The View from Brussels: The EU embraces Industrial Policy

01 December, 2023
In the past industrial policy was a matter for the EU Member States.  Indeed Article 6, of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”) lists industrial policy as an area where the Union may only “support, coordinate or supplement the actions of the Member States” in the same way as for health … Read more

It’s a wrap! All #FDI Friday episodes now available

01 December, 2023
Over the last two months our #FDIFriday podcast series has brought together experts from our Global Foreign Investment Regulation Group to discuss the rapidly-evolving foreign direct investment (FDI) regulatory landscape in accessible, digestible episodes to help clients and our wider network keep abreast of the latest developments in this pertinent area of international investment. The … Read more

CMA issues guidance permitting drugs companies to work together on Combination Therapies

23 November, 2023
On 17 November 2023, the CMA issued a Prioritisation Statement (the Statement) indicating that it would not prioritise investigations under Chapter I of the Competition Act 1998 (the CA 98) of exchanges of competitively sensitive information (CSI) and/or agreements between medicine manufacturers which have the aim of making a combination therapy (a Combination Therapy) available … Read more

Revised litigation funding agreement approved for opt-out competition claim: fee based on multiple of funding was not a DBA

23 November, 2023
The post below was first published yesterday on our Litigation blog. The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has found that a litigation funding agreement that was revised to take account of the Supreme Court’s decision in Paccar (considered in our previous blog post) was not a damages-based agreement (DBA). It was therefore enforceable in the context of an … Read more

UK Government considering pro-business amendments to investment screening rules

14 November, 2023
On 13 November 2023 the UK Government issued an interesting Call for Evidence on the scope and implementation of the UK’s National Security and Investment (NSI) regime, which governs screening of transactions on national security grounds for both foreign and UK investors. This is a very welcome review: since entering into force just under two … Read more

Our new arrival: the Procurement Act is born

13 November, 2023
Almost 18 months after it was laid before Parliament in May last year, the Procurement Bill finally received Royal Assent on 26 October and thereby became the Procurement Act 2023 (“the Act“).  The Act is expected to enter into force in October 2024 and will replace the existing regulations governing the award of contracts and … Read more