The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), in partnership with HM Treasury, the Department for Business and Trade, the Department for Transport, HM Revenue & Customs, and the National Crime Agency, has published a policy paper outlining a cross-governmental review of the UK's sanctions implementation and enforcement. Initiated by the Minister for Europe in October 2024, the review aims to strengthen the enforcement model by focusing on compliance, deterrence, and enforcement powers, informed by external expert input. For the financial year 2025 to 2026, the government has committed to implementing several of the review’s recommendations. These include establishing a single sanctions list, publishing a government-wide sanctions enforcement strategy and consulting on an early civil settlement scheme for financial sanctions breaches and an accelerated civil penalty process. Longer-term plans involve enhancing intelligence sharing and supporting civil enforcement in overseas territories.

An agreement entered into by the shareholders of a company, under which each shareholder grants to the other shareholders put and call options over their shares which are exercisable on death (ie under the call option, the remaining shareholders have the right (but not the obligation) to purchase the deceased shareholder's shares from its personal representatives; and under the put option, the deceased shareholder's personal representatives have the right (but not the obligation) to require the remaining shareholders to purchase the deceased shareholder's shares). Each shareholder takes out a term assurance policy under which any amount which becomes payable is held on trust by the continuing shareholders to pay for the deceased's shares. Such a policy should be entered into by each shareholder and written under trust, with their fellow shareholders as beneficiaries.

Cross-Receipt [insert number of shares] Shares [COMPANY NAME] Common Stock (Par Value $[insert amount] Per Share) Pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement dated [date] (the Underwriting Agreement) among [name of party], a [insert nature of company] (the Company), and [insert name of

The phenomenon whereby electronic communications signals on one circuit can leak across to another, potentially degrading the performance on the affected circuit.

TMT analysis: Andrew Moir, Cameron Whittfield, Peter Dalton, Antonia Pegden, Greig Anderson, Anne Hoffman, Miriam Everett, and Christine Wong, partners at Herbert Smith Freehills, consider the priority steps to take for businesses that were impacted by the CrowdStrike incident.

CASE HUB ARCHIVED–this archived case hub reflects the position at the date of the cancellation of the investigation on 25 March 2021 after the abandonment of the transaction; it is no longer maintained. See further, timeline. Case facts Outline UK merger investigation into the anticipated acquisition by Crowdcube Limited of Seedrs Limited.. The parties overlap in the supply of crowdfunding platforms to small and medium sized enterprise (SMEs) Latest developments On 25 March 2021, the CMA formally cancelled its phase 2 investigation following the parties’ decision to abandon the merger. Parties • Crowdcube Limited (Crowdcbue): Crowdcube provides investment services. It offers financial assistance, analysis, and advice through investors, corporations, and consultants to startup companies and growing companies.• Seedrs Limited (Seedrs). Seedrs operates as an investment company. It offers seed capital to startups, as well as advisory and support services from its cloud network. Seedrs serves customers in the UK. Background On 5 October 2020, the parties announced that they had entered into an agreement for Crowdcube to acquire all of the outstanding share capital of Seedrs,

Local Government analysis: A Court of Appeal judgment dealing with a homelessness application arising from overcrowded housing conditions in a House in Multiple Occupation (HMO). The judgment tackles a number of points in housing and homelessness law but principally seeks to address the correct benchmark for statutory overcrowding in HMOs, and then the interrelation which arises between the concepts of suitability and reasonableness to occupy for purposes of statutory homelessness. The appeal was dismissed: the approach the council had taken to the appellant’s HMO overcrowding was upheld and the appellant’s assertion that the respondent had wrongly failed to take into account factors in relation to suitability, when considering whether it was reasonable to continue to occupy, also failed. Written by Kevin Long, solicitor at Hackney Community Law Centre.

Personal Injury analysis: The death of Greek cyclist, Akis Kollaros, under a lorry in London has prompted a large social media and crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for the family of the deceased. Grant Incles, senior associate at Stewarts Law LLP, looks at the possible implications for personal injury damages where community efforts are able to crowdfund significant amounts to help ease the burden of injury costs. Specific characteristics of the UK cycling community, and significant shortcomings in UK road design, suggest these crowdfunding innovations may become a more regular occurrence.

What does the rule say? The rule in Crowe v Appleby applies where a trust owns an indivisible share of land (or other asset) and beneficiaries of the trust become absolutely entitled at different times. There is no deemed disposal for capital gains tax (CGT) until the last beneficiary becomes absolutely entitled to their share. However, Crowe v Appleby only applies for CGT purposes so for inheritance tax (IHT) there will be an exit from the trust and an exit charge will need to be calculated. See Practice Note: Relevant property trusts—the exit charge In respect of income tax, any income from a share in the property will be taxable on the beneficiary and not the trustees once the beneficiary meets the contingency and becomes absolutely entitled . It should be noted the rule only applies where a contingency is met and not simply where assets are appointed to a beneficiary. This is different from the normal rule that would cause the trustees to make a deemed disposal for CGT purposes when each beneficiary attained

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has outlined what SME suppliers need to know about the government’s modern slavery policy, and compliance with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) and Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 009.

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has published its latest Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) results covering the period from January 2018 to February 2025. The update provides detailed case investigations and resolutions in both Excel and CSV formats.

The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the United Kingdom, but the UK government is internationally responsible for their external affairs and they are known as Crown Dependencies. The Islands are also not colonies, but form part of the British Islands (being the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands). In respect of the Channel Islands, the Crown acts through Her Majesty's Privy Council, on the recommendation of ministers of the United Kingdom government in their capacity as Privy Councillors. In respect of the Isle of Man, the Crown acts through Her Majesty's Privy Council, on the recommendation of ministers of the United Kingdom government in their capacity as Privy Councillors.