The rise of the influencer Long gone are the days where brands could rely simply on purchasing advertising space in newspapers or investing in eye-catching brochures to display their products. Now, the world is their oyster with the advance of the internet and the smartphone. Social media is a key player in this digital change for brands, as they can easily cost effectively advertise their products to particular market segments using social media channels, and endorsements from social media influencers. With as many as 17% of people having made a purchase from a brand after seeing someone endo ..read more

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Some key points in the Government’s response Some of the key points in the Government’s letter of 2 October 2024 are set out below. Conditional payment provisions As mentioned in our previous Insight “HK Security of Payment Bill: an insolvency exception to ban against “pay when paid” clauses?”, some stakeholders suggested that cases of non-payment caused by insolvency of contractual parties at upper tiers in the supply chain should be an exception to the ban against “pay when paid” clauses. The Government responded that if such an exception is introduced, all the sub-contractors down the suppl ..read more

Reminder: What is ‘Without Prejudice Privilege’ (“WPP”)? WPP is a form of privilege which can be relied on to prevent certain communications being used in court. This rule is primarily founded on “the public policy of encouraging litigants to settle their differences rather than litigate them to the finish” (Lord Griffiths, Rush & Tompkins Ltd v Greater London Council). The ‘without prejudice’ label is often deployed broadly in sensitive commercial communications. To gain the protection of WPP, however, the communications must represent a genuine attempt to settle or resolve an e ..read more

A recent Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) settled enforcement action serves as an excellent reminder of the risk of operational integration to firms that operate multiple advisory entities, especially where one of those entities claims an exemption from registration.  Depending on the degree of operational integration, the SEC may treat them both as a single adviser, thus jeopardizing the exemption and exposing the firm’s entire advisory structure to enforcement.[1] In the most recent enforcement action, two separate affiliated advisory entities were at issue.  One was a re ..read more

Green Belt policy reform The ‘fundamental aim’ of the Green Belt as stated in the NPPF is urban containment. The NPPF contains strong protections by imposing strict tests to be met before Green Belt land can be released for development. The policy revisions proposed will not change the strict policy tests but are designed to release more land from the Green Belt allocation, particularly for housing, where development needs cannot be met in a local area using non-Green Belt land, so that these protective tests would not apply.  Government has repeatedly emphasised its preference for utilis ..read more

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Proposed ‘brownfield passports’ are being considered by the Government as a measure to increase planning certainty and reduce development risk to encourage the development of urban brownfield land. They would set parameters about the type and form of development that would be acceptable on urban brownfield land, with default approval unless specified exclusion apply, for example flood risks that cannot be mitigated.  Various options as to how ‘brownfield passports’ could be introduced are explored using national policy, via the new National Development Management Policy (NDMP) (to be intr ..read more

FRC Annual Review of Corporate Reporting 2023/24 The Financial Reporting Council (“FRC”) has published its latest review of corporate reporting. The quality of reporting has been maintained across FTSE 350 companies but there is some evidence of a widening gap in reporting quality between companies in the FTSE 350 and other companies. Key messages: Continued need for improvement in relation to impairment and cash flow statements. Clear and consistent disclosure of uncertainties, risks and assumptions remains an area of focus amidst geopolitical tensions and low growth in many econom ..read more

Case 1: The Manchester Ship Canal Company Ltd v United Utilities Water Ltd Water law statute does not oust private law nuisance claims against polluting sewerage undertakers. Supreme Court considers whether a private landowner may bring claims in nuisance or trespass when its waterway is polluted by discharges of foul water maintained by a statutory water company. Read more > Case 2: Tanfield and others v Meadowbrook Montessori Ltd Classroom chaos: the costly consequences of unlawful forfeiture The court dismissed a winding up petitio ..read more