The Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) sent a letter to all UK regulated asset managers on 27 February 2020 (the “Dear CEO Letter”), to encourage the sector to prepare for the cessation of the sterling London interbank o...

Part A: Regulation of crypto assets     Germany

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In these extraordinary times a number of insurers and “claimant” law firms have agreed a protocol that should avoid unnecessary procedural problems. The full and commendably concise text can be found here. In summary, signatories t...

Summary of the communication from the EU commissionInterpretative Guidelines on EU Regulation 261/2004 on passenger rights in the context of the developing situation with Covid-19 - 18 March 2020 Right to choose between reimbursement and rerouting ...

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Enfranchisement of long leasehold buildings in commercial use may have become a real possibility as a result of a recent decision by the House of Lords. The Leasehold Reform Act 1967 gives long leasehold tenants the right to buy the freehold of the...

In its concern to block tax avoidance, HMRC is planning to make Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) ever more complicated, as two recent consultations show. Residential properties held by companies The first consultation proposes the imposition of SDLT on ...

The new energy performance regime came into force on 6 April 2008 in respect of buildings with a floor area in excess of 10,000 square metres. Buildings with a floor area of over 2,500 square metres will be brought within the regime on 1 July. Howev...

As a general rule, leases of land must be made by deed. Failure to comply with this requirement means that the tenant will not acquire a legal estate in land. However, leases granted for a term of up to three years need not be made by deed so long a...

The issue in McCann v United Kingdom was whether our domestic law is compatible with Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights. Article 8 provides that everyone has the right to respect for their home. Mr McCann's wife left the family ho...

A simple drafting error in a lease invalidates a contracting–out order. In Newham LBC v Thomas–Van Staden, which has been fully reported only recently, the Court of Appeal has presented us with a curious decision on the effect of a draf...

Land Registry fees will increase on 6 July 2009. A new Land Registry fee order has been published, increasing fees across the board for registration and information services from 6 July. The Land Registry is required to recover from its fees and c...

Residential developers need to take great care that they do not jeopardise their recovery of VAT by granting a short–term tenancy. The current downturn is leading developers to let out new properties instead of selling them. Great care is nee...

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Following the publication by the European Commission of the conclusions on best available techniques (BAT) in the waste sector on 17th August 2018, the operators are required to submit a reconsideration file (“dossier de réexamen”...

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Introduction There has been significant debate amongst key stakeholders including government, mining companies, and environmental lobbyists regarding how mining companies should not only be held accountable for mine closure but also how the often va...

On the 15 October 2019 the government published its consultation on the future trajectory of the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standard for commercial properties under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 ...

There have been many examples of high profile health and safety incidents in recent years, including major rail disasters, the serious incident at Alton Towers and of course the tragedy at Grenfell Tower. These have rightly received high profile, wi...

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In June 2019, an FSA report on the approach to regulatory enforcement and sanctions acknowledged that enforcement of food law has historically relied upon criminal sanctions. Whilst the report stated that “in relation to some lower level failu...

Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, has ordered visiting officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to go into isolation at a quarantine centre for 14 days.

Bello gave the directive on Thursday night when the NCDC officials led by Dr Andrew Noah showed up at the Government House, in Lokoja, the state capital.

The agency had sent a delegation of rapid response team to ascertain the true status of Kogi as a COVID-19-free state. 

The governor said that the step was to ensure that the laid down procedure of checkmating the scourge by NCDC was strictly followed.

Presenting a letter titled: “Deployment of Rapid Response Squad to help in fighting COVID-19,” Dr Noah explained that the mission of the NCDC was to provide logistics to all states of the federation of which Kogi could not be left out.

He said two members of the team would be left behind to help the state and support efforts already in place.

Speaking shortly after receiving the letter, Bello outlined steps taken so far by the state to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

He then asked that the NCDC officials be subjected to testing and isolated in the state quarantine centre or leave the state immediately if they refused.

Eversheds Sutherland announces that it has made 38 partner promotions across its International and Europe network. A total of 16 of these promotions are female which is in line with its goal to achieve 30% female representation at partner level by 2...

The restrictions on economic life imposed by COVID-19 have not only triggered a veritable economic crisis, but have simply deprived many companies of their livelihood. While there is no income, expenses continue to run, so that in some cases insolve...

Our Privacy and Cybersecurity team are proud to present the latest edition of Updata. Our international quarterly update provides you with a compilation of privacy and cybersecurity, regulatory and legal updates from our contributors around the worl...

New Resourcing+ service gives clients ultimate flexibility with interim support Konexo, a division of Eversheds Sutherland, has launched Resourcing+ an evolution of its existing resourcing service to be rolled out across its global network.

A number of measures have been introduced in Ireland in recent weeks in light of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Irish Revenue has also published a number of welcome guidelines and confirmations in an attempt to mitigate any detrimental effects...

Eversheds Sutherland has announced two changes to its senior management team in Germany. The global law firm has appointed Dr. Alexander Niethammer as new Managing Partner of its German office, while Hamburg-based Partner, Dr. Carola Rathke, takes u...

We acted as legal advisor when the shareholders of Oy Basso Media Ltd. sold all shares of Oy Basso Media Ltd. to Bauer Media Holding Oy. Other financial arrangements were also carried out in connection with the transaction. Basso Media will continue...

On 28 April 2020, the Russian President issued Decree No. 294 On Prolonging Measures To Ensure Sanitary and Epidemiological Wellbeing of the Population in the Russian Federation due to the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). The following da...

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Please click here to download our insurance summer horizon scanning booklet. The booklet summarises key insurance related legal and regulatory changes expected over the next 18 months to 2 years, as well as providing electronic links t...

Businesses across the world are suffering a variety of different losses as a result of the spread of, and public reaction to, coronavirus.  The answer to the question of whether these losses will be covered by your insurance policies is, as wit...

Late last December, the FCA issued a Call for Input (CFI)[1] to explore the opportunities and risks arising from Open Finance. Comments are due by Tuesday 17 March 2020 – don’t miss your chance to ha...

The FCA has published information on its expectations of general insurance firms in relation to their treatment of consumers during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The FCA has also published information for consumers on what they sho...

The FCA has published information on its expectations of general insurance firms in relation to their treatment of consumers during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The FCA has also published information for consumers on what they sho...

On 1 May, the FCA issued two sets of draft guidance which will be important reading for all firms involved in insurance arrangements and particularly insurers, intermediaries and premium finance lenders. As it considers that the delay involved in co...

By Marcus Noland HONOLULU (November 19, 2019)—Rising diplomatic tensions between South Korea and Japan are putting American security interests at risk. Yet the United States government appears detached, unable to facilitate a rapprochement between its two allies. This is a critical moment because a South Korea-Japan intelligence-sharing agreement, aimed at North Korea, is due to lapse on 22 November this year.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

By Lora Saalman HONOLULU (14 April 2020)—Artificial intelligence (AI) is an increasingly important component of weapons systems, with both positive and negative implications for nuclear deterrence. Integration of AI into military platforms has the potential to allow weaker nuclear-armed states to reset the imbalance of power, but at the same time it exacerbates fears that stronger states may further solidify their dominance and engage in more provocative actions.

This is a summary only. Click the title for the full article, or visit www.EastWestCenter.org/Research-Wire for more.

  Summary On 1 November HMRC published its much anticipated guidance on the taxation of cryptoassets for businesses. The guidance sets out HMRC’s view on the taxation of transactions involving cryptoasset exchange tokens (such as Bitcoin)...

  What’s new? On 20 December 2019, HMRC published an updated version of its guidance on the taxation of cryptoassets for individuals. The guidance was updated to include a new section in respect of the location (situs) of exchange tokens ...

The UK government announced at the March Budget that they intend to introduce a requirement for large businesses to notify HMRC where they adopt an “uncertain tax treatment”.  The proposal is designed to improve HMRC’s ability...