One of the big horizon issues exercising in-house lawyers is the raft of new compliance obligations which will be directly enforceable against data processors under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which ministers have confirmed will apply from 25 May 2018. The new framework will have an impact upon any business activities that make use of data processors, as the new requirements fundamentally change the relationship between data controllers and data processors. Continue reading
December’s vlog focuses on developments on the horizon around corporate reporting.
The High Court has applied the controversial Court of Appeal decision in Three Rivers (No 5) holding that certain employees of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) did not form part of the “client” for the purposes of legal advice privilege.
Following on from my colleague, Lynsey Poulton’s blog post last week on section 54 Modern Slavery Act statements, I wanted to report back on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s Trust Women Conference which took place last week. The event offered a real opportunity to gather some expert insights on corporate compliance at ground level in this rapidly developing area. Continue reading
This round-up summarises the developments that generated the most interest from in-house lawyers in the past three months, including government proposals on corporate governance, preparing for the GDPR, the EU-US Privacy Shield, Brexit and several interesting High Court decisions.
I’ve heard recently that a number of organisations have decided to include their slavery and human trafficking statement for this financial year in their annual reports, and are now in the process of working out what these statements will say. With that in mind, I thought this was a good moment to provide an overview of resources that could help.
Key themes and developments on the agenda for businesses in December include government proposals on corporate governance reform, reports on improving board diversity, ending quarterly reporting and continuing preparations for GDPR. There are also some developments to look out for which are expected in early 2017.
Practical Law has published expert commentary on the 2016 Autumn Statement. Leading tax experts gave us their views about the extension of corporation tax to non-resident companies, penalties for enablers of tax avoidance, reform of interest deductibility, modernisation of the substantial shareholding exemption, abolition of tax reliefs associated with employee shareholder status, the insurance premium tax rate hike and the R&D investment fund.
Practical Law has published an analysis of the key business tax announcements in the 23 November 2016 Autumn Statement.
Key new measures announced include a proposal to extend the corporation tax regime to all non-resident companies receiving income from the UK, the alignment of the employer and employee NICs thresholds from April 2017, the removal of the tax advantages of employee shareholder shares and a 2% increase in the rate of insurance premium tax.
Practical Law has also published a series of tailored updates that highlight the implications of the Autumn Statement for specific practice areas and industry sectors, including construction, financial services, property and telecoms.
In a speech at the CBI annual conference 2016 on 21 November, the Prime Minister, Theresa May, set out the Government’s vision for UK businesses including corporate governance reform. She confirmed that a green paper on corporate governance will be published later in the year that will address executive pay and accountability to shareholders.
This green paper will also look at proposals around ensuring the employee voice is heard by the Board. Statements made by the Prime Minister earlier in the year had suggested that the Government was considering proposals for companies to have employee directors on the board, however, in her speech to the CBI, the Prime Minister stated “categorically” that “this is not about mandating works councils, or the direct appointment of workers or trade union representatives on boards”. She indicated that some reform can be achieved by voluntary improvements in practice but stated that where voluntary plans do not go far enough, the Government is prepared to go further.