A landmark judgment from the Court of Appeal has clarified when representative proceedings may be issued on a bifurcated basis and the application of the regime to securities claims.

By Oliver Middleton and Duncan Graves

The English Court of Appeal has confirmed the strike out of a bifurcated representative action under CPR 19.8 for claims under Section 90A FSMA,1 a statutory regime that has formed the basis of a large number of group actions in recent years. Section 90A

SMRs are attracting growing attention from governments, investors, and financiers as a means to power the energy transition, offering the promise of shorter construction times, scalability, and reduced financial risk compared to traditional nuclear reactors.

By Tom Bartlett, Beatrice Lo, JP Sweny, Simon Tysoe, Sam Burleton, and Tom Glynne-Jones

Nuclear power is attracting growing interest in the energy and investment sectors, driven by the rising global demand for low-carbon energy and the growth of artificial

The FCA is approaching its design of the world’s first regulated private/public crossover market with a “private plus” rather than a “public minus” mindset.

By Mark Austin, Rob MoultonJames Inness, Anna Ngo, Frederick Gardner, and Johannes Poon

On 17 December 2024, the FCA launched a consultation on its proposed regulatory framework for the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) (CP24/29). This consultation follows the publication of HM Treasury’s draft statutory

The NPV aims to promote growth and international competitiveness by advancing open banking, re-evaluating the approach to regulating the sector, and continuing the fight against fraud.

By Brett Carr, Christian F. McDermott, and Stuart Davis

On 14 November 2024, the UK government published the National Payments Vision (NPV or Vision), which represents the government’s view on how to support the growth and competitiveness of the UK’s payments sector and outlines its key objectives. The central mission of the

The world’s first regulated private/public crossover market is significantly redesigned as a friction-free “private up” rather than “public down” market with rethought approach to disclosure and market abuse.

By Mark Austin, Chris Horton, James Inness, Anna Ngo, Frederick Gardner, and Johannes Poon

On 14 November 2024, the UK government published its response to the March 2024 consultation on the UK’s proposed new regulated private/public crossover market, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES).

Recent reforms in the UK market have led to less prescriptive executive remuneration principles that encourage companies to tailor structures to their business, strategy, and performance while consulting with shareholders.

By Mark Austin, Kendall Burnett, Sarah Gadd, James Inness, Anna Ngo, and Johannes Poon

On 8 October 2024, the Investment Association (IA) updated its Principles of Remuneration (and supporting guidance) (the IA Principles), which predominantly apply to UK-listed companies. UK proxy advisors refer to the

The UK’s consultation on deregulating commercial agents could have knock-on impacts on payment services and create regulatory divergence from the EU.

By Christian McDermott, Brett Carr, and Grace Erskine

On 16 May 2024, the UK government launched a consultation into the deregulation of the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993 (the Commercial Agents Regulations). The Commercial Agents Regulations implemented Council Directive 86/653/EEC (the Commercial Agents Directive) and defined certain pro-agent terms of engagement between businesses and their self-employed commercial agents who are authorised to negotiate the sale or purchase of goods on their behalf.

The stated purpose of the consultation is to ensure that the Commercial Agents Regulations serve the needs of UK businesses post-Brexit, and to remove the legal complexities resulting from the interaction of the Commercial Agents Regulations with the English legal system’s rules on agency and contract law. The UK government’s current proposal is for existing contracts under the Commercial Agents Regulations to remain in force until termination or expiry, and to prevent new contracts from being subject to the Commercial Agents Regulations.

In addition to affecting relationships between UK agents and their principals, the proposals could also have knock-on effects for the payments sector, which we explore in this post.

UK Chancellor launches consultation on the proposed Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES) as part of the Spring Budget.

By Mark Austin, Rob Moulton, Anna Ngo, Frederick Gardner, Charlotte Collins, and Johannes Poon

On 6 March 2024, HM Treasury published a consultation paper seeking industry feedback on the UK’s proposed new regulated crossover market, the Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System (PISCES). PISCES would allow private companies to trade their securities in

The consultation paper confirms a radical approach to bolster the international competitiveness of the UK markets and return to a disclosure-based listing framework.

By Mark Austin, Chris Horton, James Inness, Anna Ngo, and Johannes Poon

The FCA today published consultation paper CP23/31 setting out detailed draft rules for the new UK listing regime. The publication represents the final stage of the journey to reshape the UK Listing Rules which started with the launch of Lord Hill’s UK Listings Review in 2020. Most of the key changes reflect proposals in the FCA’s preceding consultation paper CP23/10 published in May 2023 (see this Latham Client Alert for further details).