A UT is a CIS under which trustees hold assets on trust for unitholders, except that it does not include a contractual scheme (section 237 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000)). The trustees hold legal title to the fund’s assets but are legally obliged to apply the assets for the benefit of the unitholders. A fund manager will then provide investment advice to the trustees. UTs are mainly used as investment fund vehicles. For tax purposes, UTs can be categorised as: • unauthorised unit trusts (UUT): a UT that has not been authorised under FSMA 2000 • authorised unit trusts (AUTs): a UT that is authorised under FSMA 2000, s 243 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

An insurance or pension plan whose investment performance is directly linked to the performance of the funds selected by the policyholder.

The payment made by the Authority to Project Co for the facility (if one has been refurbished or constructed) and for providing services in relation to the facility.

A local authority which itself conducts the functions which would otherwise be discharged separately in non-metropolitan areas by county councils and by district councils.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This Practice Note discusses the historical background to the EU unitary patent (UP) and Unified Patent Court (UPC), as well as some details about how both the patent and the court would work. For detailed information about the structure, jurisdiction and competence of the UPC and for a discussion about first instance and Court of Appeal procedure which explores and explains the Rules of Procedure of the UPC, see Practice Note: Unified Patent Court—procedure. The UPC opened for business on 1 June 2023 after a three-month sunrise period starting on 1 April 2023. This followed a number of setbacks, including the UK’s departure from the EU and subsequent decision to withdraw from the system, and the German Federal Constitutional Court’s decision to uphold a complaint against the Unified Patent Court Agreement (UPCA). Historical background and concepts As far back as the 1950s, the six founding members of what is now the EU sought to introduce

Unite the union, has escalated its legal challenge against the government's decision to reduce winter fuel payments. Unite has formally applied to the High Court for permission to proceed with a Judicial Review, seeking to overturn the policy that now excludes all but the poorest pensioners from receiving these payments. This action follows an unsatisfactory response from the government to Unite's pre-action protocol letter, which included a refusal to reverse the decision. The application, made on behalf of Unite and 11 of its affected members, requests an urgent hearing due to the approaching winter and dropping temperatures. Unite's general secretary, Sharon Graham, has criticised the policy as 'rushed' and 'ill-thought-out', arguing that the government failed to follow proper legal procedures before implementation.

Law360: The UK government must tap in to £14.1bn of surplus funds held by the pension lifeboat scheme to boost the retirement benefits of pensioners denied inflation-linked raises, Unite, one of the largest UK unions warned.

NOTE—to see whether notification thresholds in the UAE and throughout the world are met, see Where to Notify. 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the UAE merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in the UAE? In December 2023, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) legislator enacted Federal Decree-Law 36/2023 on the Regulation of Competition (Competition Law 2023), which replaced the old competition law and included substantial amendments to the UAE’s merger control regime. One of the key changes is the introduction of turnover-based notification thresholds, in addition to the existing market share-based thresholds. With this the UAE follows a regional trend that saw turnover based thresholds being introduced in Saudi Arabia in late 2019 and in Kuwait in the summer of 2021, as well as reforms of existing merger control regimes in Egypt in December 2022 and Morocco in May 2023. The new merger control regime introduced by the Competition Law 2023 could not be enforced at that time. The Competition Law

1. What is the applicable legislation? Federal Law 32/2021 on Commercial Companies (Companies Law 2021) is currently the principal legislation governing the United Arab Emirates (UAE) FDI regime. The Companies Law 2021 was issued at the end of 2021 as part of a series of legislative reforms undertaken by the Federal UAE Government to modernize the UAE’s legislative framework across several areas and to encourage foreign investment. The Companies Law 2021 replaced the previous companies’ law, Federal Law 2/2015 on Commercial Companies (Old Companies Law 2015) and Federal Law 19/2018 on Foreign Direct Investment. Historically, UAE law required that UAE nationals hold a majority in all companies incorporated onshore in the UAE. Foreign shareholding was capped at 49%. Effective 27 September 2020 the Old Companies Law 2015 was amended by Federal Decree 26/2020 to allow up to 100% foreign ownership of UAE onshore companies under certain conditions. The Companies Law 2021, that replaced the Old Companies Law 2015, effective 2 January 2022, continuous to allow up to 100% foreign ownership

At the outset, it is pertinent to note that when dealing with a particular Emirate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the laws and regulations prescribed at both the Federal level and at the relevant Emirate level need to be considered. Further, in the UAE, there are several free zones and each free zone may have its own set of governing laws and regulations, Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) and Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) being the most important ones. Therefore, prior to any entry into dealings associated with a particular free zone, specific advice should be sought. Loan market and developments Please provide a brief overview of the current state of the loan markets in your jurisdiction and any significant recent market developments. Strong domestic economic conditions have contributed to the overall growth of the UAE banking sector in the past couple of years. Fueled by strong credit demand from consumers, businesses and financial institutions, lending activity is continuously increasing,

United Insurance Brokers Limited (UIBL), a UK insurance company, has been charged with failure to prevent bribery in a prosecution brought by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). The SFO alleges that UIBL's US-based intermediaries paid bribes to secure re-insurance contracts in Ecuador worth US$38m. If the case proceeds to trial, it will be the first SFO 'failure to prevent bribery' case to be heard by a jury. UIBL's representatives are scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 7 May 2025.

The United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS) is the region of waters surrounding the United Kingdom, in which the country claims mineral rights. This principally refers to the North Sea, where there are large resources of oil and gas.