Whilst not a sea of difference apart, the two regimes present notable distinctions for companies operating on both sides of the Channel to navigate. By David Little and Alexandra Luchian Upon its expiry on 31 May 2022, the 2010 Vertical Block Exemption Regulation was replaced by the 2022 Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) in the … Continue Reading
The directives aim to assist claimants in proving the causation of damages and product defectiveness in complex AI systems, creating legal certainty for providers. By Deborah J. Kirk, Thomas Vogel, Grace E. Erskine, Ben Leigh, Alex Park, and Amy Smyth On 28 September 2022, the European Commission issued two proposed directives to reform and clarify … Continue Reading
A new regulation to control foreign subsidies could entail more complex, costly, and time-consuming deal clearances. By Carles Esteva Mosso, Tom D. Evans, Elisabetta Righini, David J. Walker, Gillian Bourke, Natália Solárová, Werner Berg, France-Helene Boret, and Catherine Campbell European M&A is set to become more complex after the entry into force of the Foreign … Continue Reading
The European Commission continues to explore how competition policy can support the bloc’s increased focus on sustainability and progression towards climate neutrality by 2050. By David Little and Anuj Ghai On 10 September 2021, Inge Bernaerts, Director of DG Competition, delivered a keynote speech at the 25th IBA Competition Conference on behalf of Executive Vice-President … Continue Reading
The long-awaited update to the e-Commerce Directive proposes new obligations for online platforms and changes to the ‘safe harbours’ from liability for infringing content. By Jean-Luc Juhan, Deborah J. Kirk, Elisabetta Righini, Thies Deike, Grace E. Erskine, Alain Traill, and Amy Smyth On 15 December 2020, the European Commission released a set of long-awaited proposals … Continue Reading
The CMA’s efforts to make dynamic, forward-looking assessments of parties’ overlaps will only increase post-Brexit. By John Colahan, Tom Evans, David Little, Jonathan Parker, David Walker, Greg Bonné, Anuj Ghai, and Catherine Campbell Dealmakers must be alert to the increasingly interventionist approach of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), including on transactions with a limited nexus … Continue Reading
Sponsors should consider leveraging technologies and diligence practices to tackle today’s increasingly complex supply chains. By Paul Davies, Tom Evans, David Walker, Michael Green, Hannah Berdal, and Catherine Campbell Global supply chains have come under significant pressure in recent years, compounded by the effects of this year’s pandemic and shifting global policy agendas. In our … Continue Reading
The initiative includes a competition law sustainability “sandbox” in which market participants could team up to work on sustainable business projects. By David Little and Pierre Bichet The Greek Competition Authority (HCC) has announced a public consultation on how competition law rules might be adapted to promote more sustainable business practices. The HCC published a … Continue Reading
The regulation is part of the EU Digital Single Market strategy to harmonise digital rights. By Deborah J. Kirk, Elva Cullen, and Grace E. Erskine From 12 July 2020, the EU’s Platform-to-Business Regulation 2019/1150 (P2B Regulation) promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services applies. The P2B Regulation, which entered into force … Continue Reading
European Commission proposes one-year postponement in light of the COVID-19 crisis. By Frances Stocks Allen and Oliver Mobasser On 25 March 2020, the European Commission announced that it was working on a proposal to postpone the date of application for the new EU Medical Devices Regulation (MDR)[i] for one year, in light of the COVID-19 … Continue Reading
Companies must mitigate risks to antitrust privilege posed by cross-border megadeals and increased regulatory demand for documentation. Richard Butterwick, John Colahan, Martin Davies, Jonathan Parker, Oliver Middleton, Gregory Bonné, and Catherine Campbell A strong M&A market has driven a high volume of megadeals across the globe in recent years, with acquirers turning to ambitious transactions. Antitrust issues frequently arise … Continue Reading
10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 By David Berman, Carl Fernandes Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton, and Charlotte Collins The fourth post in this 10-blog series considers the latest developments in relation to the Market Abuse regime. This is taken from our wider publication: 10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 – Progress Report. … Continue Reading
10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for UK/European Wholesale Markets in 2019 By David Berman, Carl Fernandes Nicola Higgs, Rob Moulton, and Charlotte Collins This blog post explores developments relating to the EU Benchmarks Regulation and the transition away from LIBOR. This is the third blog of this series, which has been taken from our wider publication: 10 Key Regulatory Focus Areas for … Continue Reading
Latham lawyers explain the impact of a no-deal Brexit scenario and how it will impact life sciences companies operating in the UK By Frances Stocks Allen, Hector Armengod, Christoph Engeler, and Robbie McLaren There are now fewer than three months to go until the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union on March 29, 2019. … Continue Reading
Landmark ruling requires the European Commission to disclose impact assessments used as a basis for its legislative decision-making process. By Antonio Morales and Rosa Espín The Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union recently issued a landmark judgment finding that impact assessments should be considered public documents. This decision sets a … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies, Michael Green and Ei Nge Htut On 26 June 2017, the European Commission (the EC) published non-binding guidelines on the methodology for reporting non-financial information by certain large companies and groups (the Guidelines) as required by Article 2 of the Directive 2014/95/EU amending the Accounting Directive on the disclosure of non-financial and diversity … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green On 16 June 2017, the Member State Committee (MSC) of the ECHA unanimously agreed to identify BPA as a substance of very high concern (SVHC) under the REACH regime. BPA is common in a variety of household products, typically used in the manufacture of plastics and resins found in … Continue Reading
By Jörn Kassow and Eun-Kyung Lee On June 9, 2017, the European Commission (EC) published its Action Plan to Streamline Environmental Reporting (COM(2017) 312), summarising the findings of its review of reporting requirements following the 2015 ‘Better Regulation Initiative.’ As part of this 2015 Initiative, the EC carried out a fitness check focused on assessing environmental … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies, Elisabetta Righini and Rosa Espin On 28 April 2017, the European Commission (the EC) published a “roadmap” on the strategic approach to pharmaceuticals in the environment, particularly in the aquatic environment. Concurrently, the EC launched a 12-week open public consultation to address the environmental pollution caused by human and veterinarian pharmaceutical substances. … Continue Reading
By Paul Davies and Michael Green The European Commission has recently published plans to integrate sustainability considerations into decisions made by investors within the EU. More specifically, the EU is looking to spell out in legislation, that the consideration of ESG issues should be incorporated into the fiduciary duties of EU asset managers. The main … Continue Reading
By Rosa Espín and Leticia Sitges The Spanish government recently passed a draft bill for the “ rationalization and organization of the supervising regulatory bodies of the markets and the improvement of its governance” (the Draft Bill). The bill aims to reorganize antitrust regulation, and to improve supervision and regulation in the economic and financial domains, … Continue Reading
By Jörn Kassow and Patrick Braasch Emissions from approximately 2,900 large combustion plants in the EU, including coal-fired power stations as well as peat, oil and gas power plants, are now likely to be subject to stricter environmental performance standards. These updated standards (“Best Available Techniques Conclusions for Large Combustion Plants” – BREF LCP), based on … Continue Reading
By Antonio Morales and Leticia Sitges Last month, the European Commission presented a package of measures, known as “the Winter Package”, to strengthen the EU’s competitiveness in adopting and leading the clean energy transition. In addition to promoting energy efficiency, the clean energy transition will continue to offer a wide range of investment opportunities. During 2015, … Continue Reading
By Karl Mah and Sean Finn Tax has, in recent months, become a frontpage issue with reaction to businesses not “paying their fair share” sitting alongside pressure on government finances and an uncertain political environment. In our view, the cumulative effect of tax developments in the UK and beyond will impact private equity on multiple … Continue Reading
