Maria Kennedy (UK)

Firm/Organization: Norton Rose Fulbright

Blogs: Consumer products law blog, Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

Latest Articles

London Metal Exchange launches consultation on new responsible sourcing standards for all traded metals

By Stuart Neely (UK), Maria Kennedy (UK) & Lorenza Cocco (UK) on May 8, 2019

On 23 April, the London Metal Exchange (LME) launched a formal market-wide consultation on the introduction of responsible sourcing standards for all traded metals. Under the new rules, all LME listed brands will be required to undertake a phased approach, starting with a Red Flag Assessment based on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by the end of 2020. Brands considered at risk will then be audited by the LME and will need to adopt…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

EU Parliament approves new EU-wide rules to protect whistleblowers

By Stuart Neely (UK), Maria Kennedy (UK) & Lorenza Cocco (UK) on April 26, 2019

On 17 April, the European Parliament adopted new rules to protect whistleblowers. The rules are designed to encourage the reporting of breaches of EU law by offering to whistleblowers EU-wide protection from dismissal, demotion and other forms of retaliation in areas including public procurement, financial services, money laundering, product and transport safety, nuclear safety, public health, consumer and data protection. Those assisting whistleblowers, such as facilitators, colleagues and relatives will also be protected. Under the…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

UK Supreme Court clarifies issues on parent company liability in Lungowe v Vedanta

By Ruth Cowley (UK), Holly Stebbing, Stuart Neely (UK) & Maria Kennedy (UK) on April 16, 2019

Summary This landmark judgment from the UK Supreme Court means that the claim brought by 1,826 Zambian villagers against UK-based Vedanta and its Zambian subsidiary KCM can proceed to a trial of the substantive issues in the English courts. One of the issues that now falls to be examined is the controversial question of whether a parent company can be liable for the operations of its subsidiary, in the English courts. We set out below…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

Review of the UK Bribery Act 2010 – House of Lords Committee publishes Post-Legislative Scrutiny Report

By Neil O’May (UK), Pamela Reddy (UK), Andrew Reeves (UK), Maria Kennedy (UK) & Lorenza Cocco (UK) on April 2, 2019

Earlier this month, the House of Lords Select Committee (the Committee) on the Bribery Act 2010 published its Post-Legislative Scrutiny Report. The Report provides a useful summary of prosecutions under the Bribery Act and the debate surrounding “adequate” and “reasonable” procedures, and offers insight into the limited extent to which Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) lead to bribery investigations. Surprisingly, however, the Report considers the use of deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) but does not deal with…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

EU Parliament Working Group presents its Shadow EU Action Plan on the Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights within the EU

By Stuart Neely (UK), Maria Kennedy (UK) & Lorenza Cocco (UK) on April 2, 2019

On 19 March 2019, the European Parliament Working Group on Responsible Business Conduct (RBC Group) announced the contents of its Shadow EU Action Plan on Responsible Business Conduct (the Plan). The Plan sets out the RBC Group’s priorities to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights in the EU business sector over the next six years (2019-2024). The Plan was conceived as a reaction to the alleged failure by the EU to fully implement…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

BlackRock’s CEO emphasizes social impact for a second year in a row in his 2019 letter to investee companies

By Maria Kennedy (UK) & Lorenza Cocco (UK) on March 5, 2019

Earlier this year BlackRock’s Chairman and CEO Larry Fink published his annual letter to the asset management firm’s investee companies. For the second year in a row Fink has focused on social impact. At the beginning of the letter he addresses the importance of practices that “will drive sustainable, long-term growth and profitability”. Fink acknowledges that companies are increasingly being held to “more exacting standards” by their stakeholders and stresses that business success in today’s…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

UK Government to develop a code of practice to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace

By Lauren Pullen-Stanley (UK), Maria Kennedy (UK) & Lorenza Cocco (UK) on February 12, 2019

In December 2018, the UK Government announced that it will introduce a new statutory code of practice to tackle workplace sexual harassment following a July 2018 report from the House of Commons’ Women and Equalities Select Committee (the Committee). The Committee’s report called on the Government to: Prioritise sexual harassment: The report calls on the Government to place employers under a mandatory duty to protect workers from harassment and victimisation which would be enforceable by…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

UK Government confirms that public beneficial ownership registers will be established in the British Overseas Territories by 2023

By Ruth Cowley (UK), Maria Kennedy (UK) & Lorenza Cocco (UK) on February 11, 2019

On 28 January 2019, the UK Government (the Government) explained the timetable to the new 2023 deadline for the creation of public beneficial ownership registers in the British Overseas Territories (BOTs). The Government has explained that draft legislation will be prepared by the end of 2020, as required by the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 and the BOTs will be expected to have public registers in place by the end of 2023, in line…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

Forbes and Just Capital rank America’s largest publicly traded companies based on the ethical priorities of 81,000 Americans

By Maria Kennedy (UK) on February 4, 2019

890 of America’s largest publicly-traded companies have recently been ranked based on priorities gathered from polling 81,000 Americans. The poll, coordinated by Just Capital, asked participants what they most wanted to see from the nation’s biggest businesses. The most popular responses were that participants wanted companies to: pay workers fairly; treat customers well and protect their privacy; produce quality products; minimise their environmental impact; give back to the communities they operate in; commit to ethical…

Financial services: Regulation tomorrow

The UK Government releases second interim report as part of the review of the Modern Slavery Act

By Stuart Neely (UK), Maria Kennedy (UK) & Lorenza Cocco (UK) on February 1, 2019

On 22 January 2019, the UK Government (the Government) published its second interim report as part of the Independent Review (the Review) of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the Act), which began in July 2018 (see our previous blogpost). This is the second report for phase 1 of the Review, and it focuses on transparency in supply chains (section 54 of the Act). The report suggests that a lack of enforcement and penalties, as…

Maria Kennedy (UK)

London Metal Exchange launches consultation on new responsible sourcing standards for all traded metals

EU Parliament approves new EU-wide rules to protect whistleblowers

UK Supreme Court clarifies issues on parent company liability in Lungowe v Vedanta

Review of the UK Bribery Act 2010 – House of Lords Committee publishes Post-Legislative Scrutiny Report

EU Parliament Working Group presents its Shadow EU Action Plan on the Implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights within the EU

BlackRock’s CEO emphasizes social impact for a second year in a row in his 2019 letter to investee companies

UK Government to develop a code of practice to tackle sexual harassment in the workplace

UK Government confirms that public beneficial ownership registers will be established in the British Overseas Territories by 2023

Forbes and Just Capital rank America’s largest publicly traded companies based on the ethical priorities of 81,000 Americans

The UK Government releases second interim report as part of the review of the Modern Slavery Act

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