The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has published its response to HM Treasury’s consultation on asset management regulation, calling for a balanced regulatory approach that maintains investor protections while supporting the long-term health of UK public markets. The WFE warned that reforms could inadvertently weaken safeguards or deter public listings if not carefully implemented. It emphasised the importance of public markets for capital raising, price discovery, and transparent investment opportunities, noting that private markets also play a crucial role by serving as a pipeline for companies considering a public listing. The submission underlined that favouring less regulated private markets might exacerbate challenges such as the decline in new public listings and compromise the overall resilience and transparency of the financial ecosystem.

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) has written to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Crypto Task Force, International Organization of Securities Commissions’ (IOSCO) Fintech Task Force and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), warning of investor protection risks posed by third-party tokenisation of mostly US equities by unregulated brokers and cryptoasset trading platforms. These mimicked tokens are noted to often lack shareholder rights, transparency, clear disclosure and custody or legal enforceability, and are marketed to overseas and retail investors without adequate safeguards. The WFE highlighted key concerns and calls for regulatory parity, technological neutrality, cross-border supervisory co-ordination and clearer legal frameworks to uphold market integrity and protect retail investors.

The World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), the industry association for exchanges and clearing houses, has published industry-backed Transition Equity Principles, covering exchanges in every jurisdiction. They aim to improve access to capital for companies pursuing decarbonisation objectives, and provide investors with decision-useful information on issuers’ transition pathways.

Dispute Resolution analysis: The unusual circumstances of this case provided opportunity for the court to address key principles relevant to worldwide freezing orders (WFOs), contempt and cross-undertakings in damages. The WFO in question had been improperly obtained and discharged against certain defendants following the claimant’s, Mex Group Worldwide Ltd (MGWL’s), material non-disclosures coming to light. However, two defendants had not sought its discharge and were found in contempt for failing to comply with the WFO’s asset disclosure requirements. By way of this judgment, the court considered the penalty for contempt against those defendants, the overall costs of the action (including various applications) and enforcement of the cross-undertaking, with the judge finding sufficient evidence of loss to order an inquiry into damages. Overall, the court affirmed both the importance of full and frank disclosure and the ‘usual’ consequences when an interim injunction has been wrongly made, as well as emphasising that even improperly obtained WFOs must be obeyed until discharged. Practical implications written by Lauren Godfrey of Gatehouse Chambers.

The Welsh Government (WG) has published a written statement on the appointment of the external Ministerial Advisory Group on NHS performance and productivity. The statement by Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Miles, states that the advisory group will work independently from NHS Wales. It will look at strengthening current arrangements of the NHS and further improve performance and productivity. It will also focus on planned care, cancer performance, and reduce long waits.

The WHEB Asset Management (WHEB) has published its White Paper which emphasises the need for industry-wide agreement on stewardship and engagement definitions and practices. WHEB highlights that in September, the Financial Conduct Authority acknowledged that this area presents 'challenging' complexities. Additionally, the Financial Reporting Council began a 'significant update' to its Stewardship Code, with the aim to ease reporting requirements and enhance stewardship outcomes. The WHEB White Paper aims to promote industry dialogue about the inefficiencies within the 'stewardship ecosystem' which includes asset owners, asset managers, creditors, companies, regulators, investment consultants, advisors and service providers.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released a draft guideline aimed at improving the development of better-quality, age-appropriate medicines for children. The initiative responds to the global challenge of insufficient paediatric formulations, which often forces caregivers to modify adult medicines, such as crushing or splitting tablets, leading to safety and efficacy risks. Released in January 2025 for public consultation, the guideline is targeted at regulatory authorities and manufacturers worldwide, aiming to enhance the safety, efficacy, and accessibility of paediatric medicines. Feedback on the guideline is being accepted via an online platform until 7 March 2025, with final adoption expected in September 2025.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a consultation following its release of a draft update to its guidance on good practices of national regulatory authorities (NRAs) collaborative registration procedures (CRP) of medical device. The goal is to facilitate faster access to new medical products in low- and middle-income countries by leveraging prior approvals from stringent regulators or WHO prequalification. The guidance encourages NRAs to define clear pathways that rely on these prior reviews, align requirements with international standards, and leverage inspection reports and assessments conducted by WHO or reference regulators. It discourages routine pre-approval testing in favour of risk-based post-marketing surveillance. The guidance provides recommendations on dossier formats, review timelines, and outlines areas assessed by WHO and stringent regulators that can be relied upon by NRAs. Overall, the guidance aims to promote regulatory reliance and work-sharing models to accelerate availability of quality-assured medicines, biologics and in-vitro devices in resource-constrained settings without compromising standards. The deadline for submitting comments is 13 September 2024.

On 8 July 2024 WHO published the world's first medical device database to support governments, regulators and users in their decision-making while encouraging data consistency across borders. The online platform called MeDevIS (Medical Devices Information System) lists 2,301 medical devices covering various treatments and diagnoses, including neonatal care, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. WHO noted that more than 10,000 types of medical devices are sold worldwide but no central repository to support stakeholders exists. It consolidates a fragmented number of registries and helps avoid searching for information across multiple paper-based publications with non-standard device names. MeDevIS aims to be a valuable resource by providing a one-stop shop for information on medical technologies and making the naming of the medical devices simpler. MeDevIs incorporates the European Medical Device Nomenclature (EMDN) naming convention mostly used in Europe, and the Global Medical Device Nomenclature (GMDN), which is used by regulatory agencies in Australia, Canada, UK, US, among others. It was built based on its experience managing the WHO Priority Medical Devices List (MDL), which itself is based on the WHO Essential Medicines List (EML). WHO intends to continuously improve and expand the platform, engaging stakeholders and partners, and adding more technologies and devices used in various health areas, including pandemic and emergency settings.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)’s Arbitration and Mediation Center has launched a new Expert Determination service for disputes involving collective management organisation (CMO) tariff schemes. The service is intended to support the resolution of tariff-related disputes between CMOs and their users. WIPO has also invited members of the International Federation of Reproduction Rights Organisations to help identify CMOs that may be interested in participating as early testers.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Member States have approved a Treaty about intellectual property (IP), genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, which highlights the vitality of multilateralism in IP. The Treaty will require applicants to disclose the country of origin or source of the genetic resources where a claimed invention in a patent application is based on genetic resources and will introduce a mandatory disclosure requirement for patents based on genetic resources and/or associated traditional knowledge.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has announced the adoption of the Riyadh Design Law Treaty by its member states. This new treaty aims to simplify and harmonise design protection procedures globally, making it easier and more affordable for designers to secure international protection for their work. Key provisions include standardising application requirements, allowing flexible design representation methods, and establishing a 12-month grace period for disclosure. The treaty also addresses the protection of traditional knowledge and cultural expressions. WIPO reports that the treaty will come into force once ratified by 15 contracting parties.