Publication
M&A hub: Developments driving and shaping M&A
Key legal and regulatory developments driving and shaping M&A
United Kingdom | Publication | March 2023
On February 28, 2023 the FTSE Women Leaders Review (successor to the Hampton-Alexander Review and the Davies Review) published its latest report. This is an independent, voluntary and business-led initiative supported by the Government, aimed at increasing the representation of women on FTSE 350 boards and in their leadership teams. For the first time data from the top 50 largest private companies is included in the report.
Key statistics are as follows:
Women on boards – 2022 progress
Reported numbers for women on boards of FTSE 350 companies, as of January 11, 2023 are as follows:
Women in leadership – 2022 progress
Reported numbers for women in leadership (defined as the Executive Committee and Direct Reports to the Executive Committee on a combined basis), as at October 31, 2022 show:
Recommendations
The four recommendations, which set expectations and aspirational goals for the next, and anticipated final stage in the journey to gender-balanced boards, and gender-balanced leadership teams by the end of 2025, remain as follows:
(FTSE Women Leaders Review – Achieving Gender Balance, 28.02.2023)
(FTSE 350 hits boardroom gender balance target three years early, 28.02.2023)
On February 28, 2023 HM Treasury announced the formal launch of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT). Backed by £5.5 million of Treasury and City of London Corporation funding, the CFIT is seeking to boost growth and innovation in the UK’s fintech sector.
The CFIT has been established in response to Ron Kalifa’s Review into UK fintech. Since the Kalifa Review was published in 2021, the UK government has been working across industry and regulators to deliver on its recommendations, including introducing a fast-track visa system for fintech scale ups and implementing an FCA scale box allowing innovators to trial new products.
The ambition for CFIT is to ensure the UK can be a leader not only for fintech start-ups, but also the best place in the world to scale a business and take solutions from IP creation through to widespread adoption. Successful implementation of CFIT should then drive job creation across the UK, achieve global reach, and provide better financial outcomes for consumers and SMEs.
(HM Treasury, New national hub for fintech to be launched at Leeds event, 28.02.2023)
Publication
Key legal and regulatory developments driving and shaping M&A
Publication
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.
Publication
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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