The FCA’s Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (SDR) regime is the UK’s flagship ESG regime, set to apply from May 2024 onwards. The SDR is primarily a product labelling regime which is accompanied by entity-level disclosure requirements, new anti-greenwashing guidance and ESG marketing requirements.
This implementation guide provides a practical overview of the regime and key points for firms to consider when launching an SDR labelled fund and completing entity-level disclosures.
Changes to the UK immigration system implementing the UK government’s plan to cut migration levels and curb abuse of the immigration system will come into effect between March and April 2024.
Greenwashing refers to the practice of making exaggerated, misleading or unsubstantiated claims in relation to the sustainability credentials of financial products and services. The risk of greenwashing claims has risen significantly in recent years, in tandem with investor demand for more sustainable investment products. This has been evidenced not only by well-publicized enforcement action both in Europe and the UK, but also by a flurry of recent claims by NGOs against financial institutions.
On 6 March 2024, the Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered his Spring Budget.
This contained a number of significant tax changes relevant to our clients, including changes to the way in which UK tax resident non-UK domiciled individuals will be taxed in future and a new advantageous tax regime for individuals becoming UK tax resident.
These changes are very significant and we recommend clients take immediate advice on the potential implications for them and their structures.
The EAT has decided that an employer’s liability for unlawful discrimination does not transfer under TUPE where the discriminator transfers but the victim of the discrimination does not. The position might be different though in relation to vicarious liability for negligent (rather than discriminatory) acts of an employee.
An employer did not breach its duty to make reasonable adjustments for an employee with a stammer when it held internal promotion interviews via video conference. The employee’s stammer made him curtail his answers in the interview, which negatively affected his assessment. However, he had not told his employer that his stammer might have this effect and, on the facts of this case, the employer was reasonable in not realizing it.
The government has announced the annual increases to tribunal compensation awards and statutory redundancy payments from 6 April 2024.
A number of employment law changes will, or are expected to, come into force in April in the UK that employers should make note of. We have summarized them here for reference.
On 13 February 2024, the FCA issued a Final Notice to Floris Jakobus Huisamen, the former director and compliance officer of London Capital & Finance plc (LCF), fining him GBP 31,800 and banning him from working in financial services in relation to misconduct connected to financial promotions issued by LCF. This Final Notice follows the FCA’s previous censure of LCF in October 2023 for connected behaviour. In this alert we draw out the key takeaways that compliance officers should bear in mind from the FCA’s enforcement action.
On 13 February 2024, the FCA issued a Final Notice to Floris Jakobus Huisamen, the former director and compliance officer of London Capital & Finance plc (LCF), fining him GBP 31,800 and banning him from working in financial services in relation to misconduct connected to financial promotions issued by LCF. This Final Notice follows the FCA’s previous censure of LCF in October 2023 for connected behaviour. In this alert we draw out the key takeaways that compliance officers should bear in mind from the FCA’s enforcement action.