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Global rules on foreign direct investment (FDI)
Cross-border acquisitions and investments increasingly trigger foreign direct investment (FDI) screening requirements.
Global | Publication | January 2018
Air quality issues have attracted a lot of attention in recent years notably as a result of a number of successful legal challenges by ClientEarth, including challenges to the government’s Air Quality Plans. In the most recent of these challenges the Supreme Court held that the UK government was in breach of Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC.
In Gladman Developments Ltd v SSCLG and Others [2017], the Planning Court rejected a developer’s legal challenge in relation to the failure of a local authority to determine two applications for outline planning permission for residential developments. The developer had challenged the planning inspector’s approach to air quality.
The proposed residential developments were located within two designated air quality management areas and the inspector concluded that the developer's proposed mitigation measures were insufficient. The Planning Court agreed with his approach.
This is the first court case which has tested the refusal of planning permission on air quality grounds and highlights the growing influence of air quality issues on development projects, particularly where they may have an adverse impact on health. The case has resulted in a delay in determining a large infrastructure project.
Planning applications that are likely to have an adverse impact on air quality will now need to be approached carefully and assessed in enough detail to demonstrate that proposed mitigation measures will be sufficiently effective.
For further information please contact Sian Skerratt-Williams or your usual contact at Norton Rose Fulbright.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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