan Police confirmed in a statement that officers had launched a probe linked to the prosecution of hundreds of branch managers who were wrongly alleged to have stolen funds. Detectives say the prosecution is being examined for possible fraud offences, including 'monies recovered from sub-postmasters as a result of prosecutions or civil actions'. It remains uncertain whether the fraud inquiry is aimed at the Post Office as an entity or at particular people. The London force has already spoken to two people under caution as part of a case first opened in 2020. Police added that the investigation is looking at individuals associated with Fujitsu, the software developer, alongside the Post Office......
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has allowed the entertainment giant to seek Court of Appeal review of its ruling permitting a consumer advocate to pursue a collective claim. The challenge will contest the tribunal’s finding that a revised funding structure for the case did not amount to a banned damages-based arrangement. While the tribunal considered Sony had no realistic prospect of overturning that conclusion, it held that clarifying the legality of agreements altered to sidestep the prohibition was a compelling basis to refer the issue to the appellate court. ‘ This is creating uncertainty and draining the tribunal’s and the parties’ resources, and that is unlikely to end until the Court of Appeal has reached a definitive determination on these matters,’ the tribunal stated. It sent the question to secure certainty over the lawfulness of amended agreements......
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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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