ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides information on the Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) regime, which was repealed with effect for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026. DPT applied to accounting periods beginning between 1 April 2015 and 31 December 2025. The regime was replaced by the unassessed transfer pricing profits (UTPP) rules (set out in Schedule 5 to the Finance Act 2026). This Practice Note is not maintained and is for background information only. The Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) provisions are included in Part 3 of the Finance Act 2015. The legislation provides for a tax aimed at preventing the avoidance of UK tax by multinationals operating in the UK. The introduction of DPT was first announced in the Autumn Statement 2014. It should be noted that DPT is a separate tax and is not corporation tax. Broadly, DPT applies in two circumstances: • entities or transactions lacking economic substance—where there is a group of companies with a UK subsidiary or permanent establishment (PE) and there are

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note provides information on the Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) regime, which was repealed with effect for accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026. DPT applied to accounting periods beginning between 1 April 2015 and 31 December 2025. The regime was replaced by the unassessed transfer pricing profits (UTPP) rules (set out in Schedule 5 to the Finance Act 2026). This Practice Note is not maintained and is for background information only. The Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) provisions are included in Part 3 of, and Schedule 16 to, the Finance Act 2015. The legislation provides for a tax aimed at preventing the avoidance of UK tax by multinationals operating in the UK. DPT has specific rules for notification, assessment and payment. It is not a self-assessed tax, unlike corporation tax. This Practice Note examines some of the compliance and administration issues that the tax gives rise to. In particular it discusses: • company notification requirements • the preliminary notice • the charging notice • reviews,

This Practice Note provides a summary of the provisions of the Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (often known as Clare’s Law). It sets out the guidance in relation to the scheme. It also summarises the powers of the police and the court under the Crime and Security Act 2010 in relation to domestic violence protection notices and domestic violence protection orders and how these are affected by the domestic abuse protection notices and domestic abuse protection orders introduced by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (DAA 2021). Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme The Domestic Violence Disclosure Scheme (DVDS), often known as Clare’s Law, was rolled out nationally to police forces in England and Wales inMarch 2014. The DVDS was introduced to set out procedures that could be used by the police to disclose information about previous violent or abusive offending, including emotional abuse, controlling or coercive behaviour, or economic abuse by an individual, where this may help protect their partner or ex-partner, and any relevant children, from violent or abusive offending. The

The UK operates a Dormant Assets Scheme under which certain dormant assets may be transferred to a fund operated by an arms-length HM Treasury (HMT) owned company which takes on liability for any potential claims in respect of the assets from their owners so that money transferred can be returned on request, and transfers any surplus generated from the funds to fund investment in communities across the UK. Originally introduced by the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 (DBBSA 2008), the Dormant Assets Scheme (the Scheme) has been extended from dormant bank and building society accounts by the provisions of the Dormant Assets Act 2022 to other assets, including certain forms of registered personal pension schemes. This Practice Note covers the background to the Scheme and how the changes implemented by the DAA 2022 have affected pensions. Background to the Dormant Assets Scheme The Dormant Assets Act 2022 (the DAA 2022) received Royal Assent on 24 February 2022 and was brought fully into force on 6 June 2022. The DAA 2022

Arbitration analysis: The Dubai Court of Cassation (‘DCC’) strictly enforced the arbitration clause contained in the articles of incorporation of the subject company and held that the presence of the arbitration clause excluded the jurisdiction of the Dubai Court of First Instance (the ‘DCFI’). The decision also highlights the wide scope of an arbitration clause, including claims for interim relief in support of arbitration. More specifically, the Court of Cassation emphasised the need to adhere to routine procedures, setting out the appropriate procedural avenues for securing interim or provisional relief available to litigants in arbitration pursuant to Article 18 of the UAE Federal Arbitration Law 2018 (UAE Federal Law No. 6 of 2018) as amended (the ‘FAL’) before the President of the competent Court of Appeal. Written by Dr Gordon Blanke, founding principal, Blanke Arbitration Dubai/London/Paris and associate tenant, No 5 Barristers’ Chambers, and Vikramaditya Singh, associate, Blanke Arbitration.

This Practice Note considers the scope, application and limitation of the Duomatic principle (the common law principle of shareholder decision-making by way of informal unanimous consent or assent). The principle defined Company decisions are made by way of resolutions and there are three ways in which a resolution of a company may be validly passed: • by use of the statutory written resolution procedure (for private companies only and subject to specified exceptions) (see Practice Note: Written resolutions for further details on this process) • at a meeting of the members of the company duly convened and conducted in accordance with any requirements under the Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) or the company's articles of association (see Practice Note: Member resolutions for further information) • in the circumstances where it applies, pursuant to the Duomatic principle The Duomatic principle was defined in Re Duomatic Ltd as: '...where it can be shown that all shareholders who have a right to attend and vote at a general meeting of the company assent to some matter which a general meeting of the

The Environment Agency (EA) has published guidance explaining the purpose of Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) and an independent peer review report assessing how much SMPs have helped to deliver the ambitions of the National Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management (FCERM) Strategy. The guidance also sets out who uses SMPs, the management approaches SMPs apply and how the SMP Explorer, an online tool, makes it easier to view and use SMPs.

The Environment Agency (EA) has published a letter from its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Philip Duffy, setting out the approach that the EA will take with the rising inspections of water company assets. In the letter, the CEO underscores that, subject to the outcome of the consultation on water quality permit charges and securing the funding required, the EA intends there to be a fourfold increase in water company inspections next year (2024 to 2025). This expectation will be set out in further detail at a meeting with Regulatory Directors at the Strategic Steering Group on 26 February 2024 and an update on what was discussed will be shared afterwards.

The Environment Agency (EA) has published guidance setting out details about its new national risk information for flooding and coastal erosion, which will include scenarios accounting for climate change. The guidance also highlights that the EA has paused regular updates to flood zones on the 'Flood Map for Planning portal' and risk of flooding from rivers and sea on the 'Check Your Long-Term Flood Risk'. Updates to the maps will resume every three months in 2025. The EA intends to publish its new national coastal erosion risk maps and improvements to its national flood risk maps in 2024.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) and the European Central Bank (ECB) have published a joint Report on payment fraud data. The report assesses payment fraud reported by the industry across the European Economic Areas (EEA), which amounted to €4.3bn in 2022 and €2.0bn in the first half of 2023. The Report confirms the beneficial impact of strong customer authentication (SCA) on fraud levels.

The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published its final draft Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) on the conditions for determining whether an instrument attracting residual risk acts as a hedge. These RTS are part of the Phase 1 deliverables of the EBA's roadmap on the implementation of the EU banking package in the area of market risk. The RTS have been developed under Article 325(u)(6) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 (CRR), as amended by the CRR3, which mandates the EBA to specify criteria to identify positions attracting residual risk that act as a hedge.

The European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) have published their work plan for 2024—2025 which aims to make the European IP system more effective, improve its accessibility and better protect European businesses abroad. The plan also outlines new areas such as green technologies and IP education which builds on the EPO and EUIPO’s 2023 achievements and further areas like AI-related activities, IT projects and best practices in data protection and anti-scam networks. The goal is to develop a harmonised and high-quality IP environment.