48 results found

As the first anniversary of the Failure to Prevent Fraud offence approaches, organisations must shift from simply implementing compliance frameworks to demonstrating their effectiveness. With the implementation period over, can your fraud prevention procedures withstand regulatory scrutiny and support a reasonable procedures defence?

England's new Private Rented Sector Database introduces mandatory landlord registration requirements that create immediate compliance obligations for lenders, receivers and insolvency practitioners enforcing over tenanted residential property. Without active registration entries, courts cannot grant possession orders except in limited circumstances, fundamentally altering enforcement strategies and timelines.

The FCA has published its final report on the distribution of pure protection products, examining firms' fair value assessments under the Consumer Duty and PROD 4. The regulator found significant gaps in how insurers and intermediaries evidence their fair value conclusions, particularly around commission structures and guaranteed acceptance over 50s products, signaling that supervisory action will follow for firms with weak frameworks.

The Chancellor has issued a striking letter to ministers addressing consultation culture, legal risk, and judicial review in infrastructure planning. This entry examines the implications for DCO regimes, explores cost recovery concerns, reviews Scottish wind farm EIA requirements following the Raeshaw Farms judgment, and analyzes Irish planning reforms alongside a recent English housing refusal involving industrial pollution.

HMRC's new anti-avoidance information notice regime grants broad investigative powers to gather information from persons suspected of connection to tax avoidance arrangements. The guidance reveals an expansive "connected person" test that may extend beyond promoters and taxpayers to include advisers, accountants, insurers and other professional service providers involved in making arrangements available, organizing them, or deriving benefits from them.

Public sector organisations face unique challenges when managing telecoms rights under the Electronic Communications Code. Understanding how the Code interacts with regeneration programmes, compulsory purchase powers, and statutory duties is essential for avoiding delays and maintaining strategic flexibility across public estates.

The publication of Donna Ockenden's final report into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has reignited debate about whether a statutory public inquiry into maternity and neonatal services across England is needed. This article examines how such an inquiry could be designed to investigate rigorously while minimizing trauma to affected families, drawing on lessons from the Ockenden review's trauma-informed engagement methodology.

Quick Service Restaurants have evolved dramatically over the past decade, transforming from simple eat-in or takeaway establishments into complex hybrid operations serving as restaurants, takeaways...

The FCA's Mortgages and Open Finance Policy Sprint brought together 80 stakeholders to explore how open finance could transform mortgage journeys in practice. The sprint identified that access to more data alone won't solve market challenges - success depends on whether data can be treated as trusted evidence, supported by proper infrastructure, accountability arrangements, and participation from key organizations. Critical questions emerged around liability for incorrect shared data, advice boundaries for

Acquiring or developing land with telecoms apparatus requires careful navigation of the Electronic Communications Code. Operators hold powerful statutory protections that can restrict landowners' ability to relocate or remove equipment, creating potential delays and unexpected costs. Understanding your rights and obligations early in the development process is essential for managing timelines, negotiating effectively, and avoiding complications once construction begins.

The FCA and Bank of England have simultaneously published significant material examining how frontier AI models with cyber capabilities are being used in financial services. While these publications introduce no new rules, they reveal detailed regulatory thinking on governance, harness design, and organisational resilience that signals the direction of future supervisory expectations.

The European Commission has proposed the EU KIDS Act, a comprehensive regulatory framework establishing a minimum age of 15 for social media access and mandating safety-by-design principles for digital services accessible to minors. This analysis explores how the Act's four pillars compare with the UK's Online Safety Act, examines its relationship with existing EU digital regulations including the DSA and upcoming Digital Fairness Act, and outlines the practical compliance implications for platforms operati

The law on cohabitation has struggled to keep pace with changing family structures, leaving unmarried couples with far fewer rights than married partners. With the government's proposed reforms potentially bringing the biggest change to cohabitants' rights in a generation, understanding the current legal position, the consultation proposals, and how other jurisdictions approach this issue has never been more important.

HMRC has proposed new legislation requiring taxpayers to correct known inaccuracies in tax returns, with failures to act being treated as deliberate behaviour attracting higher penalties and extended assessment periods. The draft legislation introduces a statutory duty to correct errors once identified and grants HMRC power to issue Customer Correction Notices, fundamentally shifting tax compliance from a technical exercise to a governance obligation that boards must actively oversee.

The EU's Right to Repair Directive, which entered into force on 31 July 2026, introduces comprehensive measures to encourage product repair and extend consumer goods' lifespan as part of the bloc's circular economy strategy. Alongside the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation and the Green Transition Directive, these reforms impose new obligations on manufacturers, importers, and distributors to make products more durable and repairable while providing enhanced consumer information about repair opti

New government guidance clarifies how biodiversity net gain requirements will apply to nationally significant infrastructure projects from November 2026. The mandatory 10% habitat replacement obligation introduces complex planning considerations including baseline calculations, biodiversity gain plans, and coordination across multiple approval bodies.

The UK Government's decision to transfer anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing supervision of legal service providers, accountancy firms and trust and company service providers to the FCA marks a fundamental shift in the UK's financial crime framework. With implementation expected to begin in 2028, approximately 60,000 businesses will face direct FCA supervision for the first time, requiring enhanced governance, risk management and regulatory engagement capabilities.

Hosting overseas employees in the UK creates complex tax, payroll and immigration obligations that extend far beyond contractual arrangements. What practical risks emerge when international working becomes routine, and how can employers ensure compliance when form doesn't override substance?