<p>Filter Knowledge</p>

On 25 March 2025, Green J handed down judgment in Persons Identified in Schedule 1 v Standard Chartered PLC [2025] EWHC 698 (Ch).

The Competition & Markets Authority ('CMA'), alongside other UK regulators, has been under pressure to align with, and advance, the UK Government's 'pro-growth agenda'. Merger control has, in particular, come under fire - with the Government aiming for a more certain, proportionate, transparent and thus more business-friendly approach.

On 25 March 2025, the UK Financial Conduct Authority published a feedback statement (FS25/2) responding to its earlier call for input on reviewing FCA requirements following the introduction of the Consumer Duty in July 2024 (the Feedback Statement). On the same day, the FCA also published its high-level five-year strategy setting out its key strategic priorities until 2030 (the Strategy Document).

Following its pledge to introduce legislation within its first 100 days, the Government published the Employment Rights Bill on 10 October 2024. Once implemented, this legislation will make a number of significant changes to UK employment law.

Earlier this week, the UK Home Office published updated guidance (the "Guidance") for businesses on how to comply with the letter and spirit of the UK's Modern Slavery Act 2015 ("MSA"). 

All eyes will be on the Supreme Court next week, as appeals in the lead motor finance commission cases, Johnson, Wrench and Hopcraft^[1], will be heard over three days from 1-3 April 2025.  

The Building Safety Act 2022 ('BSA') gives the Government the power to impose a building safety levy on all new residential buildings in England (the 'Levy'). 

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A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.

6 April 2025 has now been confirmed as the "go live" date for most of the consumer law provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 ("DMCCA"). These changes will give the UK one of the toughest enforcement regimes in the world, with the prospect of fines of up to 10% of global turnover on B2C businesses for infringing UK consumer law.

On 5 March 2025, the UK Financial Conduct Authority published a report (the Report) containing observations and feedback from its Private Market Valuation Review (PMVR).  This had been trailed during the previous week in the FCA's Asset Management and Alternatives Supervisory Strategy letter as a key FCA supervisory priority for 2025.

The process of investor onboarding is traditionally labour intensive, time consuming and costly. Completing subscription agreements and collating investor KYC materials can be arduous and can incur high costs for work that is largely process driven.

The UK Government considers ransomware attacks to be the greatest of all serious and organised cybercrime threats. In response, it has launched a consultation on three measures to reduce payments to cybercriminals and increase ransomware incident reporting.

Paddy Power's consumer terms and conditions failed to protect it against having to pay out over £1 million after an online game mistakenly indicated that a player had won a "Monster Jackpot".  We discuss what lessons can be drawn from this dispute and two previous cases involving similar claims for million pound wins.  We also look at the wider implications for B2C contracts, beyond the sphere of online games.

The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in an appeal from various case management decisions in the long-running Alame & Ors v Shell plc & Anor [2024] EWCA Civ 1500 environmental group litigation ("Alame 3").  The decision emphasised the importance of parties' freedom to plead their case in a manner of their own choosing and the difficulties that can arise where claimants face an inequality of arms. The Court heard appeals from the first instance decisions in Alame & Ors v Shell plc & Anor [2023] EWHC 2961 ("Alame 1") and [2024] EWHC 510 ("Alame 2"). 

For businesses within the scope of the Online Safety Act, achieving compliance and swiftly adapting to extensive new guidance is a significant challenge. The contrasting approaches in Europe to online safety and the tensions with the US over content moderation further complicate the landscape.

Under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006 ("CA 2006"), a member of a company may apply to the court for relief by way of petition if they are or have been unfairly prejudiced as a result of an act or omission of the company or the way in which the company's affairs are being or have been conducted. A section 994 petition is the primary procedural tool that minority shareholders can use to seek relief if they are being unfairly prejudiced by the conduct of a majority shareholder or a group of shareholders who are acting as a majority.

Private capital executive remuneration is commonly a mixed bag of returns from a variety of sources. This can make the tax analysis complex, and unless detail is provided to it, hard for HMRC to check.