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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 Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common.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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In this issue: UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Regulated activities Authorisation, approval and supervision Prudential requirements Financial crime and sanctions Investigations, enforcement and discipline Regulation of capital markets Sustainable finance and ESG Banks and mutuals UK Mi FID II EU Mi FID II Regulation of insurance Fintech and cryptoassets Regulation of AI in FS Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Dates for your diary Financial Services Enforcement Database Lex Talk®Financial Services: a Lexis®Nexis community UK, EU and international regulators and bodies Budget 2025—key Financial Services announcements In Budget 2025, delivered on 26 November 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, unveiled a package of measures—largely...
In this issue: Budget 2025—key Pensions announcements Pension Schemes Bill Scheme governance Public sector pensions Dates for your diary Trackers Budget 2025—key Pensions announcements In the 2025 Budget, delivered on 26 November 2025, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP, set out: (i) from April 2029, a £2,000 yearly ceiling on salary sacrifice pension inputs qualifying for National Insurance contribution relief; (ii) from April 2027, looser defined benefit ( DB) surplus rules enabling well-funded schemes to pay incentivised surplus amounts straight to members; and (iii) CPI-linked inflation protection (capped at 2.5%) for pre-1997 PPF and FAS pensions where legacy schemes had provided such increases. The Chancellor also outlined measures to reduce administrative burdens on personal representatives dealing with Inheritance Tax on unused pension funds, permitting them to direct scheme administrators to withhold 50% of taxable benefits for up to 15 months and conferring discharge from liability once HMRC...
Mergers The Commission authorised: the acquisition of joint control of IPlant Holding S. P. A. by Tages Capital SGR S.p. A., and the acquisition of Italiana Petroli S. P. A. by Bestinver Gestión, S. A. U......
New Risk & Compliance forecast as at 25 November 2025 Our latest Risk & Compliance forecast dated 25 November 2025 maps proposed regulatory developments affecting risk and compliance, enabling you to prepare for potential impacts on your organisation. Please review it carefully; key points that should remain on your radar are highlighted below. New items we’re tracking this month ICO consultation on data protection enforcement procedural guidance—the ICO is seeking views on draft guidance setting out the approach it takes when conducting investigations and using its enforcement powers under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. The consultation ends on 23 January 2026. See: Data protection, AI and cybersecurity......
Proposed reforms unveiled by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on 20 November 2025 Shabana Mahmood’s plans introduce a new ‘baseline’ of ten years’ residency for settlement, doubling the current five-year requirement across most settlement routes. She has also floated an accelerated route for high earners, reducing the wait. Migrants with taxable income above £125,140 per year for three consecutive years would be eligible to settle in as little as three years. Meanwhile, keeping taxable income at £50,270 over the same three-year period would cut five years from the ten-year route, according to proposals set out in a consultation document published on 20 November 2025 and detailed within that paper. The consultation closes at 11:59 pm on 12 February 2026. To qualify at all, applicants must earn at least £12,570 per year—the threshold that triggers National Insurance...
A US entrepreneur was convicted of FCPA breaches and money laundering after joining a plan to pay bribes to Honduran officials to secure contracts to supply law enforcement uniforms in Honduras. The Zaglin matter provides an early signal of how the US DOJ could deploy the new guidance—especially in prosecutions of individuals. It underscores a continued focus on individuals in such matters. Importantly, the conduct did not touch drug cartels, national security issues, or a non- US corporate accused. The lack of such factors indicates that, although the administration stresses aligning FCPA enforcement with foreign policy aims, the DOJ still intends to bring individual cases largely in line with its historic practice going forward. Background On 28 November 2023, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida charged Carl Alan Zaglin, a US national and the proprietor of Atlanco LLC, a...
Though a mature field of law, the regime on dawn raids has drawn fresh scrutiny after the General Court’s ruling in Michelin ( Case T 263/23). That decision led to the partial annulment of a Commission inspection decision. This limited success sparked debate over the evidential and procedural thresholds the Commission must satisfy when carrying out surprise inspections lawfully. A subsequent ruling of the General Court in Red Bull ( Case T 306/23) restates the breadth available to the Commission at the preliminary investigative phase as it seeks to identify material capable of underpinning its case regarding suspected breaches of competition rules. The scope of the Commission’s discretion The Commission enjoys a wide margin of discretion to authorise an unannounced inspection where there are reasonable grounds to suspect an infringement of competition rules. That discretion is firmly grounded in the legal framework of...
See Q& A: Where the constitution of a charity says ‘trustees can be reappointed but will not normally serve for more than three consecutive terms of office’. What does ‘normally’ mean in this context? The term ‘normally’ signals latitude or judgement, rather than a fixed rule......
Competition policy CAT has issued a Practice Direction setting out binding rules on formatting and page lengths for skeleton arguments and other papers lodged with CAT. Practice Direction 2/2005 prescribes mandatory standards for layout and page limits applying to skeleton arguments and related documents submitted in CAT proceedings. This new Practice Direction replaces the previous direction on skeleton arguments and supersedes the page‑limit guidance contained in the 2015 Guide to Proceedings herein too......
In a ruling on preliminary points issued by the High Court on 20 November 2025, Deputy Judge Nigel Cooper KC held that Tullow Ghana Ltd carries the burden to adduce prima facie proof that a breach of contract, tied to the alleged loss, occurred within six years of its standstill agreement with Vallourec Oil and Gas France SAS. A standstill agreement is a contract under which parties consent to pause particular action for a defined period. If Tullow produces such evidence, the judgment states that the burden then shifts to Vallourec to establish that, in reality, the cause of action arose at an earlier date. In May 2023, Tullow alleged before the High Court that its supplier of water‑injection tubing, Vallourec, had broken two sale agreements dating from 2008 and 2009. The operator asserted that Vallourec had supplied tubing for...
A copy of the minutes can be accessed here: OPRC Minutes for meeting on 20 October 2025. Welcome, apologies and introductory remarks (item 1) The Master of the Rolls ( MR) welcomed members and attendees to the Committee’s first open meeting. He made particular note of the new Senior President of Tribunals ( SPT), Sir James Dingemans, attending his first meeting in post. The MR invited nominations to a working group on unified contempt of court rules, stressing cross-jurisdictional experience. The minutes of the meeting on 14 July 2025 were approved (see News Analysis: Minutes of the OPR Committee meeting—14 July 2025). Consultation responses and priorities (item 2) The Committee reviewed the outcome of its summer consultation, which sought views on two principal proposals: the Digital Inclusion Framework and the Pre- Action Model ( PAM) grounded in Part 2 of the Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022......
Disputes & Investigations— Irish High Court refuses to grant injunction allowing a commercial tenant a ‘free ride’ in Dublin properties In Perfect Stripe Limited t/a Grafter v Fennell & others [2025] IEHC 585, the Commercial Court ( Mr Justice Twomey) declined an interim injunction sought by a tenant aiming to retake three Dublin office premises from receivers who had assumed control after more than €3m in rent went unpaid. Key takeaways Another clear signal from the Irish High Court of the premium placed on certainty in leases, ensuring the documents reflect precisely what the parties mean. Non‑payment of reserved rent as and when due poses a substantial obstacle for a tenant seeking to curb the actions of a lawfully appointed receiver over the asset. At the injunction stage, the court gives marked emphasis to the black‑letter terms of the contract, as it cannot determine contested...
As at 25 November 2025, our Practice Compliance forecast maps proposed regulatory developments relevant to law firm compliance, enabling you to prepare for changes that could affect your organisation. Please review it thoroughly; key points that should be on your radar are below. New items we’re tracking this month HMT Anti- Money Laundering and Counter- Terrorist Financing Supervision Reform: Duties, Powers, and Accountability Consultation—on 21 October 2025, HM Treasury ( HMT) issued its consultation response on reform of the AML/ CTF supervision regime, confirming the FCA as the new Single Professional Services Supervisor ( SPSS). See: AML, CTF and counter-proliferation financing. JMLSG Consultation: Part I ( November 2025)—the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group has opened a consultation on updates to Part I of its guidance. The proposals refresh sections including Chapter 3 and paragraphs 6.90–6.99 to bolster AML and CTF...
The SFO's new investigation into a US$28m 'crypto hedge fund' scheme is the first time the anti-fraud agency has investigated suspected fraud in cryptocurrency. The inquiry, centred on allegations of fraud and money laundering linked to the collapse of Basis Markets, signals the SFO now feels it possesses the technical expertise to grasp blockchain mechanics. However, practitioners caution that, if charges follow, the matter will test investigators more familiar with traditional financial statements. ' Successfully investigating, evidencing and prosecuting cryptocurrency and other digital assets enabled offences requires a high level of blockchain expertise and the ability to properly analyse the movement between crypto and fiat currencies', Lloyd Firth, a partner at Wilmer Hale, said. The surge in crypto-assets, a market that is currently valued at £2.3trn globally, has forced law enforcement agencies to keep pace with fraudsters who exploit the complexity and ease of the mostly...
On 26 November 2025, Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, presented the Labour administration’s second Budget, widely referred to simply as Budget 2025. On the same day, the Office for Budget Responsibility ( OBR) set out its economic and fiscal outlook for the UK. Proceedings opened poorly, and chaotically, with an OBR forecast leaking amidst a slew of prior government-led briefings and the release of a frustratingly static index of ‘ Budget 2025 tax related documents’ to which hyperlinks were not inserted until close to 8pm, together with a piecemeal, stop‑start publication of tax information across scattered web pages, sending readers on a fruitless treasure hunt for clarity or coherence and with no appearance whatsoever of the Overview of Tax Legislation and Rates ( OOTLAR). Headline measures comprised, among other items, extending, for another three years to April 2031, the existing...
Getty Images ( US) Inc and others v Stability AI [2025] EWHC 2863 ( Ch) What are the practical implications of this case? Getty Images succeeded on trade mark infringement under sections 10(1) and 10(2) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 ( TMA 1994), but only in respect of older, largely discontinued versions of Stability’s generative AI model. The judgment emphasises that proving trade mark infringement in the generative AI sphere requires highly specific evidence and, ideally, testing with real users of the model rather than imagined users or theoretical prompts. Each allegation turned on particular images, the readability and clarity of the signs, and a close evaluation of how the average consumer would encounter the synthetic image online; broad assertions about likelihood were inadequate. For trade mark owners, effective claims should: Isolate identifiable and clear signs Link them to the exact model...
On 19 November 2025, the Commission unveiled its Digital Omnibus proposal. It comprises two principal strands: one delivering ‘quick fixes’ to pain points in Regulation ( EU) 2024/1689, the EU AI Act, and another, more intricate, amending the data acquis, most notably Regulation ( EU) 2016/679, the EU General Data Protection Regulation ( EU GDPR), Directive 2022/58/ EC, the e Privacy Directive, and Regulation ( EU) 2023/2854, the EU Data Act. The headline items are delays to the high-risk AI rules under the EU AI Act, and a fresh EU GDPR lawful basis of legitimate interest for processing personal data when developing or operating AI systems (with safeguards). There is much to absorb—just as we get to grips with the new regime, changes are proposed, some bound to be disputed while others will be seen as eminently sensible. Here we outline the key...
The European Commission stated that its plans are designed to complement public pensions across EU Member States. The initiative is part of the EU’s Savings and Investment Union strategy to help households across the EU access financial markets more easily. Our measures will equip Europeans with means to prepare for later life with assurance, while opening channels of finance to boost the EU economy, said Maria Luís Albuquerque, EU financial services commissioner. According to the Commission, workplace and individual pensions could enable people to build a more balanced stream of income in retirement. They would supplement public schemes, which frequently fall short of delivering sufficient support for decent living conditions. The Commission urged Member States to adopt auto‑enrolment, which places employees into a workplace pension by default, while preserving the choice to opt out. This will be shaped by existing EU good...
A D Bly Groundworks and Civil Engineering Ltd and another v HMRC [2025] EWCA Civ 1443 Both taxpayers retained the same firm of chartered accountants to set up an UURBS, under which they undertook to grant directors and certain key staff a future pension. They booked provisions in their accounts to reflect the obligation to meet later pension outgoings. Those provisions were pitched at between 80% and 100% of profits before tax for each period. The accountants promoted the arrangement to several clients and notified HMRC under the DOTAS provisions. The two companies’ appeals proceeded as lead cases before the First-tier Tax Tribunal ( FTT). The FTT and UT had dismissed......
3i v Decesare [2025] EWHC 3023 ( Ch) Mr Justice Richard Smith refused an application by John Decesare, compliance chief at 3i, seeking to contest the lawfulness of the 2023 closure of the company’s pension scheme (3i v Decesare [2025] EWHC 3023 ( Ch)). Decesare contended the employer failed to comply with scheme provisions when opting to return the anticipated £83m surplus to the business. His challenge centred on the submission that trustees were obliged to weigh members’ prospective interests alongside those already accrued, a contention Smith J rejected. In support, he relied on BBC v BBC Pension Trust [2024] EWCA Civ 767, where the court concluded that the national broadcaster was required to consider employees’ future interests when winding up its pension programme......
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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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