Expert Analysis

• FCA Letter Highlights Football Clubs' Crypto Deal Risks

  

  The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent warning to Premier League football clubs about sponsorship arrangements with unauthorized crypto-asset businesses demonstrates its concerns over unlawful financial promotions and anti-money laundering compliance failures, both of which run the risk of significant reputational damage and criminal prosecution, says Sushil Kuner at Freeths.

• SRA Whistleblower Protections Will Test Legal Sector Culture

  

  The Solicitors Regulation Authority's recent extension of whistleblower protections to law firm employees helps close the long-standing gap between professional and ethical obligations, but it does not fully resolve the cultural and structural barriers to reporting legal industry misconduct, says Georgia Learoyd at Howard Kennedy.

• Parsing ICO Storage And Access Guidance Exceptions

  

  Recent final guidance on storage and access technologies from the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office reflects the government's emphasis on key data privacy concerns, though businesses should consider leveraging several crucial exceptions, say lawyers at Hunton.

• Int'l Bribery Enforcement Takeaways After SFO Conference

  

  While the U.K. Serious Fraud Office's recent conference demonstrated a global consensus on the importance of combating bribery and corruption, lagging enforcement from U.S. and U.K. regulators suggests that muscular supranational agencies may soon step up to lead cross-border investigations, say lawyers at Addleshaw Goddard.

• Making Deals Once EU Merger, Investment Screenings Overlap

  

  Though proposed updates would result in greater overlap between European Commission merger control efforts and foreign investment screening, dealmakers must understand how different objectives still drive these regimes and how this recalibrated regulatory environment will affect their transactions, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

• BP Board Coup Spotlights Powers To Remove Directors In UK

  

  Recent action taken against BP PLC’s chair reveals the authority conferred on boards by an organization's bespoke articles of association and stands as a reminder that director removal in the U.K. is not a simply a voting rights issue, raising questions about the allocation of power between boards and shareholders, say Dan Coppel and James Ford at Faegre Drinker.

• What EU Tech Licensing Changes Mean For Businesses

  

  Following the European Union’s modernization of the Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation, organizations should consider how the broadened antitrust safe harbor applies, particularly where technology licensing agreements involve data-sharing arrangements, territorial restrictions or competitor relationships, say lawyers at Steptoe.

• UK-Gulf Trade Deal Offers Key Benefits, But Hurdles Remain

  

  The U.K.’s recent free trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council is expected to deliver U.K. businesses a competitive advantage, with simplified procedures and tariff removal across manufacturing, services and digital trade sectors, but navigating Gulf regional tensions and differing regulatory regimes will create challenges, say lawyers at King & Spalding.

• Crypto Sector Sees Tougher Sanctions Compliance Demands

  

  The U.K. government’s recently announced Russian sanctions package focusing on crypto-assets is a clear indication that authorities consider the crypto sector a major enforcement area, firmly within the scope of financial sanctions law, says Thomas Cattee at Gherson Solicitors.

• AI Puts Financial Firms' Human Accountability To The Test

  

  A recent Financial Services Skills Commission report illustrates the paradox that artificial intelligence increases the need for human oversight while automating the pathways through which that expertise is developed, and financial firms whose governance evolves at pace with technology are poised to benefit the most, say Louise Neave and Jack Paul at Fox Williams.

• Why Tonzip Is Notable In English Sanctions Law Development

  

  The Court of Appeal's ruling in Tonzip Maritime Ltd. v. 2Rivers Pte Ltd., the latest in the English law of sanctions ownership and control, confirms that where a contract refers to sanctions exposure, the relevant question may be whether there is a real and objectively reasonable risk, not whether a sanctions breach has already been proved, say lawyers at Michelman Robinson.

• AI Makes Law Firm Change Management A Client Issue

  

  As artificial intelligence implementation is causing clients' expectations of outside counsel to shift toward greater risk control and more transparent value, successful law firm transformation and the preservation of professional trust will require governance, training and accountability, says John Hutchinson at Broadfield.

• How Firms Can Prepare For Increasing AI-Cybersecurity Risks

  

  The growing convergence between cybersecurity and artificial intelligence means that businesses need to recognize the breadth of the threat, and conduct repeated testing and adjustment to address the shifting risk landscape, say lawyers at Debevoise.

• EU AI Omnibus Makes Key Changes But Leaves Uncertainties

  

  The European Council and Parliament’s recent provisional agreement on the artificial intelligence omnibus delivers some simplification to the European Union AI Act and achieves a broadly balanced outcome, but whether it truly improves legal certainty will depend on the commission's ability to deliver the implementing acts, say lawyers at CMS.

• EU Protocol Strengthens Int'l Criminal Asset Recovery Powers

  

  The Council of Europe’s recently adopted protocol to the Warsaw Convention marks a significant evolution in the international asset recovery landscape, signaling a focus on proactive and coordinated methods that require organizations to consider how to respond quickly to unexpected enforcement action, say lawyers at Trowers & Hamlin.