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Let's talk antitrust: Discussing recent cases and emerging competition issues
Recent cases and judgments have shone a light on some emerging themes and trends that companies will want to consider as part of their risk management framework.
United Kingdom | Publication | March 2021
On March 11, 2021, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) published its Stewardship and Voting Guidelines 2021 to provide practical guidance for pension scheme trustees when considering how to exercise their votes at the annual general meetings of investee companies. The PLSA notes that it has reviewed its 2020 Guidelines and focused on ensuring they remain relevant amid the challenges posed by COVID-19 and a fast moving regulatory environment.
Key changes from the 2020 Guidelines include the following:
(PLSA, Stewardship and Voting Guidelines 2021, 11.03.2021)
(PLSA, PLSA strengthens Stewardship and Voting Guidelines to reflect pandemic and new climate regulations, 11.03.2021)
On March 11, 2021, the Home Office announced that it has launched an online registry for modern slavery statements. The aim is to improve transparency and accessibility by bringing modern slavery statements together in one place and making it easier for users to find and compare them. The registry follows commitment from the Government to strengthen the reporting requirements under Section 54 Modern Slavery Act 2015, following a consultation in 2019 on the Transparency in Supply Chains.
All organisations are strongly encouraged to submit their most recently published statement on the registry to demonstrate that they have reported. The Home Office notes that if an organisation is required to produce a statement under Section 54 Modern Slavery Act, in future it will be mandatory for the organisation to submit its statement to the registry as part of the proposed changes to strengthen the reporting requirements to that Act. These measures require legislative change and will be introduced as soon as parliamentary time allows.
(Home Office, Government launches modern slavery statement registry, 11.03.2021)
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Recent cases and judgments have shone a light on some emerging themes and trends that companies will want to consider as part of their risk management framework.
Publication
After a lacklustre finish to 2022 when compared to the vintage year for M&A that was 2021, dealmakers expected 2023 to see the market continue to cool in most sectors, in response to the economic headwinds of rising inflation (with its corresponding impact on financing costs), declining market valuations, tightening regulatory scrutiny and increasing geopolitical tensions.
Publication
On 18 September 2023, the CMA published its Initial Report (Initial Report) on AI Foundation Models (FM), supplemented in April 2024 with the publication of its “Update Paper” focused on potential antitrust risks associated with FMs and a “Technical Update Report” providing more detail on the development on FMs (collectively the “Reports”). Below, we consider these CMA publications.
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