In The News

13 October 2020

As we have previously reported on this Blog the UK is due to table a National Security and Foreign Investment Bill before Christmas which is likely to bring in a system similar to the US CFIUS regime. However, the UK is not alone in tightening up rules on foreign investment as a reaction to certain hostile foreign actors investing in […]

12 October 2020

The discontinuance of Priadel, a lithium-based medication for the treatment of bipolar disease by the pharmaceutical company, Essential Pharma, has resulted in the UK’s principal competition regulator, the Competition & Markets Authority(“the CMA”) , launching an investigation under Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998  for alleged abuse of a dominant position. The investigation will look at whether Essential Pharma has abused […]

For the majority of cases in the Employment Tribunal, unlike most claims in the civil courts, each party is expected to bear their own costs, regardless of which party is successful. However, in the recent game changer costs hearing in Tan v Copthorne Hotels Limited, the Tribunal ordered the Claimant to pay the Respondent an unprecedented six figure sum, highlighting […]

Following an article published by Frances Murray of Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime department on 1st July three former employees of IT service provider Redcentric Plc appeared in court on 23rd September 2020 after an investigation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into alleged market abuse. Financial Conduct Authority Charges | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team Fraser Fisher, Redcentric’s former Chief Executive, former […]

06 October 2020

The ninth round of negotiations on the future UK-EU relationship, which was held from 29 September to 2 October 2020 ended without agreement. This was the last scheduled round of trade talks agreed by the UK and the EU in their negotiating plan back in July 2020. The UK has always maintained that there needed to be an agreement on a […]

On 29th September 2020 four individuals with links to the collapse of commodities trader Balli Group Plc (Balli Group) and its subsidiary Balli Steel Plc (Balli Steel) appeared in court charged with various fraud offences following a three-year investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. Serious Fraud Office Investigation | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team The Serious Fraud Office charged Nasser Alaghband, […]

01 October 2020

On 30 September 2020, Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, announced that it had issued a Statement of Objections (“SO”) to PayPoint Plc and its subsidiaries (“PayPoint”) in its investigation into a suspected abuse of dominance contrary to Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”) and/or the Chapter II prohibition of the Competition Act 1998. This represents the formal start […]

30 September 2020

The Chancellor’s Job Support Scheme (JSS), announced on 24 September is intended to further soften the blow of the continuing economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, as we move into the second wave in the U.K and brace ourselves for its economic impact. Whilst the current Job Retention Scheme (JRS) ends on 31 October, leaving those who have been […]

29 September 2020

The government has taken action to extend once again some of the protections given to commercial tenants under the Coronavirus Act 2020 that were due to come to an end on 30 September 2020. The moratorium on the landlord’s right to forfeit commercial tenancies for non-payment of rent has been extended to 31 December 2020. The restrictions on Commercial Rent […]

In a speech on 23 September 2020 the EU Executive Vice President and Competition Commissioner, Margrethe Vestager, emphasised the importance of the role of competition policy and the Digital Services Act in the EU’s recovery from COVID-19. The Commissioner said the EU remained committed, despite the COVID-19 crisis, to its objectives of advancing its work on the digital economy, the […]