BEIS has published a consultation setting out its proposals on how the Small Business Commissioner should handle complaints by small businesses about payment issues with larger businesses.
Continue reading
REUTERS | Dominic Ebenbichler
October 31, 2016
Proposed new business payment complaints scheme
REUTERS | Global Creative Services
October 28, 2016
How to identify, acquire and implement the right technology for your legal department
I recently moderated a panel session on legal technology at the Practical Law GC Leadership: Leading small and medium legal teams event. The session focused on how legal departments can identify, acquire and implement the most suitable technologies for their needs. Here are my top takeaways from it.
REUTERS |
On October 14, the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) published a global standard ISO 37001: Anti-Bribery Management Systems. This voluntary standard is designed to assist organisations around the world implement and maintain an effective and proportionate anti-bribery programme.
Organisations can choose to use it simply as an internal benchmarking tool or seek ISO 37001 certification of their anti-bribery programme through an accredited third party provider.
REUTERS |
October 18, 2016
Anti-Slavery Commissioner publishes annual report
Today is Anti-Slavery Day, created in 2010 by a Private Member’s Bill introduced by former MP Anthony Steen CBE to raise awareness of modern slavery and to inspire government, business and individuals to eliminate it: an appropriate day to look at the first annual report from the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, Kevin Hyland OBE, published last week. Continue reading
REUTERS | Thomson Reuters
October 13, 2016
FCA discussion paper on the impact of the senior managers regime on the in-house legal function
On 28 September 2016 the FCA published a discussion paper (DP16/4) on whether the person who has overall responsibility for the legal function (the GC) at a bank, building society, credit union or PRA-designated investment firm (a Regulated Firm) should be a Senior Management Function (SMF) and therefore subject to the senior managers regime (SMR). If a GC is held to be an SMF, GC appointments at Regulated Firms would be subject to regulatory pre-approval, this including an assessment of fitness and propriety. Once approved, the GCs of Regulated Firms would also have to comply with additional conduct rules to those they are already subject to under the Solicitors Regulatory Authority, Bar Standards Board (or other local equivalents).
REUTERS | David Bebber
October 12, 2016
The times they are a-changin’
Earlier this week, economists Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmström came close to a Nobel prize for law when the Royal Swedish Academy of the Sciences awarded them the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (strictly speaking not a Nobel prize; Nobel’s will included only five prizes and this was not one of them) for their work on the theory of contracts.
Continue reading
REUTERS | Goran Tomasevic
This time last week I chaired a live webinar discussion on the impact on organisations of increasing complexity in the regulatory environment, between Vicky Marissen, Managing Director of PACT European Affairs, and Daniel Greenberg, Counsel for Domestic Legislation in the House of Commons.
For those unable to join us live, a recording of the webinar, with accompanying slide presentation, can be found here. I’ve summarised some of the key takeaways in this blog.
REUTERS | Luke MacGregor
October 3, 2016
Employment round-up: autumn 2016
This round-up summarises the employment-related developments that generated the most interest from in-house lawyers in the past three months, including the delay of the gender pay gap reporting regulations, the introduction of the illegal working offence and the implications of Brexit on employment law in the UK. It also highlights several key employment cases.
REUTERS | Luke MacGregor
September 26, 2016
In-house agenda: October 2016
Key themes and developments on the agenda for businesses in October include a likely consultation on a proposed Criminal Finances Bill, an inquiry into corporate governance and new minimum wage rates.
REUTERS | Vasily Fedosenko
September 16, 2016
Working with other people: action plan for the new SRA regime
Under the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (SRA) new approach to continuing competence, from 1 November 2016 all solicitors will be required to plan their own learning and development activities to maintain or reach the necessary skill levels required to fulfil their professional roles to the standards expected. This replaces the old system that required solicitors to complete a minimum number of continuing professional development (CPD) hours each year.