Sky Blog
As we wrote toward the end of 2020, the risks associated with business and human rights, and ESG more generally, have led a growing number of companies to create human rights/ESG management systems or to integrate human rights/ESG into existing …
At 11pm on December 31, 2020, the Brexit transitional period ended and the UK’s autonomous sanctions regime, consisting of approximately 30 regulations, came into force. It is largely based on the EU’s sanctions legislation that was previously implemented in the …
The European Commission retained Ernst & Young (“EY”) to undertake a detailed study of “short-termism” and, implicitly, to report whether it was a major roadblock to more sustainable corporate governance. Their study was then presented at a three day international …
In July 2020, the European Commission published the “Study on directors’ duties and sustainable corporate governance” by EY. The report purports to find evidence of debilitating short-termism in EU corporate governance and recommends many changes to support sustainable …
Bank bailouts during periodic financial crises aim to stop financial panic and restore the stability of the financial system. Even if they are undesirable, future bank bailouts are unavoidable due to political and political economy reasons, whether or not they …
In the last few months, the UK and EU have separately outlined major plans that will soon bring a renewed focus to their fight against money laundering. Businesses will need to prioritise ensuring that their anti-money laundering (“AML”) controls are …
Competition v Privacy. Competition and consumer authorities are increasingly considering the implications of digital platforms’ ownership and use of consumer data and whether concerns about harm to privacy are indicative of a lack of competition.
For a long time the …
Interest in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies of companies and their impact on the wider community has continued to increase amongst institutional investors, retail shareholders and the media during the first half of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and …
On July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) struck down the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield as a valid mechanism for transferring personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA) to the United States (Schrems II). The …
The global financial crisis highlighted the interconnectedness of international financial markets and the risk of contagion it posed. The crisis also emphasized the importance of supranational regulation and regulatory cooperation to help address and ameliorate that risk.
Yet, although capital …
In the public imagination, Wirecard was Germany’s biggest tech company success story – a €24 billion high-growth payment processor doing deals across the globe and pioneering new technologies. While naysayers complained about its opaque corporate and financial practices and raised …
On 28 May 2020, the General Court of the European Union (“General Court”) handed down its judgment in Case 399/16 CK Telecoms UK Investments Ltd v European Commission (the “Judgment”), annulling the decision of the European …
As the COVID-19 pandemic causes commercial and financial difficulties, many businesses will be considering M&A to address strategic issues, take advantage of market opportunities, and, in some cases, ensure their survival. This memorandum considers the merger control implications of the …
The coronavirus pandemic has weakened European economies and companies. EU and national governments have expressed concern that foreign investors may opportunistically take advantage of the crisis to acquire domestic companies regarded as strategic.
Acquirers should anticipate the risk that governments …
Amid the ongoing push for standardized, comparable and decision-useful ESG disclosures, regulators in the United Kingdom and the European Union have proposed additional disclosures and benchmarks to promote sustainable economic activity. The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published …
In 2014, luxury firms LVMH Moët Hennessy, Louis Vuitton, and Hermès signed a truce, ending a long and arduous battle popularly known as the “handbag war.” The melee erupted in October 2010, when the fashion giant controlled by Bernard Arnault …
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published “Guidance on the Functions of the CMA Under the Withdrawal Agreement” (Guidance), which sets out the regulator’s approach to merger and competition cases during the Brexit transition period that …
In 2020, businesses operating in the UK will need to grapple with the continued uncertainty caused by Brexit and will need to closely monitor a number of important corporate governance and reporting developments expected in the coming year.
In a new article, we aim to identify the elements and stages that have led to increased attention to corporate social responsibility issues, especially with regard to environmental, social, and governance factors, and to focus on the meaning of each …
The European Union has become more active in addressing EU common foreign and security policy (“CFSP”) objectives with the help of what it calls “restrictive measures,” i.e., EU Financial and Economic sanctions. As indicated in our recent client …