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M&A hub: Developments driving and shaping M&A
Key legal and regulatory developments driving and shaping M&A
United Kingdom | Publication | March 2023
On February 28, 2023 the FTSE Women Leaders Review (successor to the Hampton-Alexander Review and the Davies Review) published its latest report. This is an independent, voluntary and business-led initiative supported by the Government, aimed at increasing the representation of women on FTSE 350 boards and in their leadership teams. For the first time data from the top 50 largest private companies is included in the report.
Key statistics are as follows:
Women on boards – 2022 progress
Reported numbers for women on boards of FTSE 350 companies, as of January 11, 2023 are as follows:
Women in leadership – 2022 progress
Reported numbers for women in leadership (defined as the Executive Committee and Direct Reports to the Executive Committee on a combined basis), as at October 31, 2022 show:
Recommendations
The four recommendations, which set expectations and aspirational goals for the next, and anticipated final stage in the journey to gender-balanced boards, and gender-balanced leadership teams by the end of 2025, remain as follows:
(FTSE Women Leaders Review – Achieving Gender Balance, 28.02.2023)
(FTSE 350 hits boardroom gender balance target three years early, 28.02.2023)
On February 28, 2023 HM Treasury announced the formal launch of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT). Backed by £5.5 million of Treasury and City of London Corporation funding, the CFIT is seeking to boost growth and innovation in the UK’s fintech sector.
The CFIT has been established in response to Ron Kalifa’s Review into UK fintech. Since the Kalifa Review was published in 2021, the UK government has been working across industry and regulators to deliver on its recommendations, including introducing a fast-track visa system for fintech scale ups and implementing an FCA scale box allowing innovators to trial new products.
The ambition for CFIT is to ensure the UK can be a leader not only for fintech start-ups, but also the best place in the world to scale a business and take solutions from IP creation through to widespread adoption. Successful implementation of CFIT should then drive job creation across the UK, achieve global reach, and provide better financial outcomes for consumers and SMEs.
(HM Treasury, New national hub for fintech to be launched at Leeds event, 28.02.2023)
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Key legal and regulatory developments driving and shaping M&A
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On May 14, 2024, Lena Haffner, Innovation Lead Germany at Norton Rose Fulbright, shared her insights on “How do you make a law firm AI ready?" at Legal Revolution 2024, one of Europe’s leading conferences in legal innovation and technology. Her lecture focused on developing a comprehensive roadmap for integrating AI into law firms, emphasizing the importance of developing a robust AI strategy and fostering an innovation-ready culture. Key topics covered in the lecture included strategic planning, skills development, multidisciplinary teamwork, and strong AI governance.
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Artificial intelligence (AI) raises many intellectual property (IP) issues.
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On December 27, 2023, the European Union’s new Anti-Coercion Instrument (Regulation 2023/2675) (the ‘ACI’) came into force. It aims to protect the European Union (the EU), and its Member States, from economic coercion by third countries. This could be a double-edged sword for businesses, however. While it provides a mechanism for shaping the EU response to injurious third-country measures, it also generates additional regulatory risk for those operating both within and outside the EU.
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