Competition analysis: In his Opinion in the Tondela Case delivered on 15 May 2025, Advocate General (‘AG’) Emiliou at the Court of Justice of the EU argues that no-poach agreements entered into between competitors have all the characteristics to be considered prima facie restrictive of competition ‘by object’, unless the content, the legal and economic context and the objectives of the specific agreement at issue cast doubt on the harmful nature of the agreement or if the no-poach agreement is ancillary to a transaction which is itself not anti-competitive. In application of the Meca-Medina case law, AG Emiliou argues that the objective of the no-poach agreement in question (ensuring a fair and orderly end of the 2019/2020 football season during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic) was worthy of protection under EU law and absent any equally effective and less restrictive measures necessary and proportionate to that objective. Written by Peter Giese, Kirsten Baubkus-Gérard, Elisa Götz, lawyers at CMS.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has published guidance on how to comply with the provisions of the amended Regulation (EU) 2024/1701 (the amended Variations Regulation), which will apply to new variation applications implemented and submitted to the EMA from 1 January 2025, in hopes to make lifecycle management more efficient. The guidance provides information on the implementation of the amended Variations Regulation, which includes amendments to the Article 5 procedure, the annual update for minor variations of Type IA, the procedure for grouping and super-grouping of Type IA variations, the annual update of a human influenza or human coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine, the mandatory and voluntary use of the work sharing procedure, the variations to human medicines for public health emergencies and to the Annexes. The guidance also provides recommendations on unforeseen variations. Any variation applications submitted before 1 January 2025 should follow the current provisions set out in Regulation (EC) 1234/2008, as amended by Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/756.

This Resource Note outlines the main provisions of Chapter 4 of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (DTR 4), which deals with the periodic financial reporting requirements for an issuer whose transferable securities are admitted to trading on a UK regulated market. It highlights relevant commentary, analysis and resources to assist with the interpretation of, and provide practical guidance on the application of DTR 4. Materials covered in this Resource Note include, where relevant: • the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Handbook • FCA guidance in its Knowledge Base—Procedural notes and Technical notes (which constitute formal guidance and are binding on the FCA) • FCA consultation papers, discussion papers, policy statements, feedback statements and warnings • Primary Market Bulletins and other FCA publications • former UKLA technical and procedural notes and the UKLA's newsletter List!, where still relevant to the interpretation or application of a provision • assimilated EU legislation • EU Directives and EU Regulations, where relevant to interpretation of a provision • Lexis+® UK analysis and resources Setting the scene • What

This week’s edition of Public Law weekly highlights includes a hand-picked summary of news analysis, legal updates and case law from the world of Public Law. These highlights include the latest updates on Brexit, equality and human rights, constitutional and administrative law, public procurement, information law, management and strategic planning, subsidy control and state aid, and other public law news. Key updates include a preliminary ruling request under the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement, analysis of a recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights, a new Joint Framework on the legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, a recent sifting update and a new document collection on government standard contracts.

A letter from the Counsel General for Wales, Mick Antoniw MS, has resulted in a day of resignations for Welsh politics on 16 July 2024, including the First Minister's (FM) resignation. Just after 9.30 am on 16 July 2024, Antoniw posted a letter on X (formerly known as Twitter) in which he called on Vaughan Gething to resign as First Minister of Wales, drawing attention specifically to the Senedd's vote of no confidence in the FM in early June 2024. Antoniw wrote, 'you have lost a vote of confidence in the Senedd. That is something I regard as being of major constitutional importance.' Gething had refused to resign following the vote, which was not legally binding and was passed with a majority of two, as two Labour members of the Senedd had been absent with illness. The background is a series of troubles for the FM, including a row on political donations and reports that, as health minister, he had deleted chat messages during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Shortly after the Counsel General published his letter, it was reported that he had resigned, together with three other Welsh ministers, including Julie James, Lesley Griffiths and Jeremy Miles. The FM announced his own resignation a few hours later.

This week's edition of Life Sciences weekly highlights includes news that the MHRA has updated its International Recognition Procedure (IRP) guidance, introducing changes to validation requirements, approval timelines, and eligibility criteria, including for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). Also included is news that the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) has completed the revision of its Good Clinical Practice (GCP) guideline with the publication of Annex 2 covering decentralised and pragmatic clinical trials and the use of real-world data, and that the DHSC has launched a UK-wide consultation on restrictions for tobacco and vaping product packaging, appearance and retail display. Further news includes the MHRA has announced the sentencing of four members of an organised criminal group following an investigation into the illegal online supply of medicines, prescription-only medicines (POMs) and unauthorised medicinal products, as well as news that the UK Covid-19 Inquiry has published its Module 5 report identifying procurement failures in the supply of healthcare equipment during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) has published a research note examining five years of global credit default swap (CDS) market activity from 2021–25, reporting that activity reached a record USD 41.8 trillion in 2025, surpassing the previous peak of USD 38.7 trillion in 2022. Index CDS drove the increase, accounting for 93.3% of total activity at USD 39.0 trillion, while single-name CDS activity stood at USD 2.8 trillion. The index-to-single-name ratio fell sharply to 8.5x in 2023 amid banking sector stress before recovering to 13.8x in 2025. Single-name CDS peaked at USD 3.3 trillion in 2023 following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and other lenders. Index and single-name CDS responded differently to market events. During the 2020 coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the 2025 US tariff shock, index CDS rose more sharply than single-name activity. CDX.NA.IG and iTraxx Europe together accounted for approximately 75% of index CDS activity in 2025, at 43.4% and 32.4% respectively. Market breadth remained stable, with 710–760 unique reference entities executed each quarter. Central clearing covered 78.1% of index CDS notional and 63.1% of single-name CDS notional in 2025. In H1 of 2026, total CDS trading reached USD 27.4 trillion, up 27.8% year-on-year, with index CDS rising 28.3% to USD 25.7 trillion and single-name CDS growing 19.8% to USD 1.7 trillion.

This week's edition of Public Law weekly highlights includes breaking news that the coming into force of the Procurement Act 2023 has been postponed until February 2025, plus the latest version of the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide. It also includes feature analysis of the Supreme Court’s decision in Lipton v BA City Flyer Ltd on Air Passenger Rights and post-Brexit application of retained EU law. Case analysis this week further includes expert comment on Apple’s gender bias case over refusal of remote working. This edition additionally includes updates on constitutional and administrative law; public procurement; State accountability and liability; State security and intelligence; subsidy control and State aid; judicial review; equality and human rights and information law.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. A significant restructuring of the UK listing regime came into effect on 29 July 2024 which included the removal of the premium and standard listing segments and the creation of a single listing category for equity shares in commercial companies. The commercial companies category is heavily disclosure-based and sits alongside other listing categories such as the shell companies, secondary listing and closed ended investment fund categories.  The UK Listing Rules sourcebook came into force to implement the changes and the Listing Rules sourcebook was revoked. For further information see Practice Note: Reform of the UK listing regime—fundamentals. This Resource Note reflects the listing regime prior to 29 July 2024 and has been retained for reference purposes. This Resource Note highlights relevant commentary, analysis and resources to assist with the interpretation of, and provide practical guidance on the application of, Chapter 10 of the former Listing Rules in force prior to 29 July 2024. Materials covered in this Resource

This week's edition of Public Law weekly highlights includes upcoming Module 2A hearings for the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, scrutiny of the UK-Rwanda Agreement and statements from the Northern Ireland Office on the formation of a Northern Irish executive. Additionally featured are selected Brexit headlines, including the first special report of Session 2023–2024 from the European Scrutiny Committee, a round-up of EU-UK TCA Specialised Committees’ publications and the latest Brexit SIs. This edition further includes updates on constitutional and administrative law; State accountability and liability; equality and human rights; State security and intelligence; subsidy control and State aid and management and strategic planning. Cases this week include Phillips v Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, where an application to set aside a sanctions designation on human rights grounds was refused.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. Context As a result of the 23 June 2016 UK referendum on membership of the EU, which voted with a 52% majority voting in favour of the UK leaving the EU, government published the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (EU(W)A 2018). EU(W)A 2018 makes a range of legislative provisions in connection with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, to provide a functioning statute book on the day the UK leaves the EU. As a general rule, the same rules and laws applied after exit day (11 pm on 31 January 2020) as before, until the implementation period completion date. For more on this, see Practice Note: Brexit legislation tracker [Archived]—Brexit SIs—commencement. From the point of its exit from the EU, the UK's relationship with the EU is governed by the Withdrawal Agreement, an international treaty negotiated by the UK and the EU during the withdrawal period, which aimed to: • tie up the administrative and financial loose ends associated with the UK's membership of the EU

This Resource Note outlines the main provisions of Rules 10 and 11 of the AIM Rules for Companies (AIM Rules), which deal with the principles of disclosure of information by an AIM company and disclosure of price sensitive information. It highlights relevant materials, commentary and guidance from the London Stock Exchange (LSE), as well as Lexis+® UK analysis and resources, to give practical guidance on the interpretation and application of Rules 10 and 11 of the AIM Rules. Material covered in this Resource Note include: • the AIM Rules • the AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers (Nomad Rules) • Inside AIM, the periodic publication from the AIM Regulation team • AIM Notices, which are issued periodically, and contain information on AIM regulatory and administrative matters • Lexis+® UK Practical Guidance and Lexis+® UK Legal Research resources Setting the scene • Rulebook:AIM Rules for Companies • What it covers: Rule 10 sets out the principles relating to disclosure of information by an AIM