This Practice Note looks at: • issues that sanctions can pose on lending transactions • the key provisions of the facility agreement that must be considered in the context of sanctions • the approach to sanctions taken by the Loan Market Association (LMA) and the Loan Syndications and Trading Association (LSTA), and • the implications of the EU Blocking Regulation Conflict in Ukraine There is an increased focus on sanctions due to additional sanctions measures imposed as a result of the conflict in Ukraine. We have published the following Practice Note: Sanctions—FAQ for banking & finance lawyers, which looks in more detail at the additional measures imposed and the potential consequences for finance transactions and loan agreements. It also contains links to relevant detailed information. See also the Financial sanctions collection which contains Practice Notes, news and trackers. The remainder of this Practice Note focuses on more general considerations when drafting sanctions provisions in loan agreements. Where can I find information on financial sanctions? Our Financial sanctions collection is a comprehensive,

The legislative position Chapter 1 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (LRHUDA 1993) is concerned with the right to collective enfranchisement in respect of tenants of flats. LRHUDA 1993, s 3(1) provides that the Chapter applies, subject to section 4, to any premises if: • they consist of a self-contained building or part of a building • they contain two or more flats held by qualifying tenants; and • the total number of flats held by such

This Practice Note describes the effect of tax considerations when a court decides how much to award a claimant as damages for a financial loss. It also considers the account that a court will take of tax when calculating any interest component of the award. The court's aim will be to award an amount of damages that will place the claimant in the same position as if the wrong or injury (for instance negligence, misrepresentation or breach of contract) had not taken place. This means that it may be relevant to consider: • any tax that will be payable on the damages award (see Practice Note: Direct tax treatment of damages and compensation payments), and/or • the tax that would have been payable if the wrong or injury had not taken place—for instance, if the damages are to compensate the claimant for a loss of trading profits, whether the claimant would have been taxable on those profits If this is a contractual dispute, then before considering the principles discussed in this

Need for a grant The personal representatives (PRs) of a deceased individual’s estate generally need to obtain a grant of probate or letters of administration to enable them to prove title to the deceased’s property and to administer, collect in and protect it for the benefit of the persons interested in the estate. Although generally required to administer an estate in England and Wales, a grant of representation may not be necessary depending on the type and value of the assets in the estate and where they are situated. See Practice Note: Devolution of assets and the need for a grant. The civil remedy for failure to take out a grant is by a citation. If an executor has started to act in the administration, they can be compelled to take probate. See Practice Note: Probate actions—citations. Penalty for administering without a grant If a person takes possession of and administers any part of the deceased’s estate without obtaining a grant within: • six calendar months after the death of the deceased, or

This Practice Note explains the effects of making a special guardianship order (SGO) including how a special guardian acquires and can exercise parental responsibility for a child. It covers how an SGO affects the appointment of a guardian for a child, succession and care orders. Also covered are the implications of making an SGO on orders made under section 8 of the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989). Special guardianship orders An SGO gives non-parents a more permanent legal status than they would have if they were named in a child arrangements order (CAO) as a person with whom the child is to live but it does not extinguish the legal relationship between the child and their birth parents as an adoption order would do. See Practice Note:Special guardianship orders. Parental responsibility Special guardians have parental responsibility for the child until they are aged 18 (unless the order is discharged before then). Subject to any other order in force relating to the child under the Children Act 1989 (ChA 1989), parental responsibility can be exercised to

Information Law analysis: What are the likely effects of the war in Ukraine on cybersecurity and related obligations under EU and UK data protection laws? Written by André Bywater and Jonathan Armstrong, solicitors, of Cordery in London where their focus is on compliance issues.

Dispute Resolution analysis: ‘Like the emperor wearing no clothes in the folktale, it is time to recognise and declare that the Rule is altogether unclothed’. Such were the words of Lord Briggs and Lady Rose (drawing colourfully upon a Danish folktale) to convey on behalf of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Jardine Strategic Ltd v Oasis Investments II Master Fund Ltd and 80 others (No 2) that a rule which had stood for the last 137 years as a recognised exception to the law of privilege ‘is … now, and in truth has always been, a rule without justification’. Written by Alexander Farara and Simon Adamyk of New Square Chambers.

This Practice Note outlines the scope of an employer’s common law duty to take reasonable care for the safety of employees, with specific reference to the duty to provide safe premises, plant, systems of work and competent staff. It also explains the impact of Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (ERRA 2013) and the removal of civil liability for breach of most workplace health and safety regulations unless the relevant regulation expressly provides for it. In practice, all cases will generally need to be brought in negligence. To succeed therefore, the injured employee must show that the injury was reasonably foreseeable and that the common law standard of care was breached. Overriding duties At common law, an employer is under a duty to take reasonable care of the health and safety of its employees in all the circumstances of the case so as not to expose them to unnecessary risk of injury. This duty of care extends to the employee’s physical and mental health. For further guidance on occupational stress cases, see Practice

It is open to parties to an employment contract to agree a contractual provision enabling the employer to recoup money expended on training an employee if the employee leaves their employment, usually within a specified period of time. Care must be taken in the drafting of such a clause to ensure that it is enforceable, and further, if it is to be enforced, that it does not take the employee’s pay below the national minimum wage unless the employee chose to leave or was dismissed because of their conduct (see Commissioners for HMRC v Ant Marketing , and the accompanying Employment News Analysis: Ant Marketing). Without such a contractual provision there is no free-standing right for an employer to recoup training costs

Immigration analysis: While employment and immigration practitioners are used to advising on new rules, Spring 2024 brought an unusually large number of changes to the UK's immigration system as the Home Office continued to implement steps designed to substantially reduce net migration to the UK. Immigration and employment laws have long been unhappy bed fellows and these changes have given rise to some complex issues for HR advisers to consider. while there were many changes in April 2024, the ones which proved most significant for UK employers were the significant increases in salary requirements for sponsored workers, the changes to update the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes to the SOC 2020 system, and the replacement of the Shortage Occupation List with the reduced Immigration Salary List. Each of these has required UK employers to grapple with whether or not they can continue to sponsor visas for existing UK employees and for new hires and what they should do if they cannot. In this analysis, Vikki Wiberg, senior counsel at Taylor Wessing, considers these issues in detail.

Family analysis: The eagerly-anticipated judgment of the Supreme Court in this case was handed down on 31 January 2024. It will have a long-lasting impact on applications for financial relief following an overseas divorce under Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984 (MFPA 1984). It is only the second time the Supreme Court has considered the way in which MFPA 1984, Pt III proceedings should be conducted. It will have important implications for so-called ‘divorce tourists’ whose claims will now be subject to careful scrutiny before permission is granted. It is also particularly significant given that the Law Commission has confirmed it will not review Part III applications when it reviews the law on financial provision on divorce. Tahmina Rahman, barrister at 1GC Family Law, examines the issues.

Arbitration analysis: The award rendered on 13 September 2016 in the Victor Pey Casado and President Allende Foundation v Republic of Chile resubmission proceeding continues the longest running case in the history of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Álvaro Nistal of Volterra Fietta examines the claimants’ case, and explains why their claims were dismissed.