Law360: Pension plans now have £223bn in funding above what they need to pay benefits to members, XPS Group said on 8 September 2025, as Parliament weighs reforms that will allow businesses to tap into surpluses.

Law360: Compensation due to those wrongly advised to transfer out of their defined benefit pension has risen for the first time in two years, actuarial consultancy OAC said on 15 January 2024, as yields on government bonds fell over the latter stages of 2023.

Law360: The number of savers transferring from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension schemes dropped by 32% in the financial year that ended in March 2023, according to figures published on 16 April 2024 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Law360: The number of people making lump sum withdrawals from their UK pension savings reached a record high during the financial year that ended in March 2023, according to a new report by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published on 16 April 2024.

Since A-day (6 April 2006), the main elements of the UK tax regime applicable to employees and other individuals who are members of foreign pension schemes are as follows: • migrant member tax relief can be obtained from UK tax on contributions to a 'qualifying overseas pension scheme' (QOPS) in certain circumstances. For further information, see: UK tax relief on pension contributions to an overseas pension scheme—migrant relief, below • members of overseas pension schemes (OPS) or relevant non-UK schemes (RNUKS) may be subject to UK tax charges in certain circumstances, even if they are not a UK resident. For further information, see: Tax treatment of pension benefits paid by a foreign pension scheme (not being a HMRC-registered pension scheme), below Overseas employees and other individuals who are members of HMRC-registered pension schemes are subject to different rules. For further information, see: Tax treatment of overseas individuals who are members of HMRC-registered pension schemes, below. UK tax relief on pension contributions to an overseas pension scheme—migrant relief UK tax relief

Performers’ rights give performers and those having exclusive recording contracts with performers various rights, separate from and independent of any copyright or moral rights that may exist in the underlying works. They protect a performer’s live or recorded dramatic and musical performances from having unauthorised recordings or broadcasts made of them, and from other unauthorised dealings in them. Performers also benefit from certain moral rights and the right to equitable remuneration for the playing of records. Like copyright, these exist without any requirement for registration in the UK. Performers’ rights are granted under sections 180–212A of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988). This Practice Note signposts where specific provisions are located within the CDPA 1988 and provides a brief overview of the key elements of protecting, exploiting and enforcing performers’ rights and rights in performances in the UK, linking out to detailed guidance on specific issues. The focus of this Practice Note is on CDPA 1988 but, where relevant, it also signposts key provisions of other legislation, such the remedies set out in the Senior Courts

A fixed place of business in the UK through which a non-UK resident company's business is carried on, or an agent acting on behalf of the company, having and habitually exercising authority to do business on its behalf. Corporation tax is payable on profits attributable to the permanent establishment (PE).

The table lists completed all completed Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) phase 1 merger investigations and completed Office of Fair Trading (OFT) merger investigations since June 2013. For information on ongoing investigations see UK mergers—ongoing cases tracker. For details of completed phase 2 investigations, see UK phase 2 mergers—closed cases tracker. For details of appeals, see UK competition appeals—ongoing cases tracker. 2026 Parties (Case number) Industry sector Decision E.ON/OVO (anticipated acquisition) Utilities • Cleared—01/10/2026• Launch of merger inquiry—02/09/2026• Invitation to comment—08/07/2026 Welltower/multiple care homes (completed acquisitions) Healthcare and medical equipment • CMA accepts UiLs—10/09/2026CMA decision• Consultation on UiLs—30/07/2026• CMA extends consideration of undertakings offered—17/07/2026• CMA to consider undertakings offered—21/05/2026• Meets the test for reference—07/05/2026• Launch of merger inquiry—09/03/2026• IEO issued—03/02/2026• Invitation to comment—19/01/2026 Danone/Huel (anticipated acquisition) Food manufacturing • Cleared—20/08/2026CMA decision• Launch of merger inquiry—15/07/2026• Invitation to comment—27/05/2026 Seras Energy Ltd/G.I. Hadfield & Son Limited (anticipated acquisition) Distribution and service industries • Cleared—13/08/2026CMA decision• Launch of merger inquiry—17/06/2026• Invitation to comment—21/04/2026 Paramount/Warner Bros. Discovery (anticipated acquisition) Communications • Cleared—06/08/2026CMA decision• Launch of merger inquiry—09/06/2026• Invitation to comment—13/04/2026 eBay/Depop

The table lists all completed Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) phase 2 merger investigations and completed Competition Commission (CC) merger investigations carried out under the Enterprise Act 2002 and completed CC investigations under the Fair Trading Act 1973 dating back to 2000. For information on ongoing investigations see UK mergers—ongoing cases tracker. For details of completed phase 1 investigations, see UK phase 1 mergers—closed cases tracker. For details of appeals, see UK competition appeals—ongoing cases tracker. 2026 Parties Industry sector Issues Decision Vandemoortele/Délifrance (completed acquisition) Food manufacturing Horizontal overlaps in the supply of frozen laminated dough products • Cleared, subject to conditions• Interim report published—18/06/2026• Referred to phase 2 (following period to resolve concerns expired)—22/04/2026• CMA to consult on remedies Getty Images/Shutterstock (anticipated acquisition) Digital imagery Horizontal overlaps in the supply of digital content, including photos, illustrations, videos, and music • Transaction abandoned—07/07/2026• Cleared, subject to conditions—15/05/2026• Notice of extension published—11/03/2026• Interim report published—19/02/2026• Administrative timetable published—06/11/2025• Referred to phase 2—03/11/2025 ABF/Hovis (anticipated acquisition) Bakery products Horizontal overlaps in the supply of packaged, sliced bread and bakery products • Cleared—16/06/2026•

The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, Health Canada and Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration are piloting a Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Single Inspection Program. This pilot aims to establish a coordinated global approach to GMP inspections of foreign manufacturing sites of common interest. Using their collective inspection resources, each national authority has agreed to cover the scope of the other where possible, reducing the need for multiple inspections of the same site. This builds on their existing collaborative GMP arrangements and will aim to bring about more efficient inspection reliance processes, reduced regulatory burden on industry and enhanced collaboration in their regulatory oversight of common global supply chains.

This Practice Note is intended to be used for horizon scanning purposes to track the progress of key UK regulatory and legal developments in relation to the pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products and medical devices in the UK. This includes discussion of changes and initiatives related to the UK health technology assessment (HTA) and evaluation process which forms the basis for pricing and reimbursement decisions for innovative or novel healthcare technologies and treatments. Specifically, it tracks developments regarding: • Voluntary Scheme for branded medicines • Statutory Scheme for branded medicines • commercialisation and HTA reform • innovative health technologies—medicines and medical devices For more information on the operation of the current systems for pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products in the UK and EU, see Practice Note: Pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement. For a more brief introduction to the pricing and reimbursement stage of the commercialisation process when developers seek to translate treatments from the lab to patients, see Practice Note: An introduction to the regulation of medicinal products—Pricing and reimbursement and Commercialisation—overview

MLex: Complaints over UK companies’ handling of personal data are less likely to be investigated under a new Information Commissioner’s Office framework, which gives case officers greater discretion to archive lower-risk cases and focus on those that involve large numbers of people, children, serious harm or wider compliance issues. Every complaint will still receive an initial assessment and be recorded, the ICO said, but it argued that it can't guarantee to investigate every case in detail.