We will shortly be retiring the Brexit Legal blog, however you can keep up to date on all trade related issues on our Trade Practitioner blog and all public policy related matters on our Capital Thinking blog. If you would like to receive client alerts around any of these issues you may wish to subscribe to our mailing list to ensure you receive insights tailored to your interests. The post So Long, Farewell appeared first on Brexit Legal ..read more

As expected, the market access to the EU for UK financial services firms has changed post-Brexit. The implications of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“Agreement“) for financial services are more severe than for example trade, and the effects come close to that of a hard Brexit. Andreas Fillmann explores what this means for UK Financial Services looking at equivalence decisions, general rules under the agreement, the prudent carve-out and the Joint Declaration on Financial Services Regulatory Cooperation in this article. The post Implications of the EU-UK Trade Agreement on UK F ..read more

Back in November 2020, the UK government published the Freeports Bidding Prospectus, formally opening the bidding process to establish what it hopes will be at least seven new Freeports across England. You can read our analysis of the tax reliefs contained in the Prospectus, here: Freeports in England: The Tax Offering. As part of the bidding process, the government invited stakeholders and potential bidders to submit questions, requesting clarification on any part of the Bidding Prospectus. On 18 January 2021, the government published a Freeports Clarification Q&A document that provides ..read more

With the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, the EU legislation governing the EU trademark and design system ceased to apply to the UK. While Brexit trade deal talks were in full swing, the SPB Team worked through all administrative details to comply with the new Brexit requirements, which took effect on 1 January 2021. Reinhart Lange, Kerry Lee and Dr Sandra Mueller look at what this means in practice The post Brexit Transition of EU Trademarks and Designs Accomplished appeared first on Brexit Legal ..read more

On 24 December 2020, after intensive negotiations, the EU Commission reached a preliminary agreement with the UK on the terms of its future cooperation with the EU. The result of nine months of negotiations is a 1,246-page trade and cooperation agreement. The preliminary agreement consists of three parts, as outlined in detail in a press release as follows: A free trade agreement – a new economic and social partnership with the UK The agreement covers not just trade in goods and services, but also a broad range of other areas in the EU’s interest, such as investment, competition, state ..read more

Join me on Monday 14th December when I will be in conversation with Paul Adamson, chairman of Forum Europe, editor of the online magazine Encompass and founder of the EU-UK Forum. He has been a prominent member of the Brussels policy community in a variety of guises for most of the UK’s period of membership of the EU. We will be discussing the developments from over the weekend and what happens next. Register here The post Brexit Stocktake – Where Are We? How Did We Get Here? What Happens Next? appeared first on Brexit Legal ..read more

Truck transport container on the road to the port. On Monday 16 November 2020, the UK government published the Freeports Bidding Prospectus, formally opening the bidding process to establish what it hopes will be at least seven new Freeports across England. The devolved administrations will oversee their own bidding process for creating new Freeports in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Here we look at the six key tax reliefs in more depth.   The post Freeports in England – The Tax Offering appeared first on Brexit Legal ..read more

The UK will leave the EU single market, Customs Union, and VAT and excise duty area on 31 December. From 1 January 2021, the UK will operate its own external border as a sovereign nation. Is your business ready for the looming deadline of Brexit?  Dealing with Brexit and the ongoing uncertainties about the COVID-19 pandemic, mean businesses and owners are in for a tough ride over the next few months, possibly much longer if the UK continues to face restrictions and possible additional tariffs, supply challenges and economic uncertainty due to Brexit. Business owners need to make difficult ..read more

With still no Withdrawal Agreement in place and eight weeks until the transition period ends, businesses should be planning now to ensure the continuity of EEA-UK data flows. Identifying affected intra-group, customer and vendor arrangements and preparing priority action plans is a crucial first step. Our guide prepared by Francesca Fellowes, Andrea Ward and Asel Ibraimova provides a checklist, due diligence questions and practical advice to help you navigate the process. The post Preparing For Data Privacy Compliance Post Brexit Transition appeared first on Brexit Legal ..read more

Brexit threatens to have a significant impact on all UK businesses when they are importing and exporting goods and services from suppliers in the EU, as well as EU businesses when they are exporting goods and services to the UK. As such, all businesses (particularly manufacturers and retailers) need to consider the impact of Brexit both as a buyer of goods and services from suppliers in the EU and when they are selling goods and services to customers in the EU. Our Intellectual Property & Technology Partner, Simon Jones, provides this helpful report detailing important considerations for y ..read more