In this issue:
In-house
Risk & Compliance
Commercial
Corporate
Financial services
Information Law & TMT
Employment
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With the UK and EU continuing to report limited progress in negotiations, the government has launched a fresh public information campaign aiming to prepare the public and businesses for the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020鈥斺楥heck, Change, Go鈥. The campaign aims to set out actions to ensure individuals and businesses are prepared when the transitional arrangements under the Withdrawal Agreement come to an end and new arrangements come into effect on 1 January 2021. The campaign directs businesses, organisations and individuals to the government's new checker tool, which identifies necessary next steps they need to take. See: .
Supply chain risks
Corporate Crime analysis: The UK National Crime Agency (NCA) and other law enforcement agencies are considering whether to take action in respect of allegations of modern slavery and unsuitable working conditions in textile factories in Leicester, England during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. See: .
See also Practice Note: and Precedent: .
Corporate Crime analysis: John Binns, partner at BCL Solicitors LLP and member of the Lexis庐PSL Corporate Crime Consulting Editorial Board, discusses the new Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations 2020, popularly referred to as 鈥楳agnitsky鈥 sanctions, and offers advice on the practical steps businesses and lawyers can take to comply with the sanctions. See News Analysis: .
HMRC has announced the outcome of its technical consultation on the Fifth Money Laundering Directive and Trust Registration Service and published a summary of all responses received. The Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, have now been laid for consideration by the European Statutory Instruments Committee in the House of Commons and the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee in the House of Lords. See: .
Eight Overseas Territories are to introduce publicly accessible registers detailing who owns the companies in their territory. The government expects that beneficial ownership information on businesses registered in the Overseas Territories will be accessible to the public by 2023. See: .
Law 360, London: The European Parliament has backed measures that would give the European Central Bank more powers and create an improved asset-freezing regime in the EU鈥檚 fight against the flow of dirty money. See News Analysis: .
Coronavirus
HMRC has published new guidance to reflect the recently announced temporary reduction in VAT for supplies relating to hospitality, holiday accommodation and certain attractions. See: .
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has announced that small firms across the UK will now be able to benefit from free advice from 鈥榯housands of expert professionals and business services advisers鈥. See: .
The government has announced a new Border Operating Model, setting out plans for customs controls and regulations to be phased in for the movement of goods between Great Britain and the EU from 1 January 2021. Separate arrangements are to be put in place between Northern Ireland and the EU in accordance with the Northern Ireland Protocol, with guidance promised in the coming weeks. See: .
HMRC has published new guidance on customs declarations to help stakeholders prepare for the end of the transition period. The guidance includes updates on declarations for imports from the EU to Great Britain between 1 January and 31 June 2021. Further new and updated guidance for importers and exporters has also been published.鈥 See: .
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has published updated guidance on labelling and marketing standards to help stakeholders prepare for the end of the transition period. See: .
The UK recently requested to join the Lugano Convention 2007 (Lugano Convention), which is the UK鈥檚 preferred regime for governing questions of jurisdiction and the enforcement of judgments with EU countries post-Brexit. These rules will be critically important for all parties when they consider which jurisdiction clauses to include in their contracts. See News Analysis: .
The Cabinet Office and the Government Legal Department have issued new versions of the government Model Services Contract (MSC). Published on 14 July 2020, the updated documents include amendments to the definition and interpretation provisions to remove 鈥榓ntiquated terminology鈥, as well as new, updated and expanded provisions on security, transparency, payment, force majeure, environmental requirements, staff transfer, pensions, exit management and execution. It also includes new clauses to bring the MSC into line with Procurement Policy Note 04/19 on payment approaches in the procurement of major public contracts, which came into effect on 1 September 2019. See: .
The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) (First Chamber) in the case of NG and OH v SC Banca Transilvania SA (Case ) has been published. The judgment concerns the interpretation of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive (on unfair terms in consumer contracts. See: .
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its 2019鈥2020 Annual Report, setting out the CMA鈥檚 performance, achievements and accounts from 1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020. In that period, the CMA issued seven decisions, imposing fines totalling 拢56m and disqualifying ten company directors. It also secured consumer protection commitments from 29 companies in four investigations and reviewed 62 mergers. Key sectors the CMA focused on included stopping care home residents from paying unfair fees, investigating the funeral sector, proposing reforms to Scottish legal services and ensuring co-operation between suppliers to maintain the supply of goods and services during the coronavirus pandemic. See: .
on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services and corporate website users of online search engines (the Platform-to-business Regulation or P2B Regulation) has direct effect in EU Member States from 12 July 2020. See News Analysis: .
The European Commission has published a set of resources to help traders, online platforms and search engines benefit from , the P2B Regulation. See: .
Trends in UK public M&A deals in H1 2020
Corporate analysis: What are the current trends in the UK public mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market? This Market Tracker trend report includes in-depth analysis of the 12 firm offers and 10 possible offers announced in H1 2020, and also provides insight into what to expect to see in H2 2020 and beyond. See: .
Companies House has that it will restart its process for companies that have applied for voluntary strike off from 10 September 2020. See: .
The Chartered Governance Institute (formerly known as ICSA) has new on shareholder meetings under the (). See: .
The Companies (Shareholders鈥 Rights to Voting Confirmations) Regulations 2020, come into force on 3 September 2020. The Regulations implement (the Directive) regarding the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement. See: .
ESMA has its reporting manual on the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF). The update expands existing guidance and reflects relevant developments in the technical specifications. See: .
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has announced that it will replace its existing Financial Services Register with an enhanced version on 27 July 2020, and will then add a directory of certified and assessed persons to the Register later in 2020. See: .
The ICO has updated its regulatory approach during the coronavirus public health emergency. UK Information Commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, has reiterated the importance for the ICO to respond 鈥榩ragmatically and empathetically鈥 to the crisis. The regulatory approach has been updated with small additions, notably by reflecting the ability to conduct audit work remotely. See: .
In Aven v Orbis Business Intelligence Ltd the court awarded claimants 拢18,000 each as compensation for damage and distress relating to sensitive personal data that was disclosed to third parties without taking reasonable steps to ensure its accuracy. This case could potentially provide the basis for a rise in the level of damages claimed by data subjects in future. See News Analysis: .
The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) have revealed that Huawei is to be removed from UK 5G networks by 2027. In addition, buying new Huawei 5G equipment will be banned after 31 December 2020. See: .
HMRC has updated seven guidance documents (and published one more) relating to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS). Changes include (a) clarification that a CJRS grant may be used for pay during statutory notice periods, (b) expansion of calculation guidance to include periods in August, (c) an intimation that HMRC will introduce legislation to recover overclaimed CJRS grants through the tax system, and (d) clarification regarding National Insurance contributions. See News Analysis: .
The 鈥榃orking safely during coronavirus (COVID-19)鈥 guidance published originally by BEIS has been expanded to include two extra work type/workplace-specific guides. Three of the existing guides, relating to close contact services, heritage locations and restaurants, pubs, bars and takeaway services, have been updated. See News Analysis: .
HMRC for the tax treatment of coronavirus test kits provided to employees has been updated to reflect the change in policy announced last week. See: .
The government has that it intends to make new changes to the criminal records disclosure regime in an effort to ensure that 鈥榯he right balance is struck between rehabilitating offenders and protecting the public鈥. This includes amending current legislation to 鈥榬emove the requirement for automatic disclosure of youth cautions, reprimands and warnings and remove the 鈥渕ultiple conviction鈥 rule, which requires the automatic disclosure of all convictions where a person has more than one conviction, regardless of the nature of their offence or sentence鈥. See: , and .
The Home Office has published a paper entitled 鈥楾he UK's Points-Based Immigration System: Further Details鈥, which adds to its February Policy Paper on the topic. It deals with the new post-Brexit immigration system which will apply both to EEA nationals who do not have, or are not eligible for, status under the EU Settlement Scheme, and non-EEA nationals, alike. Although providing a raft of additional technical details and appendices, there are only a few new policy announcements in the paper. See News Analysis: .
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