Legal News

Mergers The CMA has issued an initial enforcement order concerning the planned acquisition of Délifrance S. A. by Vandemoortele Group; for more information, see the case page. Note— For a list of all ongoing merger investigations before the CMA, please consult the UK mergers—ongoing cases tracker. Upcoming dates For details of forthcoming UK competition developments, refer to the UK Competition calendar......

China has sought World Trade Organisation ( WTO) dispute talks with India over certain measures influencing solar cells, solar panels and information technology ( IT) products. The request,......

We extend our thanks to the following individuals for contributing their insights on this key issue: Omer Er, Partner, Michelman & Robinson, New York Antoine KF Smiley, Partner, Reed Smith, Austin, Texas Eugenie Rogers, Partner, Reed Smith, Dallas Lisa Richman, Partner, Mc Dermott Will & Emery, Washington, DC Jessica Sabbath, Counsel, Mc Dermott Will & Emery, Atlanta Daniel R Guadalupe, Partner, Pashman Stein Walder Hayden PC, Hackensack, NJ Albert Bates Jr, Partner, Troutman Pepper Locke LLP, Pittsburgh R Zachary Torres- Fowler, Partner, Troutman Pepper Hamilton Locke LLP, Philadelphia and New York Andrew Drennan, Managing Director, Alvarez & Marsal’s Disputes and Investigations, London J Laurens Wilkes, Partner and Chair of Infrastructure & Projects – Global Disputes, Winston & Strawn, Houston Gustavo J Membiela, Partner, Winston & Strawn, Miami Madison K Haueisen, Associate, Winston & Strawn, Houston Mealey’s: What are your views on the legal, ethical and practical implications of the AAA- ICDR announcing the launch of an AI...

Additionally, one espionage case involving service to foreign states ended in a win for prosecutors, while a sister trial proved humiliating; one of the nation’s largest money‑laundering actions saw a socialite, alleged to be central to the plot, cleared; and the UK’s highest court stopped an extradition for insider trading in a move that bucked precedent. Here, Law360 unpacks the year’s most significant financial crime cases... UK Supreme Court quashes Libor convictions In R v Hayes; R v Palombo [2025] UKSC 29, Britain’s top court in July 2025 overturned the convictions of traders Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo for conspiring to manipulate benchmark interest rates. The pair had been found guilty of rigging the London interbank offered rate ( Libor) and its euro‑denominated counterpart after separate trials following the 2008 financial crash. The justices ruled the verdicts unsafe, holding that the trial judges...

Private actions The CAT issued its judgment in Infederation Ltd v Google Inc and Others, on an application by Google LLC, Google Ireland Limited and Google UK Limited (together, Google) seeking to strike out sections of Infederation Limited’s ( Foundem) particulars of claim relating to Foundem’s damages case against Google, alleging abuse of a dominant position in the market for online search. The CAT rejected the application, concluding that the proposed amendments amounted to a fresh claim that did not arise from the same, or substantially the same, facts as the original claim and was therefore time‑barred—see further, judgment NOTE— For all live private actions in the UK that have been made public, see further, UK private actions—ongoing cases tracker Upcoming dates— For dates of upcoming UK competition developments, see further, UK Competition calendar ......

In the 2025 Budget, the government set out a package of VAT changes for UK firms that need to be grasped and prepared for before their 2026 launch. They affect how businesses set prices for PHV services. From 2 January 2026, VAT-registered PHV and taxi operators that enter into direct contracts with customers must add 20% VAT to the entire fare, as they will be expressly carved out of TOMS; see clause 79 of the Finance Bill 2026 (as introduced). In London, regulation already requires operators to contract directly with customers as a licensing requirement. In other regions, the position depends on how agreements are set up. What will this mean for operators and customers? At present, most private hire and minicab drivers who deal directly with passengers do not have to levy VAT on passenger fares. Typically this is because these...

What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling carries significant practical weight for arbitration specialists, particularly in international arbitrations seated in Switzerland. To begin with, it reaffirms that reopening arbitral awards on the basis of taint by criminal wrongdoing remains a rarity under Swiss law. Even though Article 190a PILA now expressly codifies the ground for revision, the Swiss Federal Tribunal applies it sparingly. As such, this matter is among the exceptional cases where a Swiss-seated award was annulled because criminal offences were found to have directly shaped the result. Moreover, the judgment underscores the pivotal evidential function of criminal proceedings. The Federal Tribunal drew heavily on the final determinations of the Swiss criminal courts, which definitively established document forgery and procedural fraud. For practitioners, this indicates that a petition under Article 190a(1)(b) PILA will typically prevail only where criminal...

Original news Mr R ( CAS-45657- B7R7)—30 July 2025 Summary The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman partially upheld a complaint regarding the division of scheme assets and maladministration within a small self-administered pension scheme. As unanimity was required, yet the resolution permitting the division lacked signatures from all trustees, the split was invalid. There were also several administrative shortcomings by the scheme’s independent trustee and, consequently, the independent trustee was required to refund its fees. The complainant received £2,000 for the severe distress and inconvenience arising from the SSAS’s maladministration. The decision serves as a reminder that, where unanimity is mandated, every trustee must be engaged in any determination. What were the facts? Mr R was a member of the Selven Pension Scheme (the Scheme). The Scheme was a small self-administered scheme ( SSAS), with James Hay Partnership ( JHP) acting as the independent trustee and...

Original news Mr L ( CAS-74325- Z1Q4)—21 August 2025 Summary The Deputy Pensions Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint about an employer’s refusal to award a discretionary rise to benefits built up before April 1997. The employer acted in line with the scheme’s pension increase provision and considered the issue appropriately. As a result, there was no maladministration and no basis on which the Deputy Pensions Ombudsman could disturb the outcome. The decision highlights the significant difficulty in mounting a successful challenge to the exercise of an employer’s discretion... What were the facts? Mr L was a pensioner member of the Hewlett Packard Limited Retirement Benefits Plan (the Scheme)......

State aid Commission amends ETS State aid Guidelines to tackle carbon leakage for more energy-intensive industries The Commission has approved a revision of the Guidelines covering certain State aid measures within the post-2021 greenhouse gas emission allowance trading framework ( ETS State aid Guidelines), aiming to mitigate the heightened threat of carbon leakage faced by energy-intensive industries due to rising emission costs under the EU Emissions Trading System ( ETS). On 21 September 2020, the Commission adopted the ETS State aid Guidelines, as part of modernisation of a comprehensive set of carbon leakage prevention tools related to the EU ETS......

AGA Rangemaster Group Ltd v UK Innovations Group Ltd and another [2025] EWCA Civ 1622 What are the practical implications of this case? The central lesson from this case is that those trading in the secondary (refurbished or pre-used) market must proceed with care to avoid suggesting a commercial link with the trade mark proprietor where none exists. A seller in that market may legitimately employ a trade mark to indicate the origin of genuine goods, and may, in some circumstances, offer refurbished or altered genuine goods while continuing to reference that mark. Even so, the secondary seller should take concrete steps to neutralise any inference of a commercial connection with the trade mark proprietor, and should refrain from any use of the trade mark liable to imply affiliation or endorsement. Labels that fuse the trade mark with the reseller’s own signs or marks into a...

UK developments FCA speech highlights need for clarity and higher standards in transition finance The Financial Conduct Authority has released a speech by Alicia Kedzierski, head of department in the sustainable finance division, delivered at the Loan Market Association’s Sustainable Finance Conference. Titled ‘ Raising standards in transition finance: clarity, coherence, collaboration’, it emphasises the loan market’s pivotal role in funding the UK’s move to a low‑carbon economy. Kedzierski calls for clear, consistent definitions of ‘transition finance’ and for designing transition instruments so they neither overlap with nor compete against other product categories. See: LNB News 12/11/2025 14. Sources: Raising standards in transition finance: clarity, coherence, collaboration; and The sustainability‑linked loans market – two years on. UKEF announces reinsurance agreement with Brazil and clean growth initiatives ahead of COP30 UK Export Finance has entered a reinsurance agreement with Brazil’s export credit agency, ABGF—the first...

Original news Mrs N ( CAS-121348- Z6R0)—28 July 2025 Summary The Pensions Ombudsman has dismissed a complaint seeking repayment of legal fees. While the central dispute — backdating an ill-health early retirement pension to the member’s final day of employment — had been resolved, the complainant pursued recovery of her legal costs. The Ombudsman declined the request, stating that costs are only reimbursed in exceptional circumstances and this matter was not particularly complex. The complainant was nevertheless awarded compensation for exceptional distress and inconvenience. This decision serves as a reminder that it is very uncommon for a complainant to have legal fees reimbursed. What were the facts?......

easy Group Ltd v Jaybank Leisure Ltd [2025] EWHC 3077 ( IPEC) What are the practical implications of this case? TMA 1994, s 11A is often relegated to a procedural afterthought, yet this ruling underlines that it operates as a potent weapon in litigation. The provision means, in essence, that a trade mark owner can restrain use of a sign only insofar as, on the day the infringement claim is issued, the registration would not be vulnerable to non-use revocation under s 46(1)(a) or (b). Once relied upon, a s 11A defence shifts a substantial evidential load onto the proprietor: the defendant does not have to establish non-use, while the proprietor must demonstrate genuine use in respect of every relevant service. In practice, s 11A resembles a proof-of-use requirement familiar from UK Intellectual Property Office opposition and invalidity actions. Although it reflects the non-use...

Summary The Pensions Ombudsman partially upheld a complaint concerning the recovery of pension paid in error. The member was awarded compensation for distress and inconvenience because the Scheme took an excessive length of time to correct the overpayment. However, she could not rely on a change of position defence, as she ought to have recognised that the salary and service figures on her retirement statement were overstated. This decision underlines that a change of position argument will only succeed where complainants act in good faith... What were the facts? Mrs N was a member of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (the Scheme). Shortly before retiring in 2012, she received a benefit statement indicating entitlement to a pension and lump sum of £15,647, calculated using an annual salary of £33,116. The statement carried a disclaimer marking it as an interim award and confirmed the Scheme was awaiting...

Original news Source: Hansard Debate: National Insurance Contributions ( Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill, Volume 777: debated on Wednesday 17 December 2025 News summary MPs have approved the Second Reading of the National Insurance Contributions ( Employer Pensions Contributions) Bill following a concise yet pointed Commons exchange on 17 December 2025. The government measure (bill 344 in the 2024–25 session), brought forward on 4 December 2025, would create a power to levy NICs on pension salary sacrifice amounts above £2,000 per year, with implementation scheduled for April 2029. Ministers contended the proposal is a proportionate, targeted step to contain the fast-escalating fiscal cost of NIC relief for salary sacrifice—projected to almost triple by the decade’s end—and to bolster fairness, as many employees have no access to salary sacrifice at all. Opposition parties countered that the plan would deter saving, increase expense and...

Equity members, representing performers, have voted by an overwhelming margin in an indicative ballot to refuse scans while talks continue with Pact, the main trade body for British production companies. An indicative ballot is a binding statutory vote required to take industrial action. The result, Equity said on 18 December 2025, ‘shows the depth of feeling among performers determined to safeguard their AI rights’... The union will press Pact for a better deal on AI, seeking an agreement that builds in: Explicit consent Transparent terms Royalties for the use of AI-generated replicas If Pact declines to offer this, Equity will move to a statutory ballot......

Background The dispute stems from one of many ICSID claims brought by investors in Spain’s renewables industry after adverse revisions to the nation’s electricity remuneration scheme in the early 2010s. In 2019, an ICSID ( ECT) tribunal ordered approximately EUR 30 million to be paid in favour of the claimants. That award was subsequently upheld in ICSID annulment proceedings, and the claimants then moved to enforce it in multiple jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and Switzerland. The initial award creditors later transferred their rights under the award to an investment vehicle, Blasket Renewable Investments LLC, which sought to be substituted for them in the English enforcement proceedings. Spain objected to the transfer, maintaining that awards of this kind are non-assignable under the ICSID Convention. Concurrently, Spain applied to set aside the original registration of the award on the basis of sovereign immunity. The High Court did not...

Daniah and another v The Secretary of State for Education [2025] EWHC 2810 ( Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling, building on earlier authorities concerning the court’s jurisdiction over appeals against orders barring teachers from teaching, clarifies that an appeal is ordinarily determined by way of review rather than as a re-hearing. There are exceptions to that approach, for instance where the interests of justice demand a re-hearing, yet the court sets out why the default position applies, emphasising the specialist competence of regulatory and disciplinary tribunals. Notably, this judgment addresses the constraints facing the court on an appeal from disciplinary bodies where prior criminal proceedings resulted in the appellant’s conviction. Save in truly exceptional circumstances, the criminal court’s factual determinations are not open to being reopened. Consequently, the appellant’s ability to contest the factual foundation...

Celikdemir v PGR Timber Ltd and another [2025] EWHC 3118 ( KB) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling confirms that, where justice demands, secret recordings may, in appropriate cases, be received as evidence if and when the interests of justice so require. Even so, the judiciary still regards the covert taping of clinical consultations as unpalatable and discourteous. Echoing Master Davison’s much-publicised judgment in Mustard v Flower [2019] EWHC 2623 ( QB), HHJ Shanks encourages the medical and medico-legal community to reach consensus on clear standards and good practice governing such recordings. What was the background? The case arose in a personal injury action disputing whether the claimant had sustained a traumatic brain injury. Both sides had agreed that neither party would record the neuropsychological assessments carried out by their respective experts. Despite that agreement, the claimant’s solicitor suggested she secretly record the...