Law360, London: Saga plc has said that it has taken a £269m hit to its business as a result of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) pricing regulations.

ARCHIVED–this archived case hub reflects the position at the date of the judgment of 17 June 2020; it is no longer maintained. See further, timeline, commentary and related cases. Case facts Outline Appeal before the Supreme Court by Mastercard and Visa against the Court of Appeal’s judgment of 4 July 2018 concerning the lawfulness of Mastercard and Visa’s multilateral interchange fees or ‘MIFs’. Latest developments On 17 June 2020, the Supreme Court issued it judgment in which it dismissed three out of the four grounds of appeal. The Supreme Court held (amongst other things) that the Court of Appeal correctly concluded that multilateral interchange fees infringe Article 101 TFEU. Parties Appellants: • Mastercard Incorporated, Mastercard Incorporated International, Mastercard Europe and Mastercard/Europay UK Limited (together MastercardRespondents:• Sainsbury’s Supermarkets• Asda Stores • Argos Limted and Others• WM Morrisons Supermarkets PLCCross-Appellants:• Asda Stores Limited• Argos Limited and Others• WM Morrisons Supermarkets PLCThe European Commission intervened. Background The Mastercard and Visa payment card schemes and MIFs The Mastercard and Visa payment card (credit and debit cards) schemes are

Sainsbury’s is being taken to court for refusing the entry of an autistic man’s assistance cat in a reasonable adjustments case. Ian Flenn, an autistic man, visited Sainsbury’s Clapham branch thinking he had been granted permission for his assistance cat, but security and store staff told him that he needed to leave his cat outside. The solicitor Chris Fry, who will be representing Flenn, has stated that because the Equality Act 2010 (EA 2010) dictates that business owners have a legal duty to make reasonable adjustments so that those with disabilities are accommodated for and not placed at a substantial disadvantage, it ‘hopes’ this case provides clarity around assistance animals. Currently, the law on assistance animals is not clear cut as there has only been something specific in relation to support dogs.

CASE HUB See further, timeline. Case facts Outline European Commission merger investigation into the proposed merger between Saipem S.p.A. and Subsea7 S.A. (M.12236). The transaction involves horizontal overlaps in relation to the SURF (subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines) services market. Latest developments On 22 July 2026, the Commission referred the proposed transaction for a phase II investigation.On 29 July 2026, the Commission extended the review by 14 working days under the EUMR to the 16 December 2026.On 25/08/2026, the Commission suspended the phase II deadline under Article 11(3). Parties • Saipem S.p.A. (Saipem): Saipem is a publicly listed company headquartered in Milan, Italy. It is an engineering and construction company, active worldwide in the energy infrastructure and services sector. It provides engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) services for both offshore and onshore energy projects. For offshore projects,

A forward sale arrangement.

A partner who generally has no right to participate in the profits and losses of the partnership or vote on any partnership matters.

Salary sacrifice is an agreement between the employer and employee by which the employee foregoes future remuneration in exchange for the employer paying the equivalent amount as a contribution to a pension scheme.

What is salary sacrifice? Salary sacrifice is an arrangement whereby an employee gives up the right to a certain amount of their taxable salary due under their contract of employment in return for the employer’s agreement to provide an additional pension or some other non-cash benefit, usually resulting in advantageous tax and/or National Insurance Contributions (NICs) treatment. An employee may also sacrifice some or all of any one-off payment such as a bonus. The 'sacrifice' is achieved by varying the employee’s terms and conditions of employment relating to pay; for example: An employee’s current contract provides for cash remuneration of £40,000 a year with no benefits. The employee agrees with the employer that for the future the employee will be paid cash remuneration of £34,800 a year and 52 childcare vouchers a year, each with a face value of £100. The most common non-cash benefit received in exchange for the sacrificed salary will be a contribution to a pension scheme. Why salary sacrifice? This section describes

[For use only where the employee is foregoing salary for the following benefits that retain Tax and/or NICs advantages permitted pursuant to the Finance Act 2017:] 1 Can you give me a brief overview of the scheme? Broadly speaking, you are being offered the opportunity to exchange some of your taxable salary for a specific benefit in the form of [describe scheme (eg: ultra low emission car, cycle to work scheme or pension)] that can be provided to you free of tax or National Insurance contributions, or both. Thus, although your taxable salary is reduced, you are provided with a benefit of an equivalent value which has the advantage of not being subject to tax (and/or National Insurance). 2 Is the scheme compulsory? No—the scheme is open to all [eligible] staff, but staff are only required to participate if they wish to. There are certain limits to eligibility, in particular that your gross basic pay does not fall below the applicable National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage at any time during employment, after the salary sacrifice reduction. [Insert

What is salary sacrifice? Salary sacrifice (also known as ‘salary exchange’) is an arrangement in which an employee agrees to contractually reduce their entitlement to cash remuneration in exchange for receiving a non-cash benefit. The non-cash benefit may be provided in a tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) beneficial manner. Salary sacrifice arrangements can be made in relation to ongoing cash remuneration (eg salary) as well as in relation to once-a-year or one-off situations (eg bonus and termination payments). This Practice Note uses the term ‘salary sacrifice’ to capture all the above situations. It is important to note that a salary sacrifice arrangement must never reduce an employee’s cash remuneration below the national minimum wage (NMW)/national living wage (NLW) and, therefore, employers must incorporate procedures into any arrangements to ensure this does not happen. Additionally, following Finance Act 2017, significant reforms to the taxation of salary sacrifice arrangements were introduced which substantially reduced the tax effectiveness of many arrangements. These changes are known as the Optional Remuneration Arrangements (OpRA) legislation. See Practice Note: Optional

Since 6 April 2017, the income tax and National Insurance contributions (NICs) advantages in respect of benefits in kind provided through salary sacrifice arrangements (described in the Finance Act 2017 as ‘optional remuneration arrangements’) have been largely withdrawn. Guidance on optional remuneration arrangements from 6 April 2017 starts at EIM44000. The optional remuneration provisions made no changes to the underlying salary sacrifice principle, but did change how the benefit is taxed. Subject to some transitional periods (which have now in any case expired), all benefits provided under an optional remuneration agreement are taxed at the higher of the standard benefit in kind valuation (usually the cost to the employer or, for certain benefits, a specified calculation) or the amount of salary sacrificed. The optional remuneration arrangements rules do not apply to pension contributions (although only the first £2,000 per year of pension contributions through salary sacrifice will be NIC exempt with effect from 6 April 2029), cycle to work or cars with CO2 emissions of 75 g/km or less. In addition, they do not apply to

The two main types of occupational salary-related schemes are final salary schemes and career average schemes. The pension received by a member on retirement is based on the number of years of membership and their level of earnings either in the last years of employment (final salary) or over the course of employment (career average).