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M&A hub: Developments driving and shaping M&A
Key legal and regulatory developments driving and shaping M&A
United Kingdom | Publication | September 2023
On 25 September 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published consultations setting out their proposals to introduce a new regulatory framework on diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the financial sector. The FCA’s consultation paper, CP23/20, is on D&I in the financial sector – ‘working together to drive change’, and the PRA’s consultation, CP18/23, is on D&I in PRA-regulated firms.
For further information, see our Regulation Tomorrow blog post.
On 15 September 2023 the UK Endorsements Board (UKEB) published two reports arising from its Climate-related Matters Research Project. The evidence gathered for these reports will help the UKEB obtain insight into UK companies’ existing experience of reporting on climate-related matters and the connectivity between sustainability reporting and financial reporting in this respect.
The two reports are as follows:
A desktop review of 24 recent research reports and articles commenting on climate-related risks and their connections with financial statements indicated three broad themes. In order of prevalence, these were:
These are discussed in more detail in the reports.
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Key legal and regulatory developments driving and shaping M&A
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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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The EU’s Artificial Intelligence Regulation, commonly referred to as the AI Act, is expected to come into force during the summer of 2024 (the AI Act). The AI Act will be the first comprehensive legal framework for the use and development of artificial intelligence (AI), and is intended to ensure that AI systems developed and used in the EU are safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory and environmentally friendly.
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