The Court of Appeal decision, which considered standard form wording and the “mandatory” nature of US sanctions laws, upholds a High Court ruling exempting a borrower’s non-payment of interest, albeit on different grounds. By Charles Claypoole, Nell Perks, Robert Price and Thomas Lane In the recent case of Lamesa Investments Limited v. Cynergy Bank Limited [2020] EWCA Civ 821, the Court of Appeal upheld — albeit on different grounds — a High Court…

The judgment has important implications for the competition law compliance responsibilities of company directors. John Colahan and Peter Citron On 3 July 2020, the High Court disqualified[1] Michael Martin from acting as a director for seven years. The court found that Mr Martin had contributed to a breach of competition law by his former company, which owned and ran an estate agency (Berryman’s) in Burnham-on-Sea. This finding was made despite the fact that Mr…

French Competition Authority orders Google to negotiate remuneration with press publishers and news agencies under Article 15 of the Copyright Directive (as implemented in France). By Deborah Kirk, Elva Cullen, Rachael Astin, and Grace Erskine Background In April 2019 the European Parliament officially adopted Directive (EU) 2019/790 on Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market (the Copyright Directive) The directive seeks to harmonise copyright law at an EU level and introduces a…

The investigation is being carried out under the CMA’s competition law powers rather than under its consumer protection functions. By John D. Colahan and Anuj Ghai On 18 June, the CMA released an update noting that it had launched an investigation under Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 into suspected breaches of competition law by four pharmacies and convenience stores. In particular, the investigations relate to suspected charging of excessive and unfair prices for…

The UK government continues to prioritise combatting modern slavery risks while also extending reporting deadlines amid the COVID-19 pandemic. By Clare Nida On 20 April 2020, the UK government published guidance for companies on how to approach their Modern Slavery Act statements during the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has stressed that businesses should continue to identify and address risks of modern slavery in their operations and supply chains; however, businesses can delay publishing their statements…

The UK government has relaxed the application of UK competition law to certain types of agreements across sectors. By John D. Colahan and Anuj Ghai On 21 May 2020, the CMA published a register containing links to each public policy exclusion order and notified agreement related to COVID-19 in the UK. A public policy exclusion order is a legislative tool used by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to relax UK…