A commitment to reduce public sector termination packages has seen the Government explore various proposals for reform in recent years; from draft regulations seeking recovery of termination payments, to a financial cap upon the amount of any indivi...

The security of personal information, including customer payment card data and related details, is integral to the functioning of retailers with an online offering, and there are serious consequences in the event of security breaches. Penalties...

Competition Law E-Briefing: Fashion sector competition probe On Tuesday 24 March 2015, the UK’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority (the “CMA”), opened an investigation into suspected anti-competitive arrangements in the UK ...

The protection of trade secrets has been on the European legislator’s agenda since 2011. It was felt that the lack of harmonisation in this field is very disadvantageous for cross-border innovation in Europe. After the initial report requested...

  Introduction On 6 May the European Commission (“the Commission”) announced the launch of a competition law inquiry into the e-commerce sector, where it is believed that companies who engage in selling via the internet may be employing methods...

New rules in the FCA’s policy statement on Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance (PS15/13) are about to change the way GAP insurance sold alongside the sale of a motor vehicle (add-on GAP Insurance) is sold to both consumers and commerci...

On 31 March 2015, the German Federal Cartel Office (“Bundeskartellamt”, BKartA) announced that it has blocked the proposed takeover of approximately 450 Kaiser’s Tengelmann supermarket branches by EDEKA, the leading German food ret...

It has been reported that the European Commission (the “Commission”) is asking retailers to detail the difficulties they face while trying to sell their products online, as part of the lengthy questionnaires sent to the retailers followi...

R (on the application of Tesco Stores Limited) v Forest of Dean District Council and (1) JD Norman Lydney Limited (2) Asda Stores Limited (3) Windmill Limited (4) MMC Land & Regeneration Limited1 The Court of Appeal, upholding a decision of the ...

On 9 September 2015, in his first State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for a review of the power wielded over food markets by groups of retailers and the “need to break some retail oligopolies&rd...

On 9 September 2015, in his first State of the Union address, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for a review of the power wielded over food markets by groups of retailers and the “need to break some retail oligopolies&rd...

The European Commission has launched three investigations into suspected breach of the competition rules by companies in the consumer electronics, videogames and hotel sectors.  The consumer electronics and videogames probes come out of the Com...

On 26 July 2017, the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) published an opinion issued by Advocate General Nils Wahl (the “AG’s Opinion”) indicating that luxury brands may prevent retailers from selling via online marketpla...

In July 2017, the German Federal Cartel Office (“FCO”) published a detailed guidance paper (the “Guidance Paper”) on resale price maintenance (“RPM”) in the retail food sector. The purpose of the paper is to expl...

The UK's Treasury Select Committee released a report into crypto-assets on 19 September.  The Committee’s key conclusion is that regulation of crypto-assets is necessary. Striking a negative tone, it identifies the problems of volatile pr...

The Covid-19 Block Exemption for the Retail Property Sector (the “Regulations”) were published on 24 March 2020 in response to the declaration of the National State of Disaster. The Regulations exempt certain agreements or practices with...

The EU single aviation market is the ...

Anzen Limited & Another v Hermes One Limited In the case of Anzen Limited v Hermes One Limited [2016] UKPC 1, the Privy Council considered the use of permissive language in an arbitration clause.  Specifically, the Council considered what o...

The Foreign Limitation Periods Act 1984 (the “Act”) sets out the procedure to be followed when a claim is proceeding in the courts of England and Wales and the laws of any other country apply. Given the international nature of the shipping industry,...

Suez Fortune Investments Ltd and another v Talbot Underwriting Ltd [2016] EWHC 1085 (Comm) Introduction On the 15 January 2015, the English Commercial Court handed down a decision that highlights the importance of compliance with disclosure obligati...

Following a consultation on the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the ‘Act’), the Government has confirmed that the way in which transport operators cap their liability to customers to compensate for delays or cancellations to services must be c...

Following a consultation on the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the ‘Act’), the Government has confirmed the way in which train operators cap their liability to customers to compensate for delays or cancellations to services must be consistent...

In our pre-referendum briefin...

What is the Digital Railway programme? The Digital Railway programme is a Network Rail led initiative to modernise train command, control and signalling systems used on the British railway network with the aim of substantially improving the capabili...

Executive Summary The European Commission has consulted on an implementing regulation which will provide additional detail for procedures and criteria to be followed by service facility operators in order to satisfy their obligations under Directive...

Background The Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) has recently published draft guidance on its approach to assessing rail franchise awards under its merger control powers (the “Draft Guidance”)1. The guidance has been ...

Background Following the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”), the Department for Transport (“DfT”) ran a consultation seeking views on the introduction of a “public service obligation levy&r...

Background On 16 October 2019 the Department for Transport (“DfT”) issued its “Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline Update” for Autumn 2019 (the “Enhancements Pipeline Update”). A copy of the Enhancements Pipeline U...

On 2 December 2019, the European Council agreed to update Regulation 1371/2007 (the “Regulation”) on rail passengers’ rights and obligations. The proposed amendments to the Regulation aim to strengthen the rights of passengers wher...

On 16 April 2019, a controversial 16-minute video containing footage of a what is believed to be a taxi journey taken by two Hong Kong celebrities, Andy Hui Chi-on and Jacqueline Wong, was published on the website of a local newspaper. This publicat...

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has published a set of guidelines (in draft) for public consultation. These will be absolutely key to providers of online services, such as social media, e-commerce, internet search engines, communication an...

On 1 May 2019 the UK government, through the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, launched a consultation on its proposals to regulate the security of consumer Internet of Things (“IoT”) or “smart” devices, whi...

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Quick Read Many readers may have chosen to skip looking at the Guidelines that the EDPB published for consultation recently, if you are one of them, and you routinely use CCTV (or other similar devices) within your business – you may want to h...

The Data Protection Commission (“DPC”) issued guidance on data sharing in the public sector. The DPC noted its support for developing more efficient and customer-centric public services and sought to clarify the public sector obligations...

CJEU Ruling on Cookies On 1 October 2019, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) gave a preliminary ruling1  on questions referred from the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice in Germany) that:   Consent is not validly ...

In its decision of 27. June 2019 (Ref. 6 U 6/19), the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main ruled that participation in a sweepstakes can be made dependent on participants giving their consent to receive future marketing via e-mail or calls. In...

Summary On 7 November 2019 the EDPS issued guidance on how to determine who is a controller, processor and joint controller. The EDPS is an independent supervisory authority whose primary objective is to ensure EU institutions and bodies respect the...

What do I need to know? On Thursday 19 December, Advocate General Saugmandsgaard Øe published his Opinion in Full Article