In our first COP30 article we highlighted the difficult challenges facing the conference, amidst a backdrop of a general sense of retreat and pessimism in the international climate community. With an energetic presidency and aims of focusing on climate implementation and nature protection, COP30 was seen by many to be pivotal.

In October 2024, the UK Government published the Employment Rights Bill, which paves the way for significant reforms to UK employment law. The Bill is in its final stages of Parliament and the reforms are expected to be phased in starting from April 2026.

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.

Find the latest news, views and our analysis of all the key announcements.

Less red tape and a simpler path to compliance - particularly for smaller businesses. Fostering innovation, AI, and data-driven growth, while not compromising fundamental rights.

The London Stock Exchange’s (LSE) November 2025 Feedback Statement signals a new phase for AIM, focusing on proportionality, flexibility, cost reduction, and reaffirming AIM’s risk/reward profile, as well as efforts to reposition AIM for the future as a distinct founder- and growth-focused market that can be competitive with private equity. Immediate changes have been confirmed, while more substantial reforms are on the horizon.

Following the publication of the Immigration White Paper and the government’s recent emphasis on reforming both legal and illegal migration, significant changes have been proposed to the process by which individuals can obtain settlement or Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) status in the UK. These proposals aim to reshape long-term settlement options for overseas workers and their families, with a focus on contribution, integration, and compliance with immigration rules.

The ABSF Global Conference, hosted by DealCatalyst at the Royal Lancaster in London on Monday 24 November 2025, again brought together a great mix of structured and specialty finance originators, investors and service providers.

On 20 November 2025, the European Commission published its final legislative proposal to update the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), commonly known as SFDR 2.0. 

The UK Competition and Markets Authority has launched its first consumer investigations using the tough new enforcement powers it acquired in April 2025 – which include the ability to impose fines of up to 10% of turnover. We look at why it's chosen to focus on pricing and what B2C businesses can do to reduce their risk of being next on the CMA's "hit list".

The OECD has updated its model double tax convention (the Model Treaty), and in doing so, has amended its guidance on when a home office of a team member can generate a taxable presence of the foreign business for which they work. Businesses with remote workers will want to ascertain whether the relevant tax authorities will change their practices in line with the new guidance and, if so, confirm that their policies on remote working remain appropriate.

The UK government has recently introduced the Cyber Security and Resilience (Network and Information Systems) Bill to Parliament, with the objective of strengthening the UK’s defences against cyber threats to systems most critical to daily life. Once in force (many of the substantive reforms will require secondary legislation to be brought into effect), this legislation will extend direct regulation to a broader range of organisations underpinning essential services and key digital services in relation to cyber compliance – including data centres, managed service providers and specifically designated "critical suppliers".

This article was first published on Global Investigations Review in October 2025; for further in-depth analysis, please visit GIR The Practitioner’s Guide to Global Investigations - Edition 10.”

In this edition, we look at the prospects for data centres in the UK, what to watch out for in the Budget and whether EU objections could derail UK planning reforms. We also discuss the clean energy aspects of the UK's Industrial Strategy, the impact of consumer law on the energy and infrastructure sectors, recent developments in sustainability reporting and the National Underground Asset Register.

Observers of, and aspiring participants in, the UK stablecoin market have needed deep wells of patience. In case this has slipped readers' minds, His Majesty's Treasury (HMT) has not actually yet laid the secondary legislation bringing cryptoassets, including stablecoins, into FCA regulation.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) has published a  thematic review of the accounting policies of 20 listed companies from a variety of sectors to identify (i) areas of good practice (ii) where there could be improvement and (iii) common pitfalls when applying IFRS 2. Its key observations are:

A regular briefing for the alternative asset management industry.

A recent Court of Appeal decision has highlighted the risk of entering into a contract via informal channels such as WhatsApp, emails, text messages and phone calls, before any formal written agreement has been drawn up. We look at how to ensure that you're not committed until you're actually ready to be legally bound.