<p>FILTER BREXIT</p>

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.

In this briefing, we highlight the key consequences of Brexit for intellectual property rights and domain names and what businesses will need to consider.

With 23 pages of coverage, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) does quite a lot for intellectual property. But as we explain below, length does not always equate to substantial benefits for business.

In 2019, UK voters were promised that there was a plan to "get Brexit done", so that we could all move on – and businesses could invest against a background of greater certainty. Whilst considerable progress has been made towards those goals, there remains a significant amount of unfinished business and uncertainty in key areas.

A guide to future employment and immigration law. 

Since 1 January 2021, the new points-based immigration system has applied equally to non-EU nationals as well as EU nationals who move to the UK to live and work. Following the end of the Brexit Transition period, EU nationals who were not resident in the UK by 31 December 2020 must now qualify for visas under the same immigration rules as non-EU nationals.

The UK Government has announced that full border controls on imports of most goods from the EU will not now be introduced until 1 January 2022. This is a significant delay, as it had previously planned to introduce full controls by 1 July 2021.

Key employment and business immigration developments for employers.

A barrier-free flow of personal data between the EEA and the UK shows much greater promise now that the European Commission has published its draft adequacy decision for the UK. Whilst this is welcome news, it does not mean an end to post-Brexit uncertainty in this area.

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed by the UK and the EU in December 2020 contains a number of provisions which relate to tax. In this briefing, we look at what they are and how far they could constrain the UK's room for manoeuvre on tax issues in future.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry. 

Deal-makers on cross-border transactions now need to think about UK merger control more often. Save for in a small number of cases formally initiated by the European Commission before the end of 2020, the UK Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") is now unshackled from the "one-stop shop" of the EU merger control regime, able to pursue its own merger control investigations into international transactions in parallel with those of other authorities. 

The story behind the headline...

Since the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, there have been numerous reports of businesses struggling to deliver goods and even halting deliveries to customers in Northern Ireland. Why is Northern Ireland in this difficult position despite remaining a part of the UK following Brexit? Laura Hodgson, Knowledge Counsel, discusses the newly in force Northern Ireland Protocol, agreed as part of the Withdrawal Agreement in 2019, and the VAT and custom duty charges on goods entering Northern Ireland from other parts of the UK.

The story behind the headline...

Throughout January, papers and media websites were full of stories about people being asked to pay large and unexpected tax and custom duties charges on the arrival of goods from the EU. So, what is this so-called Brexit tax and why is it being charged when the UK and EU have agreed a zero tariff Brexit deal?

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed by the UK and EU in December 2020 contains a number of provisions which may constrain the UK's scope to make changes to employment law. In practice, how significant could these constraints prove to be?

The scope and application of the AIFMD portfolio company provisions - including the "anti-asset stripping rules" – have changed significantly as a result of Brexit. This briefing highlights how these changes may affect your firm.

Brexit Transition Period comes to an end…

At 11 p.m. on 31 December 2020, the Transition Period (during which the UK was effectively treated as still part of the EU) came to an end. In our previous article, "Social Security and Brexit: Where are we now?", we highlighted the risks faced by UK employers with employees working in the EU if no agreement on social security coordination was reached by that point. 

The Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) signed by the UK and EU in December 2020 contains few provisions which are directly relevant to M&A – but there are provisions on investment and the end of the Brexit transition period is likely to have a significant impact, both on M&A and the wider investment landscape.

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