Agency

Agency

Nature and types of agency

Agency is an arrangement under which a principal appoints an agent to act at its direction for specified purposes. In business, agents are commonly appointed for the purposes of introducing and concluding agreements with new customers, marketing or customer support. Agency law thus deals with the relationships between:

•
principal and agent
•
agent and third party
•
principal and third party

In many cases, an agent in business will be a commercial agent within the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993, SI 1993/3053 (the Commercial Agents Regulations) (see below for further information). Where the Commercial Agents Regulations apply, they impose various terms on the relationship between principal and commercial agent, many of which the parties may not exclude by contract.

An agency is normally express, ie the parties agree that their relationship is that of principal and agent. It may also be implied by conduct or representative agreements.

Agency as a term is sometimes applied to arrangements, such as distributorships, that are not, in law, agencies. However, these non-fiduciary, contractual arrangements are different in law to an agency and the relationship gives rise

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest Commercial News

CMA analyses consumer impacts of agentic AI and issues compliance guidance for businesses

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published analysis on the emergence of agentic AI and its potential to shift consumer interactions from using AI as reactive tools to delegating outcomes to autonomous systems that can ‘sense, decide and act.’ It highlights that agentic AI could deliver substantial consumer benefits by reducing friction, lowering cognitive load, and enabling hyper personalisation, proactive support and improved access to tailored deals across complex markets. The CMA notes that, if reliably deployed at scale with strong transparency and accountability, agentic AI could strengthen consumer engagement and unlock new opportunities for UK businesses to develop agentic apps and services. However, the CMA stresses that autonomy raises material risks, including manipulation through dark patterns, errors and reliability issues, bias, loss of consumer agency, risks of agentic collusion in pricing and lock in where closed ecosystems restrict switching and data mobility. It also notes that agentic systems rely on sensitive personal data and delegated authority, increasing the need for secure digital identity, interoperability standards and privacy by design.

DBT publishes response to consultation on reforms to Provision of Services Regulations 2009

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published its response to its September 2023 consultation on reforming the Provision of Services Regulations 2009, SI 2009/2999, confirming that it will take forward a limited package of targeted amendments rather than the broader reforms originally proposed.

Commercial weekly highlights—5 March 2026

This week's edition of Commercial weekly highlights includes: a Privy Council judgment in Anheuser-Busch International Inc v Commonwealth Brewery Ltd concerning the reasonableness of the notice period for terminating a distribution agreement, news that the Committee of Advertising Practice has issued an enforcement notice requiring clear and prominent disclosure of loot boxes in certain mobile game app store listings and a news analysis on the European Union‘s Sustainability Omnibus Directive published on 26 February 2026.

Commission publishes Safety Gate report highlighting surge in enforcement action

The European Commission has published its annual report on the Safety Gate Rapid Alert System, recording 4,671 alerts for dangerous non-food products in 2025, a 13% increase on 2024 and the highest annual figure since the system’s launch in 2003. National authorities also notified 5,794 follow-up actions, up 35% year on year, reflecting strengthened cooperation under Regulation (EU) 2023/988 (General Product Safety Regulation). Cosmetics (36%), toys (16%) and electrical appliances (11%) were the most frequently flagged product categories, while dangerous chemicals remained the leading risk, accounting for 53% of alerts, followed by injuries (14%) and choking (9%). Most cosmetics notifications concerned Butylphenyl Methylpropional (BMCHA), a banned synthetic fragrance linked to reproductive harm and skin irritation, and authorities also reported nail polish containing Trimethylbenzoyl Diphenylphosphine Oxide (TPO), banned in 2025 due to risks to prenatal health. Enforcement measures included market withdrawals, border suspensions, removal of online listings and product recalls and in 2025 the Commission’s eSurveillance Webcrawler scanned more than 1.6 million websites, identifying over 20,800 non-compliant products. The Commission states that it will conduct a coordinated product safety ‘sweep’ in 2026 and bring forward further reforms to EU market surveillance rules through a forthcoming European Product Act.