Leveraged finance facilities agreements will often impose conditions on lenders transferring their commitments. In the US in particular, this may include a restriction on transfer to any financial institution contained in a separate 'blacklist'. Institutions named on the blacklist will typically be comprised of institutions that the sponsor thinks will not be supportive in the event the business gets into financial difficulties.

The offence A person is guilty of blackmail if, with a view to gain for themselves or another or with intent to cause loss to another, they make any unwarranted demand with menaces. A demand with menaces is unwarranted unless the person making it does so in the belief that: • they have reasonable grounds for making the demand, and • the use of the menaces is a proper means of reinforcing the demand Blackmail is an indictable-only offence that can only be tried in the Crown Court. Jurisdiction One of the constituent elements of the offence must occur in England and Wales. A person will be guilty of the offence of blackmail whether or not they were in England and Wales at any material time and whether or not they are a British citizen. Jurisdiction is established if the communication of a demand were sent either: • from a place in England and Wales to a place elsewhere, or • from a place elsewhere to a place in England and Wales In R v Pogmore,

Blackmail is any unwarranted demand with menaces.

Law360, London: Protection against unfair dismissal should kick in after six months rather than on employees' first day on the job, a think tank headed by former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair said 6 November 2025, adding to a groundswell of opposition to the headline policy of the Labour government's Employment Rights Bill.

Private Client analysis: The court blessed (approved) the decisions of a professional trustee (the Trustee) of two Jersey law governed discretionary trusts (the Trusts) to vary the instruments of the Trusts so as to allow the female line of the family to be added as beneficiaries and then to exercise their powers of addition to add the primary beneficiary’s wife and female issue as beneficiaries of the Trusts. The Trustees’ decisions were contrary to the views and wishes of the settlor of the Trusts who intended the Trusts to benefit his male line only. This decision will be of interest to trust practitioners because there is little authority or guidance from the courts addressing provisions in trust deeds which are discriminatory in nature. This decision is a helpful illustration of how the courts will approach such matters, particularly in cases of dynastic trusts where the settlor’s wishes were expressed in a different time. Written by Danny Le Maistre, partner at Ingram Advocates, Jersey.

A blind trust is a trust arrangement where the settlor and, typically, the beneficiaries have no knowledge of, or control over, the specific assets held or the day‑to‑day investment decisions, which are managed independently by the trustee or an investment manager. It is used to reduce conflicts of interest, for example for politicians, senior public officials or company directors, by distancing them from decisions affecting their personal assets. “Blind trust” is a descriptive term rather than a defined statutory category in the UK or Ireland; the underlying trust is constituted under general trust law (including trustee legislation and fiduciary principles), with additional confidentiality and non‑interference obligations. Key features usually include: wide investment powers for the trustee; restrictions on disclosure to the settlor/beneficiaries; and express clauses preventing directions or influence over trust management. Across England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, the concept is broadly similar, though detailed requirements may arise from ethics, standards in public life or anti‑corruption rules, rather than from trust legislation itself. Legal practitioners should consider tax, disclosure, registration (e.g. trust registers) and regulatory implications when advising on the creation or operation of a blind trust.

Law360, London: A blind employee won his discrimination case against a Welsh bakery when an employment tribunal found that the bakery didn't give him time to familiarise himself with his surroundings or offer him a 'buddy' while he adjusted to his new workplace.

EU Regulation or UK Order that exempts a category of agreements, often according to their sector (e.g. Motor vehicle distribution agreements) from the prohibitions in Article 101(1) TFEU and section 2 of the Competition Act 1998

Certain agreements benefit from an exemption from certain competition law rules. Undertakings must be prepared to make their own assessment of the compatibility of their restrictive practices with competition laws and these exemption provisions. Block exemptions are drafted on the basis that terms which are not stated to be prohibited are permissible, subject to the overriding premise that there may be no appreciable anti-competitive effect. The restrictions are divided between ‘hard core’ restrictions, which are very rarely acceptable, and less abhorrent restrictions, which may be permitted if certain criteria are met.

Horizontal and vertical agreements that contain provisions that would otherwise not be compatible with Article 101(1) TFEU may be exempted from the prohibition on anti-competitive agreements through one (or more) of the block exemption regulations issued by the Commission under Article 101(3) TFEU to exempt ‘categories of agreements’ from the application of Article 101(1) TFEU. This Checklist provides an overview of the EU block exemption regulations that are currently in force and describes the main conditions for each block exemption regulation to apply. Block exemptions applying to horizontal agreements The following block exemption regulations apply to horizontal agreements, ie agreements between undertakings operating at the same level of the supply chain (ie mainly agreements between competitors). For block exemptions applying to vertical agreements, please see Block exemptions applying to vertical agreements below. The research and development (R&D) block exemption regulation If the following main conditions are met, agreements relating to R&D efforts can benefit from the R&D block exemption regulation: • there is an agreement between two or more undertakings in relation to: ◦ joint R&D of contract products or

MLex: Lawmakers across Europe are on notice in the wake of a ruling by France's highest constitutional authority that blanket social media bans for minors may be found to conflict with protections for freedom of expression and privacy. While the ruling only applies in France, it has raised questions about whether other countries considering similar bans, such as Spain and Austria, may need to be more targeted.

The sale of a large amount of shares in a single transaction. In the UK this typically involves an investment bank buying a large amount of shares in a listed company through a private transaction before then trying to resell the shares to the wider market.