11th-hour reforms to the proposed foreign influence policy will be met with relief by businesses, NGOs and charities as Government makes significant changes. Some concerns remain, and many businesses will still require compliance policies to be put in place for benefits which many will remain sceptical about, but the scope of these will be limited … Read more

Concerns grow that foreign influence policy is misdirected, bureaucratic and risks deterring benign engagement and investment The UK’s proposed Foreign Influence Registration Scheme is part of a wider package of measures to revamp domestic espionage laws, in this instance via new obligations for a wide range of businesses, across all sectors, and others with international … Read more

The post below was first published on our Corporate notes blog: The Government has today laid the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (ECCT Bill) in Parliament which contains, among other things, draft amendments to the Companies Act 2006 to facilitate the reform of Companies House. The ECCT Bill follows an initial consultation in 2019, three follow-up consultations in … Read more

The post below was first published on our Corporate notes blog: — The Government has also laid the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill in Parliament today. In order to avoid leaving gaps in the UK legal system when the UK withdrew from the EU, the body of EU law in force at the end of 2020 was … Read more

The post below was first published on our Corporate blog The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has published the response to its March 2021 consultation on audit and corporate governance reform, Restoring trust in audit and corporate governance (for further details, see our corporate update from March 2021). Most of the proposals contained … Read more

The post below was first published on our Corporate blog. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published a discussion paper (DP22/2) in which it is seeking further views on the structure of the UK listing regime. In March 2021 the Government published the outcome of the Review of the UK listing regime undertaken by Lord … Read more

The post below was first published on our FSR and Corporate Crime blog. The FCA has published Consultation Paper 21/28: New cancellation and variation power: Changes to the Handbook and Enforcement Guide (CP21/28). The proposals in CP21/28 relate to and provide guidance on the new power which the regulator was given under the Financial Services … Read more

The post below was first published on our FSR and Corporate Crime blog. The Critical Benchmarks (References and Administrators’ Liability) Bill (Bill) was introduced to the UK Parliament and the first reading took place on 8 September 2021. The Bill introduces a legal ‘safe harbour’ within the primary legislative framework for the UK’s LIBOR legislative solution, the Financial … Read more