Energy analysis: On 23 June 2025, the government published its Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan (the Plan), which aims to double clean energy investment in designated 'frontier' industries to over £30bn per year by 2035. The Plan is one of a suite of plans to be rolled out by the government under the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy relating to eight sectors that the government refers to as the ‘IS-8’. The energy team of Herbet Smith Freehills Kramer LLP considers the matter.

MLex: UK banks Lloyds and Santander have been contacted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) following allegations that they were used by Iranian companies to move money around the world in breach of sanctions rules.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has published the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy 2025—a ten-year plan aimed at increasing business investment across eight growth-driving sectors, following a consultation launched in October 2024. The Strategy is designed to streamline and accelerate investment processes for businesses, while providing greater certainty and stability for long-term decision-making. Key sector plans include the Clean Energy Industries and Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plans. The Clean Energy Industries Plan sets out an ambition to double investment in frontier clean energy industries—including onshore, offshore and floating offshore wind, nuclear fission, hydrogen, carbon capture usage and storage, and heat pumps—to over £30bn annually by 2035. The Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan outlines a target to increase annual business investment from £21bn to £39bn by 2035, focusing on six priority industries: automotive, aerospace, batteries, space, advanced materials and agri-tech. These plans are supported by the Industrial Strategy Zones Action Plan, which brings the Freeports and Investment Zones programmes together as Industrial Strategy Zones, aiming to support regional and national growth and attract over £50bn in private investment into high-potential city regions and industry clusters.

MLex: The UK's push to shorten the securities trade settlement cycle means a tough summer for the group of financial services experts working to meet a September 2024 deadline to send a report to the financial regulator on how it should be done.

The recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive 2014/65/EU (MiFID II) introduced commodity derivatives position limits, position management controls and a reporting regime which are aimed at preventing market abuse and supporting orderly pricing and settlement conditions by improving transparency and oversight of financial markets. The regime came into force on 3 January 2018. This Practice Note sets out the UK provisions which implemented the MiFID II requirements as well as the reforms that are being made to the UK’s post-Brexit commodity derivatives regulatory framework. For information on the reforms of the UK’s commodity derivatives regulatory framework taking effect on 6 July 2026 and 1 January 2027, see Reform of the UK’s commodity derivatives regulatory framework below. UK’s implementation of commodity derivatives framework In March 2015, HM Treasury (HMT) published a consultation on the transposition of MiFID II. The consultation closed on 18 June 2015 and in February 2017, HMT published its findings. In HMT's response, it set out that: • the position limits regime would be transposed in the UK through Parts 3 and 6 of the Financial

Law360, Expert Analysis: For the first time, the UK is facing a claim under the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Convention. Philipp Kurek, Partner at Signature Litigation, discusses the UK’s first ICSID appearance and how it serves as a reminder, for both policymakers and investors, of the reach of bilateral investment treaties (BITs), into sensitive areas of domestic regulation.

Law360: Proposals to radically expand access for members of the public to court documents risk disproportionately burdening court staff and lawyers with work and could create additional costs, legal experts say.

This Practice Note provides practical guidance on the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the UK’s trade in goods under the CPTPP. As such it provides guidance on the treatment of goods from other Member States and the tariff elimination commitments of the Member States. It also provides guidance on trade in agricultural products as well as tariff-rate quotas and the administration thereof. Lastly, it also provides guidance on the rules of origin applicable to most goods (which exclude textiles, apparel and automotive vehicles). Introduction THE CPTPP is a free trade agreement made up for 11 countries, being Australia Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. It follows on from the original Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) to which the United States was also a negotiating partner. In fact, the CPTPP incorporates all of the provisions of the TPP save for the provisions relating to accession, entry into force, withdrawal and what constitutes the authentic texts of the TPP. Several

The Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (Regulation (EU) 600/2014) (MiFIR) introduced a transaction reporting regime to enable competent authorities to detect and investigate potential instances of market abuse, and to monitor the fair and orderly functioning of markets and investment firms’ activities. As MiFIR and the regulatory technical standards (RTS) in relation to the transaction reporting provisions of MiFIR, Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/590 (RTS 22), applied directly in the UK (when the UK was still a member of the EU), they did not, in the main, require transposition in UK law or rules to have effect in the UK. 11 pm (GMT) on 31 December 2020 (IP completion day) marked the end of the Brexit transition/implementation period entered into following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Following IP completion day, key transitional arrangements come to an end and significant changes began to take effect across the UK’s legal regime. Article 26 of Assimilated Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 (UK MiFIR) and Assimilated Regulation (EU) 2017/590 (UK RTS 22), were on-shored into UK law with only minor ‘quick-fix’

CASE HUB ARCHIVED—this archived case hub reflects the position at the date of the decision of 13 February 2026; it is no longer maintained. See further, timeline. Case facts Outline European Commission merger investigation into the proposed acquisition of Downtown Music Holdings LLC by Universal Music Group N.V. (M.11956). The transaction involves horizontal overlaps in the relation to the wholesale market for recorded music distribution and the provision of artist and label services in the EEA Latest developments On 13 February 2026, the Commission cleared the merger subject to commitments. The Commission found that the merger would not lead to a significant impediment of effective competition in the recorded music, artist and label services (A&L)and music publishing. However, it identified a concern in wholesale distribution due to Universal Music Group’s potential access to competitively sensitive data processed by Curve (covering rival artists) allowing it to derive insights into competitors’ performance by region and demographic groups, potentially conferring an unfair advantage.To address the Commission’s concerns, Universal Music Group and Downtown Music Holdings agreed to divest Curve in full, including

The United Nations AI Advisory Body has released its final report, 'Governing AI for Humanity', following global consultations and an interim report in December 2023 .The final report highlights the need for global AI governance, urges the UN to establish a globally inclusive AI governance system and proposes seven recommendations to address governance gaps. Recommendations include establishing an international scientific panel on AI, an AI standards exchange, a global fund for AI and an AI office which reports to the Secretary General. The report calls also for collaboration between governments and stakeholders to manage AI risks and ensure the protection of human rights.

The United Nations (UN) have reported that more than 200 representatives of States and international organizations have finalised another major reform in investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) at the UN Commission on International Trade Law. The statute will form the basis for the establishment of an advisory centre on international investment dispute resolution. It is expected to provide crucial legal services in the field of ISDS including training and representation support. Further preparatory work will be conducted in the coming months to operationalize the advisory centre.