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Auditors may owe duty to buyer of shares despite disclaimer
21 March 2024The High Court found that there would be a real prospect at trial of the buyers of shares of a company succeeding with a claim that auditors would be liable to them for failures when preparing the company’s accounts, despite a contractual disclaimer.
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Pendulum swings back in favour of SMEs and the economy. Investors beware.
21 March 2024The ups and downs of the thresholds for being a high-net-worth investor or self-certified sophisticated investor
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Unfair prejudice petitions - statutory limitation periods do apply
21 March 2024The Court of Appeal ("COA") has recently confirmed that statutory limitation periods under the Limitation Act 1980 ("LA 1980") do in fact apply to unfair prejudice petitions under the Companies Act 2006 ("CA 2006"), despite it having been understood for over 40 years that they did not.
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European Commission proposes significant revisions to the European Works Council Directive
20 March 2024The European Commission has published a draft directive that would significantly amend the 2009 European Works Council Directive. If enacted, these reforms would have profound implications for all businesses with a European Works Council. However, enactment of the draft directive in its current form remains far from certain with the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers expected to adopt conflicting positions, and European Parliamentary elections being due in a matter of months.
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Ads & Brands Law Digest: February 2024
20 March 2024Welcome to the February 2024 edition of our Digest, covering legal and regulatory developments from the last few weeks relevant to advertising, marketing and brand-owning businesses. As usual, for each item we provide a succinct summary accompanied by a link to the full text of the relevant official source or our own report.
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Rates and limits for employment law
19 March 2024Various employment-related rates and limits change every year, usually in April. Here’s our at-a-glance table of the current key figures.
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Lewis Silkin has advised Fluent on its $7.5 million series seed investment round
Deal
19 March 2024Lewis Silkin has advised U.K. startup, Fluent on its $7.5 million series seed investment round led by Hoxton Ventures
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How would you like your justice served?... ...well done (outcome following full due process), medium, or rare (trial by media)
19 March 2024The FCA has recently committed to carrying out enforcement cases more quickly as it seeks to increase the deterrent impact of its enforcement actions.
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Non-disclosure agreements in employment – James Davies writes for Solicitors Journal
Press
18 March 2024Following the publication of the Legal Services Board’s report on the call for evidence on the misuse of non-disclosure agreements, James Davies looks at the submissions related to employment and the provision of inadequate legal advice
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US/UK M&A: Risk Allocation
18 March 2024In our second article in the US/UK M&A series, we explore deal certainty, the different appetite for risk and measures that are used to apportion risk between the parties.
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UK M&A deal practice – an introduction for US-based buyers
18 March 2024We continue to see a lot of mid-market M&A activity in the UK driven by US-based buyers, including both corporate buyers and financial investors. Unsurprisingly, a lot of that activity is focused on sectors such as technology, creative and high-value manufacturing businesses.
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EPO fee increases
15 March 2024The European Patent Office (EPO) is introducing a new schedule of official fees, which will apply to payments made from Monday 1 April 2024. The new fees represent an increase of, on average, 4%. There are, however, some notable exceptions, with the third, fourth and fifth year renewal fees increasing by 30%, 28% and 8% respectively. Subsequent renewals have not changed significantly. As such, the EPO appears to be targeting recovery of renewal fee income that has reduced in recent years, due to a reduction of the average time to reach grant.
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MAC to carry out rapid review of Graduate route by 14 May 2024
15 March 2024The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been commissioned to make a rapid review of the Graduate route, with its report due to be published by 14 May 2024. Employers should plan for potential restrictions to this route or its abolition.
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EMI options: Top 10 mistakes uncovered on an exit – and how to avoid them
15 March 2024In this article we explore the key issues around granting Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) options, an extremely popular employee incentive mechanism for qualifying small and medium sized companies, thanks to their unrivalled tax benefits and the flexibility permitted around setting their terms.
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Gender critical beliefs in the workplace
14 March 2024A flurry of recent cases explore the protection against discrimination available to employees when manifesting their gender critical beliefs – both at work and online. We consider the cases and offer suggestions about how to support all employees and avoid conflict.
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New Immigration Rules radically reform Skilled Worker route
14 March 2024This is the biggest reform of UK work routes since Brexit. The clear message from Government is that net migration must be reduced. Most changes affect Skilled Workers and come into force on 4 April 2024, however other work routes are also affected.
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Lewis Silkin has advised Finboot on its latest investment round
Deal
13 March 2024Lewis Silkin has advised Cardiff-headquartered tech firm Finboot on its latest funding round. The latest round of investment has been led by strategic investment company SABIC Ventures together with the UK’s largest investment service Wealth Club.
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Platform Workers Directive Suddenly Passed
12 March 2024The long-promised, interminably-debated and much-amended EU Platform Workers Directive has been passed. The final version delegates key decisions on who is a platform worker to the Member States, while strengthening controls over automated decision making and the need for human involvement in decisions affecting workers.
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AI 101: An Introduction
Podcast
12 March 2024Listen here for the first in our series of podcasts on all things AI in which we’re exploring the key legal issues arising from this hot topic.
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Unveiling the Struggles of Hong Kong’s Invisible Workforce
12 March 2024According to government statistics as of 2022, there are more than 338,000 foreign domestic workers (“FDWs”) in Hong Kong, which accounts for almost 5% of Hong Kong’s population. Nearly 10% of households in Hong Kong depend on FDWs for housekeeping and to look after their family members. As such, FDWs are more than just employees; they are the backbone of many households. However, despite the significant role they play in our society, FDWs face a myriad of challenges. This article explores the legal and social challenges they must navigate.