The UK Government announced, on 31 January 2022, a planned expansion of the UK’s sanctions regime against Russia in relation to developments concerning Ukraine. Limited detail has been published, so far, on the scope of the proposed changes. The new sanctions will be introduced as part of new legislation due to be implemented by 10 February 2022.
NICE has produced a single guidance development manual, which describes how NICE conducts itself with each step and stage in its evaluation (NICE’s processes) and how NICE collects and considers evidence (NICE’s methods). The guidance development manual covers: Diagnostic Assessments Programme, Medical Technologies Evaluation Programme, Highly Specialised Technologies Evaluation Programme, Technology Appraisal Programme.
The UK’s Early Access to Medicines Scheme (EAMS) gives patients with life-threatening or seriously debilitating conditions access to medicines that do not yet have a marketing authorisation, when there is a clear unmet medical need. The existing EAMS began in 2014 and since then has granted 100 medicines a Promising Innovative Medicine (PIM) status and more than 40 Scientific Opinions have been awarded in a variety of therapeutic areas with unmet patient need.
Regulators and policymakers have left emergency measures behind and returned to their reform agendas. In this piece, Baker McKenzie regulatory experts set out the top ten UK developments for financial institutions and fintechs to watch in 2022 covering: good culture, Consumer Duty, BNPL regulation, crypto regulation, AML regulation, appointed representatives regime, financial promotions gateway, operational resilience, ESG regulation, divergence, Future Regulatory Framework Review.
The Department for International Trade and the Export Control Joint Unit published a notice to exporters on 10 January 2022 regarding compound penalties imposed on ten UK exporters for unlicensed exports of dual-use and military items and breaches of export license conditions between March and November 2021. The compound penalties imposed by HM Revenue & Customs ranged between GBP 1,000 and GBP 54,000 and related to unlicensed exports of dual-use goods, military goods and related activity controlled by The Export Control Order 2008.
The UK’s Plastic Packaging Tax is due to take effect from 1 April 2022 and will be payable by manufacturers and importers of plastic packaging containing less than 30% recycled plastic content at a rate of £200 per metric tonne where certain thresholds are met.
US partners and former US Department of Justice prosecutors William Devaney and Tom Firestone discuss with UK senior associate Andrew Matheson the ins and outs of the US approach to prosecuting companies and, perhaps more importantly, how that approach could be improved upon.
The National Security and Investment Act came into force this week, completing the overhaul of the UK’s foreign investment rules and creating a standalone foreign investment screening regime. The new rules require businesses and investors to submit mandatory notifications for certain acquisitions of and investments in companies operating in 17 key sectors. The rules also grant the UK Government extensive powers to investigate and impose conditions on a wide range of transactions, including corporate investments as well as asset transactions, on national security grounds.
The UK government has begun a consultation on disability workforce reporting. The consultation includes questions on current practice and explores the possibility of voluntary or mandatory reporting practices.
In this article, we highlight some key decisions and legislation of which employers should be aware in 2022 such as the Employment Bill, increase in statutory pay rate in April 20202 and decisions on discrimination and holiday pay