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Global rules on foreign direct investment (FDI)
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
United Kingdom | Publication | February 2022
In the UK, different systems of property law operate in each jurisdiction (England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). While some legal concepts are similar, there are plenty of distinctions to navigate and to catch out the unwary. Generally, the law and rules relating to property matters are the same in England and Wales. However, the devolution of government in the UK has gradually led to a number of changes and a growing and evolving body of Welsh law.
In England and Wales, minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) for landlords in the private rented sector have been in force since 1 April 2018. These provide that, with some exclusions and exemptions, a landlord cannot grant a new – or renew an existing – tenancy of a property if it does not have an EPC rating of E or higher. Since 1 April 2020, private sector residential landlords have not been able to continue to let a sub-standard property. Landlords of commercial premises with tenancies already in place on 1 April 2018 must comply from 1 April 2023.
The UK Government recently issued four consultations to raise the energy efficiency bar by introducing:
Consultation responses are “currently being analysed” in each case, so we should expect further developments during the course of 2022.
Publication
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
Publication
On February 2, 2024, the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union confirmed that the Committee of Permanent Representatives had signed the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Regulation, referred to as the AI Act. Approval by the EU Parliament followed on 13 March 2024, and the AI Act is likely to appear in the EU’s Official Journal around May 2024. The AI Act aims to establish a stringent legal framework governing the development, marketing, and utilisation of artificial intelligence within the region, thereby marking a significant advancement in the regulation of this burgeoning domain.
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The private credit market and direct lending have grown and diversified immensely in the past decade, offering alternative sources and terms of debt compared to those historically provided by the syndicated leveraged loan and public issuance markets. Consequently, they are fast becoming pivotal components in the capital ecosystem, so much so that the Bank of England consider that the private credit market is currently responsible for approximately $1.8 trillion of debt issuance, which is four times its size in 2015. This growth has been particularly pronounced in Europe and the US but there has also been significant activity in Asia.
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