News & Insights

Our Thinking · Regulatory & Compliance · Europe

Government consultation on reforming the UK’s audit and corporate governance regime

The UK Government is launching a major overhaul of the UK’s audit regime to avoid company failures and safeguard British jobs. The Business Secretary is launching a consultation on wide-ranging reforms to modernise the UK’s audit and corporate governance regime (the “Consultation”) to improve corporate transparency. The reforms aim to strengthen the UK’s position as […]

Leela·20 April 2021

Our Thinking · Investments & Capital Markets · Europe

Case Law: The high court sets a higher threshold for LIBOR claims

In prior English LIBOR cases, claimants have alleged that banks proposing financing products indexed to LIBOR or EURIBOR made representations (typically, implied) to the effect that they were not manipulating, and did not intend to manipulate, those rates. Misrepresentation claims of this sort have been a feature of the English litigation landscape for a number […]

Leela·16 April 2021

Our Thinking · Europe

Case Law: Okpabi v Shell: supreme court decision relating to parent company duty of care

The Supreme Court recently handed down a decision on the high-profile jurisdictional challenge relating to group claims brought by two Nigerian communities (the “Okpabi”) against Royal Dutch Shell Plc (“RDS”) and its Nigerian subsidiary, Shell Petroleum Development Company (the “Subsidiary”, “SRDC”) in connection with the Subsidiary’s alleged pollution in the Niger Delta. The case is of […]

Leela·15 April 2021

Our Thinking · Public Funds · Regulatory & Compliance · Europe

PROD implementation in the UK: has it been a success?

Product governance requirements were formally applied in the United Kingdom in 2018 through the FCA Handbook on product governance (“PROD”), which transposed the comparable MiFID II requirements into UK legislation. PROD applies to all MiFID investment firms, amongst other categories of covered entities. At the start of February 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority […]

Leela·12 April 2021

Our Thinking · Commercial & Corporate · Europe

Our Thinking · Public Funds · Regulatory & Compliance · Europe

ESMA launches common supervisory action on MiFID II Product Governance Rules

At the start of February 2021, the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”) announced the launch of a common supervisory action (“CSA”) with national competent authorities (“NCAs”) on the application of product governance rules (“PROD”) under the MiFID II Directive (2014/65/EU) across the European Union (“EU”). In the announcement, ESMA stated that its guidelines on […]

Leela·8 April 2021

Our Thinking · Europe

Case Law: Solicitor duties towards the opposing party: do they exist?

The recent decision reached in NDH Properties Ltd v Lupton Fawcett LLP [2020] provides useful insight into whether a solicitor can owe a duty of care to the opposing party. THE FACTUAL BACKGROUND In May 2012, My Nayee, the sole director and majority shareholder of NDH Properties Ltd (“NDH”) took out a short-term loan facility, […]

Leela·7 April 2021

Our Thinking · Regulatory & Compliance · Europe

The EU sustainable finance disclosure regulation

As concerns for environmental and social governance (“ESG”) increase, the European Union has introduced a new set of legislation to govern this new phenomenon. The EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (“SFDR”) came into force on 10 March 2021 as a response to investors’ growing demands for clearer sustainability-related disclosure. As part of the EU’s wider […]

Leela·30 March 2021

Our Thinking · Commercial & Corporate · Europe

Case Law: Restraint of trade: court of appeal rules on restrictive covenants in service agreements

In the recent case of Quantum Actuarial LLP v Quantum Advisory Ltd [2021] EWCA Civ 227 (24 February 2021), the Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s ruling on the interpretation of restrictive covenants in service agreements and set out the legal approach in the application of the restraint of trade doctrine[1]. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Quantum […]

Leela·26 March 2021

Our Thinking · Regulatory & Compliance · Europe

The FCA consults on changes to e-payment services

The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published Consultation Paper CP21/3 (the “Consultation Paper”) on 28 January 2021 proposing: amendments to the technical standards on strong customer authentication (“SCA”) and common and secure methods of communication (the “secure SCA-RTS”); updates to its published guidance in its Approach Document on Payment Services and Electronic Money updates (the “(“Approach […]

Leela·22 March 2021