The European Commission has announced that it has started implementing its Brexit “no deal” Contingency Action Plan given the continuing uncertainty regarding ratification of the Withdrawal Agreement in the UK. This follows the Commission’s communication of 13 November 2018 which provided details of the types of contingency measures that it intended to take in a variety of areas, as well as the 78 preparedness notices from Commission departments on how Brexit will change law and policy. Continue reading
Tag: Brexit
Brexit Final Political Declaration: Nothing [new] to see here?
On financial services, the final political declaration contains essentially the same three points as in last week’s outline political declaration (the implications of which were discussed in our blog post of 15 November, available here), although there is some limited further clarification. The three points on financial services are copied below with new substantive additions underlined: Continue reading
Brexit Outline Political Declaration: Initial indicators for the financial services industry
Yesterday’s announcements on the terms agreed for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU say relatively little about the future framework for cross-border trade in goods or services. More detail is expected on this next week.
The draft withdrawal agreement provides that a transition period will continue until 31 December 2020. Although this was provisionally agreed in March 2018, yesterday’s statements make this a more likely reality. Continue reading
HM Treasury and Financial Regulators’ updates on Brexit preparation
Almost a year after it was introduced, a key piece of UK domestic Brexit legislation has now been passed. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EUWA), which aims to provide a functioning statute book on the day the UK leaves the EU, completed its difficult passage through the UK Parliament and passed into law on 26 June 2018. Please refer to our briefing, “The UK’s new legal order post-Brexit: A new class of UK law” for a summary of the EUWA.
Following the passing of the EUWA, HM Treasury, the Bank of England, FCA and the Payment Services Regulator (PSR) have each published statements on their approaches to their role in preparing for Brexit, a summary of which is set out here.
Foreign & Commonwealth Office publishes guidance on sanctions licensing policy after Brexit
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office has published guidance detailing the UK Government’s intended approach to sanctions exceptions and licences after Brexit. Sanctions exceptions and licences are mechanisms through which restrictive measures imposed by sanctions may be relaxed in specific circumstances. The guidance comes as the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill (the “Bill“) reaches the final stages of the legislative process. The Bill has passed through both the House of Lords and the House of Commons, and is currently in the “ping pong” stage. Continue reading
UK Government’s future Partnership Paper on Foreign policy, defence and development: including proposals for co-operation on sanctions, cyber security, and the defence and security industries
The UK Government has released a Paper outlining the UK’s proposals for a future partnership with the EU regarding foreign policy, defence and development. The Paper highlights the UK’s shared interests and values with the EU regarding foreign policy and defence, and the UK Government’s offer and intention to work closely with the EU in the future in a partnership “unprecedented in its breadth”, and that is deeper than any other third country relationship. The Paper offers a number of insights into the practical ways in which the UK envisages that such cooperation will be achieved after Brexit, including in relation to sanctions, cyber security, defence and security, development and broader foreign policy. Continue reading
UK GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES RESPONSE ON THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR SANCTIONS POST-BREXIT
On 2 August 2017, the UK Government published its response to the public consultation on the UK’s future legal framework for imposing and implementing sanctions after the UK’s exit from the European Union (see our previous blog post).
The response sets out detailed answers to questions raised during the consultation, outlining the proposed powers for the imposition of financial and trade restrictions and the designation of individuals, as well as the proposed procedures under which such powers will be exercised. The Queen’s Speech on 21 June 2017 confirmed the Government’s intention to introduce a Sanctions Bill during the current Parliamentary session (2017-2019), with further guidance promised on certain issues in due course.
Managing risk: a disputes perspective (2017)
Herbert Smith Freehills recently held its annual disputes client conference exploring some key legal and compliance risks facing major corporates. Following opening remarks by Mark Shillito, head of dispute resolution for the UK and US, there were presentations on cyber security, Brexit, insurance, class actions, decision analysis, privilege and internal investigations.
A summary of the conference from our Litigation team is below – if reading the full version of this post, you can jump down to read more detail on any of the sessions by clicking on the relevant heading.
The UK Government announces consultation on sanctions post-Brexit
The two year process of the UK's exit from the EU formally began on 29 March 2017 with notice being given under Article 50 of the Treaty on the European Union of the UK's intention to leave the EU. One of the many legal issues to be determined will be the way in which the UK approaches its international sanctions framework post-Brexit, since the vast majority of the sanctions currently in force in the UK have directly applicable EU Regulations as their basis.
The Government has recently launched a public consultation into the question of the legal powers needed to impose sanctions after Brexit, while a House of Lords enquiry into UK sanctions policy is also underway. What do these two processes tell us about the UK's future sanctions regime?