MLex: The UK's new Labour government outlines its first legislative agenda later this week, giving it a chance to put the fight against economic crime and dirty money back on the map.

Law360, Expert analysis: On 12 September 2024, the UK government announced that the civil enforcement powers of the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI), would be derived under new sanctions regulations, namely the Trade, Aircraft and Shipping Sanctions (Civil Enforcement) Regulations 2024 (SI 2024/948), which came into force on 10 October 2024.

PI & Clinical Negligence analysis: The claimant suffered significant injury in a road traffic accident. He claimed to lack capacity and was represented by his mother as litigation friend. Liability was admitted. However, the defendant disclosed evidence that both the claimant and his mother had exaggerated the extent of those injuries and alleged fundamental dishonesty. The claimant applied to replace his mother as litigation friend and then withdrew that application. This conduct called into question both the claimant’s mother’s ability to act as litigation friend; and whether the claimant really lacked capacity at all. The High Court concluded that it could not appoint an alternative litigation friend on the basis of the claimant’s evidence alone in the event of a dispute and laid down a hearing to determine capacity as a preliminary issue. The defendant appealed successfully; a litigation friend should have been appointed without a preliminary hearing and the question of capacity reserved to trial. Written by Robert Parkin, barrister at Deka Chambers.

There is however various relevant regulatory guidance from the Legal Sector Affinity Group (LSAG), the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which expands on this. LSAG AML Guidance for the Legal Sector Draft AML guidance for the legal sector issued by LSAG suggests in summary: • it may be appropriate to undertake audits at regular intervals, eg annually • for those areas/clients or matters which pose the highest risks (as

A Material Transfer Agreements (MTA) is a contract used to govern the transfer and permitted use of tangible research materials (such as biological samples, compounds or prototypes) between organisations, typically in academic or early-stage commercial collaborations. It is used where materials, which refers to any tangible research material such as biological samples, reagents, cell lines or plasmids. These materials are shared for evaluation, validation or research purposes prior to, or separate from, any broader collaboration or licence arrangement. The MTA defines the permitted use of the materials, allocates rights in any results or derivatives, and protects the provider’s intellectual property (IP) while managing liability and regulatory risk. In practice, MTAs are a key risk-control mechanism in life sciences transactions, ensuring that the exchange of valuable materials does not inadvertently compromise future commercialisation opportunities or create uncertainty as to ownership of downstream developments. For more information, see Precedent: Material transfer agreement. In a similar manner, a data transfer agreement (DTA) governs the sharing and permitted use of data

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This note considers the implications of the Bonas case for those concerned with pre-pack administrations. The case was brought by the Pensions Regulator under section 38 of the Pensions Act 2004 (PA 2004) and concerned the use of a pre-pack administration of the UK employer of a pension scheme, Bonas UK Limited (Bonas), in October 2006. Relevant case reports The case was heard before the Determinations Panel of the Pensions Regulator in March 2010. They determined to issue a contribution notice to the parent of Bonas, a Belgian company called Michel van de Wiele NV (VDW) in the sum of £5.089 million. Their full reasoning can be found on the Pensions Regulator’s website. VDW referred the decision to the Upper Tribunal, applying to strike out the Regulator’s case. In a decision dated 17 January 2011 the President of the Upper Tribunal considered in detail certain procedural issues relating to the Upper Tribunal, and questions of the

FORTHCOMING CHANGE relating to the tax treatment of predevelopment costs: On 13 July 2026, the government launched a consultation on the tax treatment of predevelopment costs following the conclusion of the litigation that culminated in the Supreme Court judgment in Orsted West of Duddon Sands (UK) Limited. The consultation, which has a closing date of 21 September 2026, seek views and evidence on the types of costs incurred, any uncertainty in the current treatment, and the impact on investment decisions. The consultation document indicates that the government is not currently minded to legislate to change the tax treatment of these costs, but wants to understand the issues more fully. For more information, see News Analysis: Legislation Day: Draft Finance Bill 2027—Tax analysis. Capital allowances for plant and machinery are given only if specifically claimed by completing the relevant boxes on an annual tax return (although different rules apply for claims in respect of special leasing of plant and machinery). Allowances for plant and machinery are not generally claimed

FORTHCOMING CHANGE relating to the tax treatment of predevelopment costs: On 13 July 2026, the government launched a consultation on the tax treatment of predevelopment costs following the conclusion of the litigation that culminated in the Supreme Court judgment in Orsted West of Duddon Sands (UK) Limited. The consultation, which has a closing date of 21 September 2026, seek views and evidence on the types of costs incurred, any uncertainty in the current treatment, and the impact on investment decisions. The consultation document indicates that the government is not currently minded to legislate to change the tax treatment of these costs, but wants to understand the issues more fully. For more information, see News Analysis: Legislation Day: Draft Finance Bill 2027—Tax analysis. Capital allowances for plant and machinery are given only if specifically claimed by completing the relevant boxes on an annual tax return (although different rules apply for claims in respect of special leasing of plant and machinery). Allowances are not generally claimed separately on each asset or

Law360, Expert Analysis: On 21 May 2025, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), published a statement highlighting measures used in certain jurisdictions that disrupt online harm arising from financial misconduct. Clare Reynolds, partner, and Neil Millar, senior associate, at Taylor Wessing LLP, explore the key aspects of IOSCO's and ESMA's statements, and what they mean for platform providers.

Good leaver/bad leaver provisions Good or bad leaver provisions are conventionally included in the company's articles of association rather than in the shareholders' agreement. A major reason is that any purported disposal of shares by a leaver in contravention of the articles is invalid, whereas if the leaver manages to sell their shares in contravention of a contractual provision in a shareholders' agreement, the other shareholders may have to seek redress

If the shares under an EMI option are subject to any restrictions, the EMI legislation requires that the written EMI option agreement must contain details of these. The restrictions may be within the EMI scheme rules themselves or in any other contract or arrangement, such as the company's articles of association or a shareholders' agreement. Further details of what constitutes a 'restriction' for these purposes, see Q&A: What restrictions need to be described to EMI participants in relation to the shares under

Where a share award is ‘net settled’ by the employer, or where shares are sold in order to fund any of the tax due on the award, there can be some confusion regarding how to record this on the relevant employment-related securities annual return to HMRC. This is a common issue, potentially relevant to any employer satisfying its obligation to account for pay as you earn (PAYE) and National Insurance contributions (NICs) when shares are acquired as a result of a non-tax advantaged employee share award as it must recover the PAYE and applicable NICs from the employee. HMRC, acknowledging that reporting this can be a problem area, has issued some guidance for employers, and stipulates that the manner in which the annual return should be completed will very much depend upon how the relevant PAYE and NICs has been recovered from the employee in practice. Sell to cover One approach