Publication
Europe steps up its fight against fraud
European watchdogs have long been focusing on enforcement against corporate crime with a great focus on anti-corruption, economic sanctions and money laundering.
Global | Publication | March 2018
The Financial Conduct Authority has announced its intention to retire the LIBOR benchmark interest rate setting scheme by 2021.
It is not yet clear what will replace it or whether transitional arrangements will be put in place to cover current financing transactions at the date of LIBOR retirement.
Parties should bear this in mind when negotiating new contracts where LIBOR may be relevant. They will also need to consider what the consequences of LIBOR retirement will be for any existing contracts that continue after that date.
In a release dated 8 March 2018, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated that: “Overall, the Retail Prices Index (RPI) is a very poor measure of general inflation, at times greatly overestimating and at other times underestimating changes in prices and how these changes are experienced ... : we do not think it is a good measure of inflation and discourage its use ... ”
The ONS prefers the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) as a measure of inflation. In recent years, the RPI inflation rate has generally been around 1 percentage point higher than the CPI: a shame for business rates payers as the level of business rates is linked to the RPI. Three cheers then for the announcement in the Autumn Budget that business rates indexation will switch from RPI to CPI in April 2018, a move worth £2.3bn to businesses over the next five years, according to Chancellor Philip Hammond.
On the subject of business rates, the Chancellor also announced in the Spring Statement that the next rates revaluation will be bought forward by a year to 2021, having already stated that revaluation will in future take place every three, rather than five, years.
Publication
European watchdogs have long been focusing on enforcement against corporate crime with a great focus on anti-corruption, economic sanctions and money laundering.
Publication
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC Act) received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024 and is generally expected to come into force in autumn this year.
Publication
Head of Legal Operations, Stephanie Hamon, will be joining the panel discussion on "Simplifying Legal Tech Adoption and Implementation" at the Legal Tech Talk conference on June 13th (3:30 - 4:15 PM).
Subscribe and stay up to date with the latest legal news, information and events . . .
© Norton Rose Fulbright LLP 2023