As we have previously written, on 29 April 2015 the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Interchange Fee Regulation (IFR). Whilst the IFR’s provisions take effect on different dates, arguably the biggest change, the interchange fee cap, came into effect on 9 December 2015. Interchange fees are paid from...

Draft legislation published on 9 December 2015 has set out changes to restrict tax relief for relevant travel and subsistence expenses (“T&S”) for agency and contract workers engaged through umbrella companies and personal service companies (“PSCs”). The new legislation will apply from 6 April 2016. A further consultation on the...

Following on from our previous article on the key features of the new Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) which comes into force in July 2016, the FCA has published its policy proposals and proposed Handbook changes relating to the implementation of MAR. The changes will come into effect from 3 July...

This regulation is aimed at making the Land Act 2008 compatible with the legal provisions pertinent to urban refurbishment, regeneration and renewal found in Law 8/2013. Royal Legislative Decree nº 7/2015, of 30 October (RLD 7/2015) aims to harmonise and clarify some definitions and terms, and unifies two laws: (i)...

In the EU, just using a website, without explicitly agreeing to any terms and conditions, may in some circumstances be enough to bind the user to the operator’s choice of courts to resolve any dispute. Background Many websites stipulate terms and conditions of use for anyone wishing to access and...

The Pensions Minister, Baroness Altmann, has confirmed the government’s pensions priorities in a written parliamentary statement. These are currently the new single-tier state pension, automatic enrolment and the new pension flexibilities. In light of this, a decision has been taken that the time is not right to implement defined ambition...

The BCA Pension Plan was established with rules providing for increases to pensions in payment of, broadly, the lower of the increase in the retail prices index and 5% for pension attributable to service post-5 April 1997, and 3% fixed for pension attributable to all other service. A consolidation of...

I – Sécurité routière: l’exemple du système d’alertes automatisé eCall La commercialisation des véhicules autonomes permettra d’améliorer la sécurité routière. La plupart des accidents résultant d’erreurs humaines (fatigue, distraction, ébriété, temps de réaction), remplacer l’homme par la machine est donc perçu comme vecteur d’une plus grande sécurité, à l’instar du...

Exit payment cap We recently reported on the government’s plans to introduce a cap of £95,000 on exit payments paid as part of a termination package to public sector employees. Read more. This has implications for the LGPS, because the government intends to include in this new cap payments made...

The grocery retailer SPAR Österreichische Warenhandels AG (SPAR) has been heavily penalised for fixing resale prices – using a combination of direct price fixing and “most favoured nation” clauses. Pricing agreements are currently facing particular scrutiny from the competition authorities and this case is a timely reminder of the competition...