On 22 February 2021, the UK Government published its original "Roadmap out of Lockdown" for England, which was initially due to see a "cautious but irreversible" lifting of all legal limits on social contact by 21 June (if certain strict conditions were met) (the "Roadmap"). Following a delay in the introduction of Step 4, from 19 July the majority of remaining COVID-19 restrictions in England have been lifted, including no longer instructing people to work from home wherever possible. Step 4 has, however, coincided with an increase in the prevalence of the COVID-19 'Delta' variant across the UK, leading to increasing numbers of infections and cases of individuals being required to self-isolate.

HM Treasury has issued a consultation paper proposing the creation of a Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR) for financial market infrastructures (FMIs).

Hot on the heels of HM Treasury's consultation on the prospectus regime, on 5 July the FCA published a consultation on the effectiveness of the primary markets. The consultation firstly looks at ways of improving the efficiency of the listing regime and secondly proposes targeted changes to remove barriers to listing.  The FCA seeks to address, and build upon, the proposals of the Kalifa Review of UK FinTech  and Lord Hill's UK Listing Review.

The Subsidy Control Bill introduced to Parliament on 30 June 2021, has been hailed by the UK Government as a major departure from the EU State aid rules.  But just how radical a departure is it and what are the key implications for business?