Law360: Two more insurers could enter the pension deal market this year, with another four providers possibly coming right behind them, a consultancy with knowledge of their planning said 2 January 2024.

Police will be given power to prosecute more offences in the magistrates’ court without consulting the CPS when the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (Specified Proceedings (Amendment No 3) Order 2012, SI 2681 comes into force on the 19 November 2012.

Employment analysis: It is possible for a single claimant to use the same Acas early conciliation (EC) certificate in two or more claims, so long as the complaints included within those claims relate to the matter in respect of which the early conciliation notification was made. However, if causes of action raised in a second claim could and should have been litigated in the first claim, the second claim can be rejected as an abuse of process, according to the EAT.

The Home Office’s Study priority change of circumstance service has been extended to include three more types of approval request. These are: appoint a representative, amend a representative, and follow on Confirmation of Acceptance for Studies (CAS) allocation requests. Where the request is to appoint or amend a representative, the sponsor must have printed out the submission sheet as well. Where the request is a follow on CAS request, the sponsor must have submitted the further information-CAS request form. Also, a new general eligibility requirement has been added for the service, which is that the sponsor must not have an open basic compliance assessment (BCA).

IP analysis: A successful takeaway franchise with imitators successfully sued for trade mark infringement. The main defence was a settlement agreement, but the agreement a) that did not benefit franchisees, and b) did not permit the use being made anyway. Some of the practicalities of the case are interesting to those litigating. Perhaps of greater interest are the drafting lessons that can be taken from the settlement agreement that was litigated. There was also a finding of joint tortfeasorship against an individual defendant. Written by Giles Parsons, partner at Browne Jacobson and Conor Moran, associate at Browne Jacobson.

1. What is the applicable legislation? There is no specific foreign direct investment (FDI) law in Morocco. Instead, provisions concerning both domestic and foreign investment in Morocco by the Investment Charter. In December 2022, the Investment Charter 2022 was repealed by the new Investment Charter issued through Framework Law 03-22 on the Investment Charter (Investment Charter 2022). Neither the old nor the new Investment Charter 2022 does not establish a comprehensive FDI review process as it exists for example in European countries. Instead, the Investment Charter 2022 provides incentives for investments in certain sectors or regions. Through the amendments introduced with the new Investment Charter 2022 the Moroccan government sought to simplify administrative procedures for investors, ease barriers for establishing and operating businesses in the country, enhance transparency and predictability of administrative procedures, and attract investment through offering a range of incentives. Incentives granted by the Investment Charter 2022 include tax advantages, subsidies, and other forms of assistance targeted at promoting investment in key sectors and regions. 2. Which government or other body (or bodies) reviews

Morocco Very Young Arbitration Practitioners (Morocco VYAP) has announced that the official French translation of Dahir No 1-22-34 (Chaoual 1443 – 24 May 2022), promulgating Law No 95-17 relating to arbitration and conventional mediation, has been published in Official Bulletin No 7480 dated 5 February 2026. It describes the publication as long-awaited, stating that it enhances accessibility to Morocco’s regulatory framework governing arbitration and conventional mediation. Morocco VYAP also thanks its founders who prepared a French translation shortly after the Dahir was issued in 2022. According to Morocco VYAP, that version was widely used by arbitration practitioners and contributed to the dissemination and understanding of the new legal framework prior to publication of the official translation.

NOTE—to see whether notification thresholds in Morocco and throughout the world are met, see Where to Notify. 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Moroccom merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Morocco? The current Moroccan merger control regime was introduced with Law 104-12 on Free Pricing and Competition, promulgated 30 June 2014 (Competition Law 2012), which entered into force in December 2014. Until the competent competition authority—the Moroccan Competition Council—was established in 2020, the process of submitting merger control notifications was rather cumbersome. For lack of a competent authority submissions had to be made to the Ministry of Economy. Furthermore, it was not entirely clear at what point a transaction could actually be considered cleared. With the establishment of the Moroccan Competition Council in 2020, the regime started to be enforced much more consistently. In April 2022, the Moroccan authorities issued their first gun-jumping fines against the Swiss company Sika for failure to notify its

Mortality assumptions predict the rate at which scheme members die before or after retirement.

The process of screening a pension fund's records to identify deceased members, and to avoid paying benefits to dead people.

Unit deductions made typically on a monthly basis representing the charge made by the life company to cover the cost of the life cover provided. It is calculated as the ‘sum at risk’ divided by the probability of death in that month.

A security interest in land.