Many family businesses start out with quite an informal governing structure in place; the family members have an understanding of their roles and relationships with each other, and decisions are made quickly at the kitchen table. The nature of many family businesses is that they are informal and flexible, and their objectives are often driven by doing the best for the family according to the family's values, rather than purely for the profit of the owners. However, as the business grows and more members of the family and other employees start working with them, it becomes more and more difficult to manage the business in this way. The pros and cons of formalising the family business are considered in Practice Note: Family businesses. This checklist sets out a list of questions that an adviser can put to the family (or that the family can consider themselves) to assist with setting up a structure for the family business. These questions will also help determine the matters to be covered in the family charter (if any) and, if the vehicle to

Guarantees are typically used in banking transactions as a form of collateral for a debt. For information on the characteristics of guarantees, see Practice Note: Guarantees. This Practice Note examines: • contractual formalities involved in creating a guarantee • other formalities which are specific to the granting of guarantees, and • whether there are any formalities for indemnities that need to be considered (since guarantee documentation typically includes an indemnity provision) This Practice Note does not deal with: • guarantees from individuals (see Practice Note: Key issues in taking a guarantee from an individual in a commercial financing context), or • on demand guarantees (see Practice Note: On demand guarantees and bonds) A guarantee is a contractual arrangement Like any contractual arrangement, the following are required to create an effective guarantee: • offer and acceptance, with the intention to create legal relations, and • sufficient certainty of terms Contract formation Guarantees are contractual arrangements so the requirements for creating contracts in general apply to them: • there must be an offer and acceptance—for

This Practice Note sets out the definition of a maintenance agreement made between spouses or civil partners, which can include both a separation agreement and an agreement that does not include provision for separation, made either during the continuance of a marriage or civil partnership or following divorce or dissolution. It also provides guidance on the formalities and contractual issues to be considered when taking instructions on drafting or advising in relation to such an agreement together with special considerations regarding child maintenance. Spouses and civil partners may enter into an agreement dealing with maintenance, the distribution of property and financial arrangements for any children of the family. It should be noted that any agreement reached between the parties is always subject to the overriding jurisdiction of the court, and any provision purporting to restrict the right to apply to a court for an order containing financial arrangements will be void. An agreement between the parties cannot therefore oust the jurisdiction of the family courts, although regard should be had to the potential for decisive weight to

This Practice Note looks at the different ways in which an employment tribunal hearing may be conducted, eg whether the hearing is in-person, a fully remote or partly remote (often referred to as a hybrid hearing). It covers the Presidential Guidance on remote and in-person hearings and the Employment Tribunal Presidents’ Road Map. It looks at the default position for different types of hearing, when and how a decision about the format of the hearing is taken and the relevant factors to be taken into account. Rule 46 of the Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 (the ET Rules 2024) provides that: ‘A hearing may be conducted, in whole or in part, by use of electronic communication (including by telephone) provided that the Tribunal considers that it would be just and equitable to do so and provided that those attending the hearing are able to hear what the Tribunal hears and, so far as is practicable, see any witness as seen by the Tribunal’. Historically, employment tribunals heard almost all hearings in-person at

Formation agreements are contracts that relate to the formation of companies by the person or persons forming the company and the promoters of the company.

MLex: Former Balli Group chairman, Vahid Alaghband will see his UK fraud prosecution formally halted today, after he was deemed too unwell to stand trial.

After three prosecutions brought by the FCA against former employees of IT service provider Redcentric Plc (Redcentric), on 11 February 2022 Timothy Coleman (former Chief Financial Officer) was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of four charges relating to the making of false and misleading statements to the market. Fraser Fisher (former Chief Executive Officer) was acquitted by the jury on all charges. Estelle Croft (former Finance Director) had already pleaded guilty on 17 August 2021 to charges of making false statements and false accounting and had been sentenced to a total of three years’ imprisonment. The sentencing of Mr Coleman will be heard on 3 March 2022.

A former Chinese takeaway owner, Zhang Jin Chen, was sentenced to 12 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, after being found guilty of fraudulently disposing of property as a bankrupt. He was also ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 10 days of rehabilitation activity. Chen operated a Chinese takeaway called Fortune House from an address in Portsmouth. While he registered the takeaway as a business with HMRC in February 2012 he did not register for VAT. HMRC officials visited the takeaway in February 2020, finding evidence that Fortune House should have been VAT registered since December 2012. In October 2020, Chen and his ex-wife sold their jointly owned property. While Chen knew that he owed HMRC £43,876, he disposed of £107,550 of his proceeds from the sale without paying HMRC back. In July 2021, he then filed for bankruptcy stating that he knew he was indebted to HMRC but that he could not repay the debt. He  claimed that he only had £20 in his bank account and £100 in cash. In March 2022, Chen signed a five year Bankruptcy Restrictions Undertaking restricting him from being able to borrow more than £500 without disclosing his bankrupt status and from holding certain roles in public organisations. The Insolvency Service is seeking to recover the funds under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Former European Court of Human Rights president Robert Spano has urged a shift away from what he described as a 'purely individualistic, rights-based model' of human rights, calling instead for a renewed focus on 'our framework of human freedoms' rooted in the Convention’s original purpose of limiting arbitrary power. While defending the Court’s core mission, he accepted that its approach had at times become 'overly expansive' and said some recalibration was needed. He was also critical of a recent letter from nine European governments calling for a rethink of the Convention, warning that such interventions were 'poorly advised' and risked being counterproductive.

MLex: Six former Glencore executives face a criminal trial on corruption charges in June 2027 following their appearances at a UK court today.

Law360, London: An employment tribunal has ruled that Goldman Sachs discriminated against a former compliance manager, finding that the investment bank decided to make him redundant while he was on paternity leave.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has announced that the former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of collapsed investment firm London Capital & Finance Plc (LCF), Michael Thomson, has been sentenced to six months' imprisonment for contempt of court following two breaches of restraint orders imposed by the SFO. Michael's wife, Debbie, received a six-month sentence, suspended for two years, after admitting to four breaches of the restraint orders, including receiving a £2,000 holiday refund and selling personal items valued at nearly £5,800. Michael was already serving a suspended sentence for a previous breach involving the transfer of £95,000 to Debbie to conceal funds from investigators. The SFO reported that the Thomsons' actions resulted in more than £100,000 in restrained assets being dissipated during the ongoing investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering at LCF. The collapse of LCF resulted in approximately 11,000 investors losing more than £237 million between 2014 and 2019.