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Six month imprisonment in first ICO computer misuse act prosecution
Is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) extending the scope and severity of its enforcement powers?
Read moreBupa fined for systemic data protection failures
What if an employee goes rogue with your personal data? Will you be able to show effective oversight measures including monitoring of employee access to databases?
Read moreEquifax fined £500,000 for data breach of 15m UK customers
Had Equifax taken adequate and effective measures to protect customer data?
Read moreIreland’s Data Protection Commission launches investigation into Facebook’s data breach
On 28 September, Facebook disclosed that hackers had stolen keys that allowed them to access up to 50m user accounts with the potential for a further 40m which may have been compromised. The hack allowed the hackers to use the accounts as their own, reading and writing private messages and posts.
Read moreICO Calls for views on GDPR update to Direct Marketing Guide
What should we expect from the ICO’s updated Direct Marketing Guide?
Read moreWhat if there’s no Brexit deal?
Where does a no deal scenario leave our obligations under EU data protection principles?
Read moreWatch out! Internal settlement negotiations may not always remain "internal"
WH Holding Limited (1) West Ham United Football Club Limited (2) v E20 Stadium LLP [2018] EWCA Civ 2652 finds that internal settlement negotiations are not protected by litigation privilege.
Read moreHealth and safety update December 2018
Welcome to the latest edition of our health and safety update where we look at the health and safety stories that have recently hit the headlines as well as the latest fines and sentences that have been handed down.
Read moreOn the twelfth day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…twelve judges judging
It attracted nothing like the controversy of the US Senate's confirmation of US Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh. However, the decision of the two selection commissions to recommend, and of the Lord Chancellor to recommend to the Prime Minister, the appointment of Lady Hale to the Presidency of the UK Supreme Court and of Ladies Black and Arden to the Court marked historic firsts in 2018.
Read moreOn the eleventh day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…eleven groups a-growing
Unlike Scrooge, litigation will not wake transformed on Christmas Day into a gentler, kinder activity. But it is undergoing a slower transformation with the growth of various forms of group litigation in England.
Read moreWhite Paper on National Security and Investment
In our last blog, published on 11 December 2018, we explained the motivation behind the UK government's white paper on national security and investment. In this blog, we explain more of the detail in those proposals.
Read morePension Transfers – FCA provides an end of year report
As the end of the calendar year approaches the FCA's recent publication indicated that the regulator remains concerned as to the suitability of pension transfer advice. If the FCA's recent review was an end of term school report this would be best summed up as "could do much better".
Read moreVacation Rentals – taxpayer had legitimate expectation that HMRC guidance could be relied on
In R (on the application of Vacation Rentals (UK) Ltd) (formerly The Hoseasons Group Ltd) v HMRC [2018] UKUT 383 (TCC), the Upper Tribunal (UT), has held that HMRC was bound by its published guidance in Business Brief 18/06 (BB18/06) concerning the treatment of payments for card handling services.
Read moreOn the tenth day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…ten claims a-noticed
Christmas may come but once a year, but 2018 was book-ended by two cases in the Court of Appeal on claim notices in the context of share sale purchases.
Read moreA Signature Move in the Right Direction?
Earlier this year the Law Commission published a Consultation Paper on the use of electronic signatures for the execution of written agreements. Whilst the Law Commission does provisionally conclude that in its view an electronic signature is capable of complying with existing law, it published the Paper in order to seek views on whether the current law inhibits the electronic execution of written contracts, and what concerns stakeholders have regarding the use of electronic signatures.
Read moreProjecting into the future of the medical products sector
In the final instalment of our vlog series, we look at recently published books by Yuval Noah Harari and Stephen Hawking to help us better understand and project into the future of the medical products sector.
Read moreOn the ninth day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…nine losses mounting
It's rare for cases on damages to reach the Supreme Court, and there was just one in 2018: Morris-Garner v One Step (Support) Ltd (possibly particularly appropriate for a verse normally taken up with possibly aged leaping lords).
Read moreOn the eighth day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…eight duties owing
To borrow from a distinctly non-Christmassy text: to owe or not to owe a duty? That is often the difficult question. (It could be worse: o-ho-ho-ho-we, yes, it could.) By way of a round-robin letter on the topic, by and large, 2018 was a good year for.
Read moreHuawei and UK National Security - A new technology cold war?
Chinese technology giant, Huawei, has been making plenty of headlines recently. First, a number of Western governments (including the US, Australia and New Zealand) have banned Huawei equipment from being used in 5G networks, citing national security concerns. Next, Huawei's CFO was arrested in Canada in connection with alleged breaches of international sanctions.
Read moreOn the seventh day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…seven fraudsters fleeing
A Home Office report in July 2018 found that in 2015/16 there were 3.6m incidents of fraud with an immediate cost of £3.04bn and 2m incidents of cybercrime with an immediate cost of £526m. It seems improbable that the number or value of those incidents has declined since then, and certainly fraud of all types has had a busy 12 months in the English courts.
Read moreOn the sixth day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…six exclusion clauses
Geese, which normally feature in this verse, can pack a nasty bite. In a gaggle of cases this year, exclusion clauses bit claimants hard – but in two cases the claimants successfully fought back.
Read moreOn the fifth day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…five time bars!
A defendant who can rely on a limitation defence strikes gold. However, the extreme impact of a time bar in wiping out a claim, however meritorious, combined with the impenetrability of some parts of the Limitation Act 1980, makes limitation a fertile source of dispute, and so it proved in 2018.
Read moreAre the US courts eroding collective redress? Why England may be becoming a more attractive place for class actions
The UK may be becoming a more favourable jurisdiction than the US for class actions or collective redress.
Read moreOn the fourth day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…four contracts
Questions of contractual interpretation can be hard nuts to crack. We pick out today some nuts that you might find at the bottom of your legal stocking this year.
Read moreArtificial intelligence and diagnostics in the medical sector
Our Medical and Life Sciences team take a look at the use of artificial intelligence and diagnostics in the second instalment of this 3 part vlog series.
Read moreOn the third day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…three corporate crimes
Beware of employees bearing gifts of frankincense, myrrh and especially gold: 2018 saw the first conviction after a contested prosecution for the corporate offence of failing to prevent bribery, under s7 of the Bribery Act 2010.
Read moreTax update December 2018
In this month’s update we report on (1) the published response to the consultation on creating a “fund structure” within the Enterprise Investment Scheme for investment in innovative knowledge-intensive companies; (2) the published response to the consultation on extending the IR35 rules to the private sector; and (3) the published response to HMRC’s tax abuse and insolvency discussion document. We also comment on three recent decisions relating to (1) penalties attaching to employment intermediaries returns (2); penalties for failing to file tax returns; and (3) CGT holdover relief where the transferor was a foreign controller of the transferee.
Read moreLivery business qualifies for BPR for IHT purposes
In HMRC v Personal Representatives of the Estate of Maureen M Vigne [2018] UKUT 357 (TCC), the Upper Tribunal (UT), in dismissing HMRC's appeal, has confirmed that a livery business attracted business property relief (BPR) under section 105, Inheritance Tax Act 1984 (IHTA), as the business did not consist of wholly or mainly in making or holding investments.
Read moreOn the second day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…two LIBOR reps
The long-running and hard-fought saga of Property Alliance Group v Royal Bank of Scotland came to a close with the Court of Appeal's judgement in March 2018, after four and a half years and at least 12 reported decisions. So what will we remember from the litigation?
Read moreOn the first day of Christmas, the High Court gave to me…a privilege in E-N-RC
With Advent upon us, and Christmas on the horizon, RPC takes a musical look back at the most important English judgments of 2018. Liability for all failures of rhythm and rhyme is hereby excluded.
Read moreThe Serpentine Trust Ltd – HMRC entitled to raise VAT assessments despite binding contractual agreement
In The Serpentine Trust Ltd v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 535, the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has held that although HMRC had agreed with the taxpayer one basis for calculating VAT, under its alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedure, it was not precluded from raising VAT assessments on a different basis because the agreement reached was ultra vires and therefore void.
Read moreProduct liability update November 2018
A round-up of product liability news and stories making the headlines.
Read moreA battle between two warriors
The IPEC has recently considered the protection afforded to trade marks with an average level of distinctiveness.
Read moreThe future of the medical products sector
In the first of our vlog series we focus on the future of the medical products sector, specifically where the sector is heading and what risks and opportunities might lie ahead.
Read moreVAT update November 2018
In this month’s update we report on new regulations adopted by ECOFIN which are intended to combat VAT fraud, infringement proceedings brought against Italy and the UK following publication of the so-called “Paradise Papers” and publication of the response to HMRC’s consultation on the “split payment” method of VAT collection. We also comment on three recent decisions relating to the scope of the FTT’s jurisdiction in relation to public law issues, input tax recovery by a student union shop and application of the reverse charge rules to investment management services received from outside the EU.
Read morePatel – HMRC ordered to close enquiry which was "drifting aimlessly"
In Patel v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 0561 (TC), the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) directed HMRC, pursuant to section 28A, Taxes Management Act 1970 (TMA), to close its enquiry.
Read moreCustoms and excise quarterly update November 2018
In this update we report on HMRC’s guidance on how to prepare for the Customs Declaration Service, the launch of the Customs Declaration Service and HMRC’s guidance on trading with the EU in the event of a no-deal Brexit. We also comment on three recent cases relating to the calculation of gaming duty, tariff classification of seasoned chicken meat and mobility scooters.
Read moreTerraLex guide to tracing assets around the world 2018
We are delighted to present the TerraLex 2018 Guide to Tracing Assets Around the World.
Read moreRegulation of cryptocurrencies inches ever closer
The long awaited regulation of cryptocurrencies has moved one step closer, with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announcing plans to consult on regulation before the clock strikes twelve on 31 December 2018. The news comes after pressure for regulation has grown following a $15 billion crash.
Read moreWealth and trusts quarterly digest
Welcome to our latest Wealth & Trusts digest. Our quarterly digest is specifically tailored for you and aims to provide up to date commentary, analysis and guidance on key sector developments. It is written by our wealth and trusts teams to assist you and your clients in responding to market trends and legal developments.
Read moreThe Barclays Case – Criminal Corporate Liability
The UK Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) final attempt to prosecute Barclays in connection with Qatari loans ended on October 26 with the rejection of its High Court application to reinstate criminal charges against the bank.
Read moreLetter of contract versus business common sense – latest from Court of Appeal
In the latest of a long line of higher court authorities debating the boundaries between black letter and more purposive approaches to contractual construction, the Court of Appeal has taken another step away from the high-water marks of the business common sense approach to contractual meaning.
Read moreThornton – Identifiable HMRC officer must determine penalties
In Robert, Adam and Dorothy Thornton (trading as A* Education) v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 568 (TC), the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has held that penalties for failure to file employment intermediaries returns (EIRs) were invalidly issued, as they had not been made by an identifiable officer of HMRC under section 100, Taxes Management Act 1970 (TMA).
Read moreAnti-money laundering legislation meets the art market
The art market is often described as the last unregulated market. Even if that is true, it is set to change in the next couple of years, with the market being brought firmly within the ambit of European Union anti-money laundering legislation.
Read moreHong Kong's Court of Final Appeal rules on fraudulent or deceptive conduct in share dealings
In another landmark case for the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) in Hong Kong, the Court of Final Appeal has ruled on the ambit of section 300 of the Securities and Futures Ordinance (Cap. 571 – the Ordinance), and confirmed that it covers insider trading in shares listed outside Hong Kong.
Read moreCrypto Assets and ICOs as seen by the SMSG - Part 2
On 19 October 2018, the Securities and Markets Stakeholder Group (SMSG) published a report on initial coin offerings (ICOs) and crypto assets. The report is a useful one-stop shop for relevant definitions, classifications and statistics and we summarise the highlights in this two-part series.
Read moreInterest-only mortgages - the new PPI?
A new wave of complaints is hitting the mortgage market, concerning interest-only mortgages taken out before the financial crisis. Why is this happening and what should we look out for?
Read moreLSB approves SRA’s revolution in legal services regulation
The Solicitors Regulation Authority’s new regulatory arrangements were approved by the Legal Services Board on 6 November 2018. Part of the changes will allow solicitors of England & Wales to sell legal advice to the public from within unregulated firms, as long as they steer clear of reserved legal activities such as conveyancing and litigation. These firms will not be regulated by the SRA and will not need to take out full SRA-mandated professional indemnity insurance. These new kinds of legal practice offer unique opportunities for competition with big law firms, and for in-house legal teams to be converted from a cost to a profit centre. RPC has exceptional degree of experience in advising on innovation in the the provision of legal services.
Read moreGriffiths – appeal against HMRC penalties allowed as notice to file was invalid
In Griffiths v HMRC [2018] UKFTT 0527 (TC), the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) has allowed the taxpayer's appeal against penalties imposed by HMRC as HMRC's notice to file a tax return was invalidly issued and in any event, the taxpayer had a reasonable excuse for failing to submit his return.
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