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
The US executive order halts new and existing foreign bribery investigations — but enforcement risk in the UK and Europe remains.
By Pamela Reddy, Nathan Seltzer, Clare Nida, Annie Birch, and Matthew Unsworth
On 10 February 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Pausing Foreign Corrupt Practices Act Enforcement to Further American Economic and National Security” (the Order). Among other things, the Order pauses new prosecutions under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) at the
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
A recent statutory instrument aims to remove legal uncertainty surrounding crypto staking and ease blockchain operations.
By Stuart Davis, Gabriel Lakeman, and Emma Trankeenan
On 9 January 2025, the UK Government published the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Collective Investment Schemes) (Amendment) Order 2025 (SI 2025/17) (the Staking SI) and the accompanying explanatory memorandum (the Explanatory Memorandum).
The Staking SI together with the Explanatory Memorandum confirm that arrangements where a firm provides services to stake cryptoassets on
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 Moulton, James 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).
Guidance clarifies the implementation date, scope, and application of landmark new corporate offence, and provides suggestions for fraud-prevention procedures.
By Pamela Reddy, Clare Nida, Annie Birch, and Matthew Unsworth
On 6 November 2024, the UK Home Office published long-awaited statutory guidance on the new corporate offence of “failure to prevent fraud” (the Guidance).1 The failure to prevent fraud offence will come into force on 1 September 2025, after having been introduced last year by the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA). It follows similar corporate “failure to prevent” offences in relation to bribery (under the Bribery Act 2010 (BA)) and the facilitation of tax evasion (under the Criminal Finances Act 2017 (CFA)). The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has been calling for the introduction of a similar offence, specifically in relation to failure to prevent economic crime, for a number of years.
The offence is expected to make it easier for prosecutors to hold organisations accountable for fraud committed for their benefit and, as with the BA, is expected to drive a “major shift in corporate culture”. Along with the changes to the identification principle for corporate criminal liability introduced by ECCTA, it is anticipated that the number of successful corporate prosecutions will increase. The Guidance helpfully clarifies the scope and application of the new offence, as well as giving advice on what will constitute reasonable fraud-prevention procedures — and we set out our key takeaways below.
The new financing initiative aims to enhance collaboration amongst export credit agency and development finance institutions to support financing for critical mineral projects.
By Tom Bartlett, JP Sweny, Alexander Buckeridge-Hocking, and Samuel Burleton
The Minerals Security Partnership Finance Network (MSPFN), a joint financing body, was announced by the United States, the European Commission, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia, and nine other nations on 23 September 2024 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The