News & Insights

Case Law: IP Court clarifies its approach to IP Assets transferred at an undervalue

by Leela|10 May 2021|Industry News

In the case of Lunar Holdings Limited v Lunar Automotive Limited (2020) EWHC 3415, the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court decided on a summary judgement against an alleged infringement of trademark and a breach of licence. In considering the facts of the case, the court had to consider the validity of IP assets transferred at an […]

Case Law: Which is the governing law – the law of the seat vs the law of main contract?

by Leela|5 May 2021|Industry News

On 9 October 2020, the UK Supreme Court handed down the judgment in the case of Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi A.S. v OOO Insurance Company Chubb (2020) UKSC 38. This case explored the question of the law governing an arbitration agreement, in the event that no governing law was elected by the contracting parties. FACTUAL […]

FCA bans and fines financial adviser £68,300 for lacking in competence and integrity

by Leela|4 May 2021|Industry News

The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has prohibited Simon John Varley (“Mr Varley”) from working in the financial sector and imposed a financial penalty of £68,300 for knowingly providing investment advice to retail customers, when he was not registered as a qualified person or an approved person to do so. The FCA found that Mr Varley […]

European commission issues draft on the uk data adequacy decision

by Leela|29 April 2021|Industry News

On 19 February 2021, the European Commission (“Commission”) published a draft adequacy decision (“Draft Decision“) in respect of the data protection framework in the United Kingdom (“UK“). The assessment is made both in relation to the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR“) and the Law Enforcement Directive 2016/680 (“LED“). The adoption of the adequacy decision […]

Changes to AIFMD Marketing Rules from August 2021

by Leela|28 April 2021|Industry News

On 2 August 2021, new pre-marketing rules in respect of alternative investment funds (“AIFs“) will come into force in the European Union (“EU“), via the EU Regulation 2019/1156 and the EU Directive 2019/1160 (the “Revised Rules”). The Revised Rules amend the existing directive on alternative investment fund managers (2011/61 / EU) (“AIFMD”) (as well as […]

Case Law: High court holds firm accountable for providing advice without authorisation

by Leela|23 April 2021|Industry News

At the end of March 2021, the FCA brought their case forward to the High Court against 24HR Trading Limited and Mr Maricar (the “Defendants”) in the case of Financial Conduct Authority v 24Hr Trading Academy Ltd [2021] EWHC648. The FCA’s claims arose from two activities that the Defendants engaged in: the Company or Mr Maricar have, since […]

CMA final revised merger assessment guidelines

by Leela|22 April 2021|Industry News

In response to the ever-evolving digital age, the way consumers shop and businesses compete are also rapidly changing. As such, the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) had to reassess its approach to evaluating mergers in the digital market and also address the concerns and recommendations put forward by the previous reports on digital markets, naming […]

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

by Leela|20 April 2021|Industry News

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 […]

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

by Leela|16 April 2021|Industry News

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 […]

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

by Leela|15 April 2021|Industry News

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 […]