The regulation of consumer credit Under section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), a person cannot carry out a regulated activity, or purport to do so, in the UK unless they are either an authorised person (ie authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and/or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)), or an exempt person (eg by being an appointed representative). For an overview of the regulated activities regime in the UK, see Practice Note: What are regulated activities? Activities are regulated if they are of a ‘specified kind’ (ie specified by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (RAO), SI 2001/544) which is carried on by way of business. For more information about what it means to carry on a regulated activity by way of business in the UK, see Practice Notes: What does

Summary Both assignments and novations of loan contracts are common. As they have different effects, limitations and risks, whichever mechanism is suitable depends on the purpose and requirements of the transaction. The fundamental difference is that assignment allows the transfer of rights (but not obligations) from one party to another without the consent of the borrower, whereas novation is the extinction and replacement of rights and obligations under a contract with a new agreement and with different parties. It does therefore require the agreement of the borrower. Assignment A detailed discussion of assignment is beyond the scope of this note. However, for the purposes of contrasting assignment and novation, the following are the key points. Types of assignment There are two types of assignment: (i) legal assignment under s. 136 of the Law of Property Act 1925 (LPA), which imposes formal requirements; and (ii) equitable assignment which is not subject to these requirements. What rights may be assigned? The general rule is that a presently owned right (eg

Statutory powers There are statutory limitations that determine how much a landlord can recover from the tenant for service charges. Services charges are covered under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 (LTA 1985), s 18–30. In particular, s 18 provides the following definition: “service charge” means an amount payable by a tenant of a [dwelling] as part of or in addition to the rent—(a) which is payable, directly or indirectly, for services, repairs, maintenance, [improvements] or insurance or the landlord's costs of management, and (b) the whole or part of which varies or may vary according to the relevant costs. The relevant provisions

Local authorities in England and Wales are considered public prosecutors rather than private prosecutors. This is primarily because their power to prosecute is derived from statutory provisions. Local authorities derive their power to prosecute from section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 1972). Under this section, local authorities can prosecute

Section 96 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) provides that a local planning authority (LPA) must keep a register containing such information as is prescribed. The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015, SI 2015/595 (the England DMPO), sets out what is to be included in the planning register. The England DMPO, SI 2015/595, art 40 provides that each LPA must keep, in two parts, a register of every application for planning permission relating to their area. Part 1 of the register must contain, in respect of every application for planning permission and reserved matters pursuant to an outline planning permission which has not been disposed of ie which is still to be determined: • a copy of the application and accompanying plans and drawings • a copy of any

If the claimant is a sole trader, then the issue of the claimant’s losses is simply an issue of taking their net profit from self-employment after overheads, tax etc have been deducted from their gross annual takings. If the claimant is self-employed via a limited company (rather than as a sole trader), it is important to

The procedural steps in relation to obtaining medical evidence can be found in the relevant pre-action protocol which applies to the claim. For further guidance on the different personal injury pre-action protocols, see: Personal injury protocols—overview. For example, if the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value Personal Injury Claims in Road Traffic Accidents (the RTA Protocol) applies, then the provisions for obtaining medical evidence are paras 7.1–7.8B. CPR 45.19(2)(a)(ii) provides that in a claim to which either the RTA Protocol or the Pre-Action Protocol for Low Value

This Q&A assumes that the drinks are not supplied in the course of catering. The Value Added Tax Act 1994 (VATA 1994) governs the UK's value added tax (VAT) rules. For general information on VAT, see Practice Notes: What is VAT?, When does VAT apply? and When can a person recover VAT? Zero-rated supplies A zero-rated supply is treated as a taxable supply even though no VAT is charged on it. It is therefore different from a VAT-exempt supply. This has two main implications: • a zero-rated supply is taken into account in determining whether a business should (or is entitled to) be registered for VAT, see Practice Note: Who must and who can register for VAT in the UK?, and • input tax attributable to a zero-rated supply is recoverable from HMRC (whereas input tax incurred on an exempt

Mirroring and casting rights Whether or not a content licence grants, reserves restricts or excludes specific rights (such as casting or mirroring rights) will depend on the particular licence terms. Including express terms in the content licence that clearly set out the specific rights that are (and are not being granted) is obviously the best way to be sure that a content licensee can do what it wishes to do with the relevant content. However, it may be that a content licence has already been entered into or is being negotiated with a content provider, potentially on broad terms (that may make no reference to activities such as mirroring or casting), and you may need to try to ascertain whether such activities would be permitted under the terms of such a licence. Our basic understanding of mirroring and casting is that it is end-user enabled functionality which can mirror or transmit any content on an end-user's mobile device screen (eg phone, tablet)

The practice of electronic signing of documents has risen in popularity in recent times, and has accelerated further as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This has come to be known as the 'Mercury Signing Approach', which was initially proposed by the Law Society in 2009 in a Practice Note: Execution of documents by virtual means (updated in May 2020). In its 2019 report, Electronic Execution of Documents (Law Com No 386), the Law Commission endorsed the Mercury approach. This involves a scanned manuscript signature being added to the final version of the deed, and is of use where all parties to the transaction completed by deed are not

It is essential that there are mutual dealings between the insolvent company/individual and any creditor proving for a debt in order for insolvency set-off to apply. This is based on the principle that one person’s claims should not be used to pay another person’s debt. In Barclays Bank plc v Marsden, it was held that a bank was entitled to set-off its liability to make a redress payment in relation to an interest

There are currently several new permitted development rights which are currently being considered by the Government for implementation. The response to the technical consultation on planning changes published by the Department for Communities and Local Government on 7 February 2017 confirmed: • State Schools—the Government is committed to introducing new permitted development rights to allow State Schools to adapt more quickly to changing demands for school places, including making matter use of existing buildings and sites • Upward Extensions—the Government has ruled out introducing permitted development rights to allow additional floors to be added to buildings within London. It had been proposed to allow upwards extensions so long as this was no higher than roof line of adjoining buildings, however this was considered to be unworkable due to a need for neighbour consultations in such cases • Agricultural—the Government have launched a new consultation on changes