In April, we discussed the first reported case on the application of the UK competition rules to land agreements (Martin Retail Group Ltd v Crawley Borough Council).

Whilst the competition rules against anti-competitive agreements can apply to franchise networks, the impact in practice has traditionally been low.

On 1 October 2014, the REACH Director's Contact Group (DCG), consisting of representatives from the European Commission, European Chemical Agency (ECHA), and industry associations, adopted two recommendation documents.

The UK's antitrust regulator (the Competition and Markets Authority) has recently published its priorities for the year in its annual plan 2018/2019.

The national competition authorities of Sweden, Italy and France, in coordination with the European Commission, are the latest regulators to have accepted commitments offered by Booking.com, Europe's largest online booking platform.

The CMA is a non-ministerial department, established by the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013.

In the UK, the investigation into unlawful restrictive agreements in the hotel online booking sector was closed by way of commitments offered by the parties.

A recent case has highlighted the potential liability of a company to its investors.

The Criminal Finances Act received Royal Assent last week.

Yesterday marked the end of contracting-out for defined benefit schemes and the start of increased National Insurance contributions for employers and members.

The Finance Act 2014 implements a number of changes which were announced in the 2014 Budget, including those relating to lump sums payable by to scheme members.

As low commodity prices continue, the risk increases that exploration and production companies without access to funding will struggle to meet their obligations to plug and abandon any suspended wells...

The UK's Competition Appeal Tribunal this week upheld a ruling that specialist doctors (consultants) must publish more information about their performance and their fees.

This week, the spotlight is on key regulatory risk issues currently faced by companies in the food and drink sector. - See more at: http://www.fieldfisher.com/publications/2015/09/food-for-thought-mapping-your-regulatory-risks#sthash.iTKlLZPY.dpuf

The Article 50 bill, which allows Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Brexit, has completed its journey through Parliament and received Royal Assent yesterday...

The Committees of Advertising Practice ('CAP') have a launched a consultation to consider their proposed new rule that "advertisements must not include gender stereotypes that are likely...

The European Commission's investigation into e-commerce, which started in May, will see more questionnaires dispatched this month focusing on the "power of online platforms".

Any member of the media industry not living under a rock will be aware that on Tuesday Culture Secretary Matt Hancock cleared the way for Comcast and 21st Century Fox to engage in the bidding war for Sky.

In the previous edition of this bulletin, we outlined the key changes to the creative industry tax credits legislation from the Autumn Statement of 2014.

On 5 December 2014, the government released in draft The Films (Definition of "British Film") Order 2015.