On 16 December 2022, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a notice confirming the Collective Investment Schemes (Individually Recognised Overseas Schemes and Miscellaneous Amendments) Instrument 2022 ("CIS 2022") became effective 1 January 2023. CIS 2022 introduces changes to the ‘s272 regime’ contained in Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”) for recognising overseas collective investment funds. The Collective Investment Schemes sourcebook (“COLL”), the Decision Procedure and Penalties manual (“DEPP”) and the Glossary of definitions of the FCA Handbook are amended.
In 2021, in the context of the common agricultural policy reform 2023-2027, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted a new exemption from competition rules for certain agricultural products. Specifically, Article 210a of Regulation 1308/2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products (“CMO Regulation”) introduced an exclusion from the prohibition against anti-competitive agreements (or “cartels”) for certain restrictive agreements in the agricultural sector when those agreements are indispensable to achieve sustainability standards. In this latest development, on 10 January 2023, the European Commission (“Commission”) published for consultation its draft guidelines on how this exclusion should apply. The Guidelines seek to clarify how operators active in the agri-food sector can design joint sustainability initiatives in line with Article 210a.
This article looks at recent important issues in labor law for UK employers.
In January 2023, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its much awaited consultation on its Draft Guidance on Horizontal Agreements. The CMA clearly indicated that it proposes to take advantage of its post-Brexit freedom and to depart from the position on this issue taken by the European Commission as set out in its Draft Guidance on Horizontal Agreements, and to take a more radical and permissive approach to the role competition law has to play in supporting environmental sustainability initiatives.
ESG issues are playing an ever-increasing role in businesses and have an impact right across the employment, retirement benefits, tax, executive compensation and share incentives space. This trend of growing focus is expected to continue into 2023 and beyond. As such, when designing and reviewing compensation and benefit packages, it is increasingly important for companies to do so with its ESG strategy in mind.
The UAE Agency Law which has been in place since 1981 has been repealed and replaced by a new law, Federal Law No. 3 of 2022 Regulating Commercial Agencies which comes into force on 16 June 2023. The new law still provides protection for agents against the termination of the agency contract, which goes beyond the terms of the contract. However, this protection has been reduced and now provides greater balance between principals and agents. The de facto exclusivity which agents had under the old law continues under the new law.
Procurement of green energy and associated certificates is at the top of the agenda for many industrials, who are particularly impacted by soaring energy costs and required to meet ambitious ESG and decarbonization goals. As a result, industrial organizations are seeking to obtain all or most of their power from renewable sources.
This article discusses the Czech Republic government adopts a long-awaited amendment changing rules for energy price caps applicable to large enterprises.
This article discusses issues such as falling share prices in response to labor disputes, “living wage” resolutions at AGMs, stakeholder concerns over working conditions in supply chains, and workers speaking up about their employer’s culture and ethics, which potentially engage the EU’s new sustainability reporting duty.
In a first-of-its-kind case to focus on trademark infringement and dilution in the virtual world, a nine-person jury in Manhattan, New York has sided with the French fashion house, Hermès International S.A (“Hermes”) in its legal battle against Sonny Estival aka Mason Rothschild (“Rothschild”), the creator of the “MetaBirken” Non-Fungible tokens (“NFTs”).