<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

Our regular round-up of recent and forthcoming developments in law and practice for in-house counsel.

2021 has seen the UK Government and regulators engage in a blizzard of consultations and draft legislation, proposing reforms across a wide range of areas. The sheer volume makes it difficult for businesses to keep on top of changes that might affect them.

A guide to future employment and immigration law.

The UK Government argues that freeports will provide significant customs benefits for businesses - but not everyone agrees. In this briefing, part of a series on UK freeports, we look at the types of business that might benefit from freeport customs arrangements and whether the critics are right to be sceptical.

The UK Government has been keen to talk up the potential benefits from a planning perspective of being based in a freeport. But what exactly are these benefits and how significant could they be?

Although the UK Government has recently announced that certain border requirements are being postponed until the middle of next year, it is currently sticking to its plans to require full customs declarations on goods imported from the EU as of 1 January 2022. This change has the potential to disrupt UK supply chains.

Key employment and business immigration developments for employers.

Earlier this year, the Government announced plans for 10 new freeports in the UK. In this briefing, the first of a series on freeports, we explain what freeports are, where they will be located, and when they are expected to be up and running.

Originally published 12 March 2021

The FCA has set out an ambitious vision for transformation in its Business Plan for 2021/22, the first under Nikhil Rathi's leadership since he was appointed CEO in October 2020.

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.

In the third of a series of articles looking at how Brexit is working out for the UK, we consider the geographic impact and how that might affect future decisions by businesses to invest in the UK.

Key employment and business immigration developments for employers.

Following Brexit and the Hill Review, the Treasury is looking to carry out a radical overhaul of the rules governing public offers of securities and prospectuses in the UK. Even to the staunchest remainer, the proposals appear to remove some of the less logical constraints imposed by the EU Prospectus Regulation, minimising legislation and allowing the FCA freedom to act more nimbly in deciding when a prospectus is actually necessary, and when investors are adequately protected by market information or other means.

In a welcome move, the European Commission has formally approved an adequacy decision for the UK on data protection. However, as we explain below, this may not be the end of the story as regards the post-Brexit treatment of EU personal data – and there is still unfinished business in a number of other important areas beyond data protection.

In the second of a series of articles looking at how Brexit is working out for the UK, we discuss tariff reductions that took effect on 1 January 2021. Which sectors benefit, what will be the wider impact and what more could be done?

This is the first in a series of briefings looking at how Brexit is going, 4 months after the end of the transition period. Here we discuss the current state of UK-EU relations: could they improve and could this bring about improvements in the trading relationship?

Following the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020, EU free movement rules no longer apply to travel between the UK and countries within the EU.

Key employment and business immigration developments for employers.

On 26 April 2021, the Global Anti-Corruption Sanctions Regulations 2021 ("ACSR") came into force in the UK – the second targeted sanctions regime the UK has introduced in under a year. This follows the July 2020 Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations, which we reported on here.