The outcome of the June 2016 UK referendum on EU membership ushered in a period of increasing political turmoil in the UK. When I wrote an introduction to the first edition of this legal guide my colleagues and I had a clear view that leaving the EU would take far longer and be far more complex than most other commentators were saying, but I did not anticipate then that over three years later we would have so little clarity on the UK and EU’s long term relationship with each other. Nor that polarisation of views on all sides would have increased still further, leading to political deadlock. This updated Brexit Legal Guide addresses the legal position if the UK leaves the EU with or without a deal and picks out the key pieces of legislation that will soon be in force if the UK leaves the EU without a deal. I hope you will find it useful. Read more
The FCA, Bank of England (“BoE”) and PRA yesterday announced measures to extend certain UK-specific Brexit transitional relief provisions for a further six months until 31 December 2020, in line with the extension of Exit Day until 31 October. This is generally in line with industry expectations and does not signal any material changes to … Read more
The increasing threat that new market entrants might use technology to win a share of the insurance market has been forcing established insurers to assess the ways in which they might maintain their competitive advantage. These assessments can be difficult and have far-reaching consequences, with some insurers selling businesses to allow their systems to be … Read more
The UK’s data protection authority, the ICO, has announced twice in two days this week that it proposes to levy significant fines on organisations for breaches of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which took effect in May 2018. First it announced that it intends to fine British Airways some £183 million for a data … Read more
Last Friday, the Hong Kong Insurance Authority published its Guideline on Cybersecurity (GL 20) for authorised insurers. GL 20 will take effect on 1 January 2020. Cybersecurity is a global regulatory focus and a top priority area for the Insurance Authority, given the growing exposure to cyber risk as a result of increased digital connectivity. … Read more
New technologies, such as artificial intelligence (“AI”) and distributed ledger technology (“DLT”), continue to have a significant impact on the way in which firms, customers and regulators interact. Firms introducing innovative business models whose products or services fall under the jurisdiction of different sectoral regulators can find themselves having to address competing regulatory expectations. As … Read more
The FCA’s thematic review of with-profits business has found “signs” that a small number of firms are in breach of its rules. Despite this, the FCA is not taking enforcement action against any of those firms. This is presumably because it has determined that, “in most cases” at least, there is no evidence of customer … Read more
The post below was first published on our Litigation blog. As we have previously noted, there is some uncertainty over whether, following a “no-deal” Brexit, EU27 countries will apply the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements where an exclusive English jurisdiction clause was agreed before exit day. This is sometimes referred to as … Read more
