Monthly Archives: August 2020

Agency Workers Regulations: Is your business compliant?

The government has recently introduced changes to the regime affecting the rights and entitlements of agency workers which have significant implications for those businesses who employ agency workers. The government commissioned The Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices with the …

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UK Sanctions – the start of a new era

UK Sanctions Post-Transition Period After the Brexit transition period (which ends at 11pm on 31 December 2020), EU sanctions will no longer apply in the UK.  The UK’s various sanctions regimes will come into force in their place under the …

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HMRC and furlough fraud

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (Scheme) has supported over nine million jobs in the UK and is due to end on 31 October 2020, having cost the Treasury over £30 billion. As the Scheme begins to wind down HMRC is …

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Another crypto-sham or simply a failed start-up?

On 28 July 2020, the High Court upheld a worldwide freezing injunction in a case of alleged investment fraud involving a Blockchain company and large volumes of crypto-assets. In the case of Blockchain Optimization S.A. and Petrochemical Logistics Ltd v …

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Beware the return of the Crown Preference

The Finance Act 2020, which received Royal Assent on 22 July 2020, will partially restore HMRC’s position as a preferred creditor in insolvencies from 1 December 2020. Crown Preference was abolished in 2002, leaving HMRC to rank equally with unsecured …

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Sanctions Update: Appeal dismissed in Lamesa Investments Limited v Cynergy Bank Limited

Background  Last year, the High Court held that UK based retail bank Cynergy (“Defendant”) could cease to make interest repayments under a loan facility with Lamesa Investments (“Claimant”) due to the real risk of facing US secondary sanctions.   The Claimant’s ultimate beneficial owner, Mr Vekselberg, had been placed on the US list of “Specially …

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Croudace Homes Ltd v PRB Wiring Solutions Ltd: Timing important when challenging adjudicator’s fees

The TCC has confirmed in Croudace Homes Ltd v PRB Wiring Solutions Ltd  [2020] EWHC 2139 (TCC) that a party intending to challenge the reasonableness of an adjudicator’s fees, should take effective action to do so and in any event …

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Wirecard – has the German financial regulator lost its immunity?

Wirecard’s collapse – the activities of BaFin (and the FCA) Valued at over €20 billion less than 2 years ago, the financial technology group’s share price plummeted by a dramatic 95% in a matter of days in June this year, …

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Making an Impact – The value of a Data Protection Impact Assessment

Even the UK government has apparently overlooked the implications when designing its track and trace programme. Article 35(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), as applied in the UK under the Data Protection Act 2018, states: Where a type …

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New regulation supports businesses using online platforms to trade

On 12 July 2020, the P2B Regulation (Regulation 2019/1150 on promoting fairness and transparency for business users of online intermediation services) became applicable in the UK. The Regulation is aimed at online marketplaces and search engines and their dealings with …

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