Restriction on termination clauses in supply contracts The Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020 (CIGA 2020) introduces a permanent change to the use of termination clauses in supply contracts by introducing a new provision, section 233B, into the Insolvency Act 1986 (IA 1986). As a result of the measure, where a company has entered an insolvency or restructuring procedure or obtains a moratorium, the company’s suppliers of goods and services (with certain prescribed exceptions) will not be able to rely on contractual terms to terminate the contract, stop supplying, or vary the contract terms with the company (for example—increasing the price of supplies). The customer is required to pay for any supplies made once the insolvency process has commenced, but is not required to pay outstanding amounts due for past supplies while it is arranging its rescue plan. The

The register of overseas entities was launched on 1 August 2022 . Overseas entities who want to buy, sell or transfer property or land in the UK, must register with Companies House and declare their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, HM Government accelerated the passing of the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 (EC(TE)A 2022). EC(TE)A 2022 requires overseas entities to register with, and provide details of their beneficial owners to, UK Companies House before the overseas entity can be registered as the legal owner of UK land. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published technical, non-statutory guidance (BEIS Guidance) to assist understanding of the register of overseas entities and the requirements that the EC(TE)A 2022 places on those overseas entities that own, or seek to own, land in the UK. The BEIS Guidance describes the process by which these requirements can be satisfied, including guidance on the verification mechanism. It should be read

Commercial analysis: To what extent can a principal restrict its liability under a contract governed by the Commercial Agents (Council Directive) Regulations 1993? Jeremy Schrire, partner at King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin, considers the court’s decision in Charles Shearman v Hunter Boot Ltd.

Ireland-Employment analysis: This article was written by A&L Goodbody’s Pensions Team. The Regulation (EU) 2022/2554 (the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA)) Registers of Information (ROI) update by the Pensions Authority gives temporary relief, but trustees must stay compliant and strengthen data ahead of 2028.

Contaminated land liabilities An innocent purchaser or tenant of a contaminated site is at risk of inheriting various liabilities associated with existing contamination. The table below sets out the environmental liability regimes for brownfield sites and Lexis+® UK's associated Practice Notes. Environmental liability regime Practice Note Contaminated land regime Contaminated land—who may be liable? Environmental damage liabilities Environmental damage—potential liabilities Planning regime Environment Agency guidance for planning applications in England Third party civil claims Private nuisance and the rule in Rylands v Fletcher—common law liability for environmental harm There are also indirect liabilities such as accounting and reporting obligations, loss of property value and increased professional fees. As a result, the Law Society has issued a practice note on contaminated land (formerly the green card warning) on what solicitors should do when advising on property transactions. Law Society practice note on contaminated land The Law Society's practice note on contaminated land advises solicitors to consider whether land contamination is an issue in all

The Insurance Distribution Directive (IDD), Directive 2016/97/EU defines insurance distribution as: ‘the activities of advising on, proposing, or carrying out other work preparatory to the conclusion of contracts of insurance, of concluding such contracts, or of assisting in the administration and performance of such contracts, in particular in the event of a claim, including the provision of information concerning one or more insurance contracts in accordance with criteria selected by customers through a website or other media and the compilation of an insurance product ranking list, including price and product comparison, or a discount on the price of an insurance contract, when the customer is able to directly or indirectly conclude an insurance contract using a website or other media.’ The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) defines insurance distribution activities by reference to certain activities as specified in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 (RAO), SI 2001/544, which are carried on in relation to a contract of insurance or rights to or interests

There is no statutory right to time off (paid or unpaid) in either of these situations. Attendance at a tribunal hearing is different from jury service, for which an employer must permit time off. This answer therefore incorporates best practice, and considers reputational and policy issues. In short, the time off should usually as a matter of good practice be allowed, but an employer will generally have a degree of discretion as to whether it needs to be taken as paid or unpaid, or annual leave. Often the key consideration in these situations is whether the time off will be paid or unpaid. As is often the case, a written policy is advisable as it will assist an employer in treating requests consistently. See Practice Note: Witnesses—employment tribunals. For witness expenses, see Practice Note: Costs in the employment tribunal—Costs orders relating to expenses. Under the previous regime, which applied to tribunal claims brought on or before 5 April

Transfer by way of gift—general considerations It is important to highlight that the formalities for the transfer of a legal interest in land still apply regardless of the amount of consideration. Therefore, even if the transfer is by way of gift, it is still a registrable disposition which must be completed by registration under section 27 of the Land Registration Act 2002 (LRA 2002). The HM Land Registry Practice guide 7: entry of price paid or value stated data in the register (LRPG 7), paras 5 and 11 sets out the guidelines as to what will be included on the register where there is no payment made in respect of a transfer. In cases where no payment is made or the price cannot be calculated HM Land Registry will make a value stated entry or will omit the entry

Agricultural tenancies granted before 1 September 1995 are governed by the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (AHA 1986), which grants security of tenure and other rights to tenants of agricultural land (see Agricultural holdings (formerly 'Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies')—overview and Practice Note: Agricultural tenancies governed by the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986). AHA 1986 operates by converting certain short term tenancies (including tenancies at will and certain licences) into tenancies from year to year (subject to exceptions). Tenancies granted for two years or more automatically convert (again, subject to exceptions) into tenancies from year to year at expiry. There is an odd lacuna in AHA 1986, in that it offers no security of tenure to tenancies granted for more than one year but less than two.

A statutory declaration allows an individual to make a legal declaration confirming that something is true for the purposes of satisfying some legal requirement or regulation when no other evidence is available. The standard form of a statutory declaration

Valuation can be a very difficult issue, particularly where relations between joint venture parties have broken down. Different valuers can often reach very different conclusions based on the same accounts or other valuation materials, depending on the assumptions they make. There are broadly two different approaches to the issue of valuation. One is to set out in as much detail as possible in the joint venture agreement, the basis of valuation and the assumptions on which valuers must proceed. The other is to use 'market forces' to settle a price. If the first approach is chosen, the parties will need to agree a valuation method appropriate to the joint venture business. It will not be enough to specify 'market value', since there is rarely any genuine 'market' for a stake in a private company. In the early stages of a joint venture,

The Charity Commission’s Protecting charities from harm: compliance toolkit provides guidance in Chapter 2 in respect of matters including due diligence. It defines due diligence as the range of practical steps that need to be taken by charitable trustees in order to be assured of the provenance of charitable funds and confident that they know the people and organisations the charity works with, and able to [sic] identify and manage associated risks. Where a charity is left money or other assets by way of a legacy in a Will, the relevant due diligence relates to the provenance of those funds, though the charity will clearly also have an interest in ensuring that the administration of the estate is dealt with properly and efficiently. The guidance makes reference to the ‘know your’ principles,