Law360, London: The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)'s Consumer Duty came into force on 31 July 2023 for new and existing products or services open to sale or renewal, and takes effect on 31 July 2024, for closed products or services. Sanjana Sura, legal director, Louise Hutt, associate, and Gavin Punia, partner, at Bird & Bird LLP set out four key data protection implications of the new duty for firms to take into account when managing their compliance with the duty and data protection legislation.

Four corners of an instrument describes the principle that a document (such as a contract, deed or will) should primarily be interpreted by reference to the wording contained within its own text, rather than external material. The “four corners” are the physical and metaphorical boundaries of the document.In UK and Irish practice, the phrase is most commonly used in contractual interpretation and construction of deeds and other formal instruments. Courts in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland generally adopt a similar approach: the starting point is the natural and ordinary meaning of the words used in the document, read as a whole, in context.The expression is not a statutory term but a descriptive doctrine developed in case law and commentary, sometimes contrasted with broader contextual or purposive interpretation. Modern authorities accept the relevance of surrounding circumstances and commercial common sense, but the four corners principle underlines that extrinsic evidence cannot be used to re‑write clear wording.Practically, this principle guides drafting (ensuring the instrument is complete and self‑contained) and litigation strategy (focussing on the language actually agreed or executed).

UK Finance has reported that four individuals, Luke Williams, Francis Buckman, Michael Sonowo and Ricky Burgess, involved in a £1.2m fraud have been sentenced for a combined total of seven years and two months. Williams, using his position as a bank employee, retrieved customers’ security details which he then passed onto the group. The group then alleged to be genuine bank customers trying to access their accounts. The money was transferred to a third party account and then withdrawn. The total amount the group fraudulently attempted to scam was over £2.4m, of which £1.2m was prevented. Victims of the fraud have been fully refunded.

Co-owners liability for repair Generally, in property law joint tenants are deemed to be a single legal person in their dealings with third parties—ie all of the joint tenants must assent to steps taken regarding their estate, but a contractual approach has been adopted in respect of termination of periodic tenancies, ie one of the joint landlords can determine without the assent of others. However, this arguably relates more to decisions as to dealings with the estate (ie granting new leases, serving break notices, forfeiting etc) rather than compliance with obligations under

Law360, London: As 2025 passes the midyear point, international arbitration lawyers say they're keeping a close watch on trends, including how climate change, geopolitical tensions and procedural and other innovations will continue to affect international dispute resolution.

Law360, Expert analysis: How do you put a monetary value on something as intangible as 'moral damages?' According to the analysis, with contributions from Manuel Abdala and Franco Abdala-Arata of Berkeley Research Group LLC, the lack of consistent methodologies for quantifying moral damages in international arbitration has resulted in arbitrary awards and uncertainty for claimants. The authors argue that applying established economic methodologies, supported by expert evidence, can enable tribunals to assess compensation more consistently and in accordance with the principle of full reparation.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has announced that three men have been charged with excise duty fraud and money laundering following the discovery of four million cigarettes in a Glasgow warehouse. The illicit cigarettes seized by HMRC are believed to be worth an estimated £1.6 m in lost duty and taxes. Further investigations led to the discovery of a tobacco factory in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, which was destroyed with the seizure of two industrial mixing machines, a tobacco shredding machine, packaging and 45kg of tobacco. In addition, £20,000 cash was also seized from one of the properties. The assistant Director of HMRC's Fraud Investigation Service, Joe Hendry, stated that 'this is another example of the combined powers our partners at the Scottish Crime Campus and Serious Organised Crime Taskforce have to disrupt, detect and deter the illicit trade of tobacco and other forms of criminality'.

Commerzbank, ING, Santander, and Standard Chartered have announced their endorsement of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Principles for Sustainable Trade Finance. The Principles aim to set out clear, transparent and consistent guidelines to enable banks, corporates and investors to effectively channel capital towards sustainable and inclusive trade finance facilities.

HM Land Registry Practice Guide 24: private trusts of land sets out guidance on transferring land on the appointment or discharge of trustees. A transfer of the registered title from the registered proprietors of the land (in this case the four current partners) can be used to register the trust property in the name of the three partners

Law360, London: Four men are facing prison sentences after admitting their involvement in a fraudulent gold mining scheme that cheated investors out of £5.4m (US$5.9m) at the very start of what was to be their trial.

Law360: On 22 December 2023, President Joe Biden gave federal prosecutors an early Christmas present, and international kleptocrats a lump of coal, when he signed the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act (FEPA).

Where property is purchased in the joint names of two or more co-owners, a statutory ‘trust of land’ arises. Where property is held on a trust of land, the legal estate and equitable estate are separate. The co-owner trustees must hold the legal estate as joint tenants. A legal joint tenancy cannot be severed and when one joint tenant dies their legal interest in the property automatically passes to the remaining joint tenants. On the death of the sole surviving joint