Practical Law has published a report on the results of the survey I previously wrote about which sought to examine how in-house lawyers, and the organisations they work in, were approaching Brexit.
The report can be accessed here and is also available in PDF format.
Key items on the agenda for businesses this month include digesting the implications of the new Bills and proposals announced in the Queen’s Speech, reviewing a report on directors’ remuneration voting trends and continuing preparations for GDPR.
I wouldn’t ordinarily wish to be responsible for lawyers giving up their weekends. However, I hope I’ll be forgiven if this notice helps you out of a hole.
The final version of The Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 were published today and the deadline for implementation is this coming Monday (26 June 2017).
A new piece of French legislation came into force on 1st June, “The Law on Transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernisation of economic life” – also known as ‘Loi Sapin II’. With this new law comes lengthy obligations for those businesses with a presence in France.
Key developments in May included the European General Affairs Council’s authorisation of the opening of Article 50 negotiations and adoption of the first set of negotiating directives. The European Commission also published draft position papers on citizens’ rights and financial settlement, while the House of Commons Library released a briefing paper on options for the UK’s participation in EU agencies post-Brexit.
The influence of technology in disrupting the traditionally conservative legal profession and shaping our future as in-house lawyers continues its inexorable momentum forward. We’ve been highlighting this trend on this blog in the last few months (see in particular: The rise of the machines: new technology and its impact on the professions; How in-house lawyers can become “digital” lawyers; The Tech Express: time to jump on board, say lawyers; and How to identify, acquire and implement the right technology for your legal department).
The key event this month is the general election on 8 June. In-house lawyers may also be interested in new research highlighting an increase in legal cases against FTSE100 companies and the expected publication of the Taylor review on modern employment practices.
The Conservative Party, Labour Party and Liberal Democrat Party have published their manifestos for the General Election on 8 June 2017. They contain several policy statements of interest to in-house lawyers.
On Friday 5th May, Transparency International UK (TI-UK) held its latest Business Integrity Forum meeting at Thomson Reuters in Canary Wharf with more than 50 participants (primarily in-house legal and compliance experts) from 30 companies. This event covered a number of relevant issues for in-house counsel and compliance officers.
In the wake of the recent national ransomware attack and significant fines being imposed on Facebook and WhatsApp, it seems that data protection is hitting the front pages more frequently than ever before (see Legal update, Commission fines Facebook for providing misleading information about acquisition of WhatsApp). This is a trend that is only likely to increase as cyber attacks grow in ferocity, strength and impact, and with the advent of rigorous compliance requirements and substantial fines under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which becomes effective a year today. Continue reading