What do businesses need to know, and how can they prepare?
Introduction -
On June 25, 2025, the UK government initiated a consultation (the Consultation) on the exposure draft of the UK Sustainability Reporting Standards...more
7/30/2025
/ Climate Change ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Financial Reporting ,
Investors ,
Popular ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The sustainability regulatory landscape in Europe is reconfiguring at a rapid rate. Amid heightened anti-ESG sentiments emanating from some quarters, the UK and EU are each working to slash businesses’ regulatory burdens by...more
As the 2025 AGM and reporting season passes its peak, we have produced a note of our reflections on what we’ve seen in the market so far this year, and developments we’re expecting in the coming months.
The key themes...more
6/23/2025
/ Board of Directors ,
Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
FTSE ,
Global Market ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Remuneration ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Shareholders ,
Stakeholder Engagement ,
UK
The first U.K.-EU summit since Brexit was held in London on May 19, 2025 to reset the relationship for greater mutual benefit. An ambitious Strategic Partnership was agreed to drive progress on a renewed agenda for EU-U.K....more
5/23/2025
/ Clean Energy ,
Climate Change ,
Defense Sector ,
Energy Policy ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
International Trade ,
Net Zero ,
Popular ,
Sustainability ,
UK
In accordance with the EU’s plan to achieve full energy independence from Russia, the European Commission (“Commission”) has, on May 6, 2025, unveiled the Repower Roadmap.1Under the terms of this proposal, imports of Russian...more
Ahead of the commencement of the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), key building blocks for its regulatory framework are moving into place. Following consultations in 2023 and 2024, draft legislation and a policy...more
5/8/2025
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Compliance ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
HM Treasury ,
Imports ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Tax Liability ,
UK
In the context of the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S., EU, and U.K. continue to implement new measures to stifle Russia’s war efforts.
The Biden administration continued to escalate sanctions...more
3/12/2025
/ CAATSA ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Executive Orders ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Russia ,
Trump Administration ,
U.S. Treasury ,
UK
We distil key practical takeaways from the UK Government’s official guidance on the corporate criminal offence of failure to prevent fraud (the Guidance).
Businesses and compliance teams will be working to review and...more
11/27/2024
/ Acquisitions ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Due Diligence ,
Fraud ,
Fraud Prevention ,
Mergers ,
New Guidance ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Management ,
UK ,
White Collar Crimes
In this article, we provide an overview of country-led and private sector-driven key developments surrounding the recent United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP16). The world is progressively recognizing that biodiversity...more
11/15/2024
/ Biodiversity ,
Climate Change ,
Contaminated Properties ,
COP ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Private Equity ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Sustainable Finance ,
Transparency ,
UK ,
United Nations
We were proud to provide market-leading expertise and legal support to the secretariat of the Transition Market Finance Review. The review explores how the U.K. can become a leading market for transition finance domestically...more
We were delighted to host the U.K. Transition Finance Market Review’s (TFMR) flagship event at New York Climate Week, in partnership with the City of London Corporation who host the TFMR secretariat. The session offered a...more
In 2027, the UK will introduce a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on imports of certain carbon intensive goods. The CBAM will impose a charge on the emissions embodied in relevant imports that take place on or after...more
4/5/2024
/ Carbon Emissions ,
Environmental Policies ,
EU ,
HMRC ,
Imports ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Taxation ,
UK ,
Value-Added Tax (VAT)
Sustainability reporting and disclosure can bring many benefits, including greater transparency and increased accountability. But unless coupled with, and closely tied to, the implementation of a clear business strategy for...more
How to accelerate the transition to a sustainable economy is a hot regulatory topic for most major economies around the world – and is set to continue ascending the agenda in the years to come. As sustainability-related...more
3/7/2024
/ Asia Pacific ,
Capital Markets ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Economic Reform ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Market ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Middle East ,
Net Zero ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy ,
UK ,
United States
Creating an effective regulatory framework will be critical to deliver Net Zero. But does that mean more – or less – regulation?
From trade agreements to taxonomies, carbon adjustment mechanisms to corporate sustainability...more
3/7/2024
/ Asia Pacific ,
Carbon Capture and Sequestration ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Global Economy ,
Global Market ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment Funds ,
Investment Management ,
Investors ,
Middle East ,
Net Zero ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sustainability ,
Taxonomy ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
United States
In light of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UK and EU, in close collaboration with their G7 partners, have continued to exert economic pressure on Russia through an array of sanctions.
In this bulletin, we...more
Last year, we wrote about ClientEarth’s application to the High Court of England and Wales for permission to bring a judicial review claim, alleging that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) unlawfully approved the IPO...more
1/18/2024
/ Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Judicial Review ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new package of sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) and investment labelling rules is a key pillar of the UK government’s efforts to introduce an economy-wide SDR regime. All...more
12/20/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Greenwashing ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UK
The UK has finally confirmed that it will be following the EU and introducing its own Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) to be implemented by 2027.
It published the eagerly awaited outcome of its consultation on...more
The FCA has issued the final version of its rules for stage one of the UK’s new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements or SDR, together with its new ESG product labelling regime. The rules are detailed and complex. The new...more
The FCA has issued the final version of its new anti-greenwashing rule – part of a package that includes additional rules as stage one of the UK’s new Sustainability Disclosure Requirements or SDR, plus the FCA’s new ESG...more
On 6 October 2023, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the case of Mints & ors v PJSC National Bank Trust & anor [2023] EWCA 1332.
The judgment confirmed that the UK’s sanctions do not preclude the English courts...more
12/5/2023
/ Appeals ,
Control Test ,
Financial Institutions ,
HM Treasury ,
International Trade ,
New Legislation ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Russia ,
Sanctions ,
UK ,
UK Supreme Court
As the aviation industry pins its hopes on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050, Joe Clinton, Matthew Townsend, Richard Chamberlain and Ying-Peng Chin outline the regulatory, investment...more
11/29/2023
/ Aircraft ,
Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Biofuel ,
Carbon Emissions ,
Climate Change ,
EU ,
Middle East ,
Net Zero ,
Popular ,
Renewable Fuel ,
Sustainability ,
Transportation Industry ,
UK
The just transition ambition is grounded in a desire to meet global climate targets, while ensuring improved social and economic outcomes. Global cooperation will be necessary to deliver a just transition but, as...more
We recently hosted an event as part of our Sustainable Transition seminar series titled “Tax incentives for sustainable investments: where are the opportunities?”. In this article, our panellists set out some of the key...more