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Thinking - Blog

Building on renewable energy

Published on 03 Feb 2020.

2019 was potentially a significant year for the renewable energy industry. Record temperatures and environmental catastrophes highlighted the need to reduce carbon emissions and make greater use of sources of renewable energy, and political parties championing green policies saw – for the most part – their share of the vote increase both domestically and internationally.

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Thinking - Blog

Bossing the rules: lowering the standard?

Published on 27 Jan 2020. By Graham Reid, Partner

Solicitors everywhere will be concerned at the recent move of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, alongside the recent SRA Standards and Regulations reforms, to alter the standard of proof to be applied in disciplinary proceedings. This article looks at the background to the Tribunal's recent decision, the reasons for the change, and the concerns around it.

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Thinking - Blog

Bossing the rules: Your obligations to report concerns

Published on 20 Jan 2020. By Graham Reid, Partner

Our lawyers' liability and regulatory team continue their series demystifying the SRA's new Standards and Regulations in this article looking at solicitors' revised reporting obligations under #StaRs Rules 7.7 and 7.8.

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Thinking - Blog

A new issue for SIPP providers?

Published on 14 Jan 2020. By Rachael Healey, Partner

Self invested personal pension providers are facing a new type of complaint brought in relation to investments made via investment managers – is this a potential area of risk for SIPPs or is this taking their obligations one step too far?

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Thinking - Blog

Part 36 – Stick, Twist…. or Stay?

Published on 13 Jan 2020. By James Ainsworth, Senior Associate and Will Sefton, Partner and Head of the Lawyers Liability and Regulatory Group

The case of Allen Campbell v Ministry of Defence [2019] EWHC 2121 (QB) provides useful guidance on the appropriate way to respond to a Part 36 offer when you are unsure of the value of the claim (and therefore the merits of the offer), in order to avoid the costs consequences of late acceptance.

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Thinking - Blog

FCA sees SM&CR as catalyst and opportunity to transform culture in financial services

Published on 09 Jan 2020. By Lauren Murphy, Senior Associate and Jonathan Charwat, Partner

Its recent 'Dear CEO' letter, the FCA sets out its expectations on firms and Senior Managers in tackling non-financial misconduct. For some time the FCA has emphasised the importance of culture at firms causing financial conduct issues. In this recent letter, the FCA makes clear that non-financial misconduct will be a key focus for its supervision of firms and senior managers.

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Thinking - Publication

Annual Insurance Review 2020

Published on 08 Jan 2020. By Simon Laird, Global Head of Insurance and Robert Morris, Partner

Hello and welcome to the 2020 edition of RPC’s annual insurance review. Here you will find updates from our experts across a whole range of business classes as well as from around the world. In the articles that follow you will be able to read our take on key issues that have impacted your market in the year gone – and our thoughts on the issues likely to affect you in the year to come.

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Thinking - Blog

Bossing the rules

Published on 03 Dec 2019. By Aimee Talbot, Knowledge Lawyer

Watch out for RPC's new blog mini-series on the SRA Standards and Regulations 2019.

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Thinking - Blog

Costs proportionality: answers at last?

Published on 22 Nov 2019. By Aimee Talbot, Knowledge Lawyer

Practitioners have been waiting six years for authoritative guidance on how the new post-April 2013 proportionality test applies in the hope that we will be better able to predict the outcome of costs assessment and, therefore, better equipped to advise our clients. A recent Court of Appeal decision has been described as delivering this; however, it raises a number of new issues which are sure to give rise to further satellite litigation. As such, proportionality remains the great unknown.

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Thinking - Blog

A judgment that will "benefit" manufacturers facing the "risks" of products litigation

Published on 15 Nov 2019. By Emma Kislingbury, Senior Associate

In the Seroxat group litigation, the Court has endorsed using a risk/benefit approach in claims under the CPA and upheld the trial judge's ruling regarding the limited scope of the Claimants' case

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Thinking - Blog

Medicinal Cannabis – approved for NHS use

Published on 11 Nov 2019. By Natalie Drew, Senior Associate

Two cannabis based medicines have now been approved for use by the NHS in England following new guidelines from NICE.

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Thinking - Blog

Emerging Risks: crypto-assets under international and domestic regulatory scrutiny

Published on 30 Oct 2019.

The latest in our emerging risks series of blogs discusses the long-running saga of cryptocurrency regulation. At an international level, the Financial Stability Board has been looking at the regulation of stablecoin. On the domestic front, the Financial Conduct Authority has published a consultation paper regarding the recovery of their costs for supervising cryptoasset businesses.

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Thinking - Publication

Privilege Absolute: documents remain privileged forever, unless privilege is waived

Published on 21 Oct 2019. By Nick Bird, Partner and Laura Stocks, Partner

The Court of Appeal has taken a robust stance against an attempt to retrospectively redraw the boundaries of legal professional privilege in the recent decision of Addlesee and others v Dentons Europe LLP1.

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Thinking - Blog

Actuarial monitoring scheme announced

Published on 16 Oct 2019. By George Smith, Partner

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has launched a new monitoring scheme, designed to improve the effectiveness of actuarial regulation, as well as make wide-spread improvements across the profession. The Actuarial Monitoring Scheme was created following a consultation by the IFoA.

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Thinking - Blog

Equine law - not just horsing around

Published on 14 Oct 2019.

Equine law as a practice area has become increasingly prominent, with a growing number of legal issues requiring firms to skill-up; but is there a clear definition of what 'equine law' is?

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Thinking - Blog

Abridged Advice and Workplace Pension Schemes - digging deeper into the FCA's Latest Pension Transfer Consultation Paper

Published on 15 Aug 2019.

Now that the dust has settled on the FCA's latest Consultation Paper on Pension Transfers (CP19/25), is there more to the regulator's proposals than first met the eye?

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Thinking - Blog

The Senior Managers and Certification regime: The Final Countdown

Published on 08 Aug 2019. By Lucy Kerr, Senior Associate

With only a few months to go until the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR) is extended to apply to all sole-regulated firms, the FCA has released further near-final rules and produced a report on its findings as to how firms in the banking sector have embedded the regime since March 2016.

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Thinking - Publication

General liability newsletter - August 2019

Published on 05 Aug 2019. By Gavin Reese, Partner, Head of Regulatory

The latest general liability news coming out of the courts.

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Thinking - Blog

Court of Appeal guidance on liability of financial advice networks for appointed representatives

Published on 31 Jul 2019. By George Smith, Partner

In what circumstances is a financial advice network liable for the acts and omissions of its appointed representatives (ARs)? The Court of Appeal has today provided valuable guidance for those operating this business model. The decision will be welcomed by financial advice networks in confirming, in particular, that they are able to place restrictions on the business of ARs for which they have accepted responsibility.

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Thinking - Blog

Pushing back on APP scams

Published on 18 Jul 2019. By Ian Dinning, Senior Associate

An Authorised Push Payment (APP) is where a payer instructs their payment service provider, such as their bank, to send money from their account to another. These payments are usually made through the Faster Payment Service or CHAPS.

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Thinking - Blog

"Alexa, my symptoms are…"

Published on 17 Jul 2019.

Amazon has announced that Alexa will now provide its users medical advice directly from the NHS website. This blog looks at the potential impacts of this change.

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Thinking - Blog

FCA announces new rules on peer-to-peer lending

Published on 08 Jul 2019.

The FCA has published its policy statement on peer-to-peer (P2P) lending following a lengthy public consultation into the crowdfunding industry in general. The policy statement introduces a large number of new rules for P2P platforms and includes restrictions on direct marketing to non-sophisticated / high net worth investors unless they are receiving regulated advice, and ensuring such investors do not place more than 10% of their investable capital in P2P platforms.

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Thinking - Blog

Brexit: A blessing or a curse for accountants?

Published on 08 Jul 2019. By Matthew Watson, Partner

A recent survey has indicated that the accountancy profession is well placed to accommodate the uncertainties surrounding Brexit.

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Thinking - Blog

The Medical Devices Regulation 2017 and good business practice

Published on 05 Jul 2019.

When it comes to risk management, businesses in general should take note of the issues covered by the Medical Devices Regulation 2017

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Thinking - Publication

Health and safety update June 2019

Published on 28 Jun 2019.

Welcome to our June 2019 health and safety update where we look at the health and safety stories that have recently hit the headlines as well as the latest fines and sentences that have been handed down.

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Thinking - Blog

New pension transfer data – FCA's concerns remain

Published on 20 Jun 2019. By David Allinson, Partner

The FCA has published the results of data received from firms carrying out DB transfers and set out the next steps in its supervisory work.

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Thinking - Blog

Government Consultation on Adding Folic Acid to Flour

Published on 18 Jun 2019. By Genevieve Isherwood, Senior Associate

Last week the government began a consultation on whether to introduce mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid to help reduce neural tube defects in foetuses.

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Thinking - Blog

FCA and PRA jointly fine bank for repeated outsourcing failings

Published on 12 Jun 2019.

R. Raphael & Sons PLC (Raphaels), one of the UK's oldest lenders, has been criticised and fined jointly by the FCA and PRA after it was found that the bank had failed to manage its outsourcing arrangements properly.

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Thinking - Blog

What’s gone wrong with putting things right?

Published on 21 May 2019. By Graham Reid, Partner and Nick Bird, Partner

Solicitors are becoming concerned about their ability to put things right when they make mistakes. We do not consider that much has changed in this area. It is as important as it has always been for a solicitor to realise if he or she has made a mistake and to think carefully about how to remedy it. This is not an easy task. We hope this article will assist in guiding solicitors and their insurers through this complex area.

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Thinking - Blog

Financial Reporting Council considers the test for "misconduct"

Published on 20 May 2019. By Robert Morris, Partner and Matthew Watson, Partner

A recent Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Tribunal decision provides some welcomed clarity on the distinguishing features of misconduct and negligence for those in the accountancy profession.

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Thinking - Publication

General liability newsletter April 2019

Published on 30 Apr 2019. By Gavin Reese, Partner, Head of Regulatory

The latest general liability news coming out of the courts.

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Thinking - Blog

Brexit delay prolongs uncertainty for insurers

Published on 12 Apr 2019. By Neil Brown, Partner

Yesterday's announcement of Halloween as the new deadline for Brexit will prolong uncertainty for many UK insurers.

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Thinking - Blog

Royal College of Surgeons call for Robust Reporting in the Private Healthcare Sector

Published on 10 Apr 2019. By Natalie Drew, Senior Associate

The Royal College of Surgeons (the “RCS”) has today called for independent healthcare providers to “improve standards in the independent sector and prevent the circumstances that enabled Paterson to continue practising from happening again.”

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Thinking - Blog

Vaginal mesh: the evidence

Published on 10 Apr 2019.

NICE guidelines inform debate over the evidence for the risks and benefits of mesh products

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Thinking - Blog

All bets are off for binary options

Published on 04 Apr 2019. By Lucy Kerr, Senior Associate

Following consultation, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on 29 March 2019 that, as of 2 April 2019, the sale, marketing and distribution of binary options (including securitised binary options) to retail consumers will be prohibited indefinitely.

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Thinking - Publication

Health and safety update March 2019

Published on 21 Mar 2019.

Welcome to our March 2019 health and safety update where we look at the health and safety stories that have recently hit the headlines as well as the latest fines and sentences that have been handed down.

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Thinking - Blog

A Right Royal Deadlock: Can "Crown" use unlock patented drug?

Published on 12 Mar 2019.

Can the Government settle the dispute between NHS and Vertex Pharmaceuticals through "Crown" use of the patented drug, Orkambi.

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Thinking - Blog

Judge makes alarming comments about validity of standstill agreements in Inheritance Act claims

Published on 12 Mar 2019. By Aimee Talbot, Knowledge Lawyer and Rhian Howell, Partner & Head of Office, Bristol

In a recent judgment, the High Court has cast doubt on the extent to which the court will recognise standstill agreements in applications under the Inheritance (Provision for Family & Dependents) Act 1975.

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Thinking - Blog

Seeking the "right regulation" of digital services: Lords' Communications Committee articulates its vision

Published on 11 Mar 2019.

In 2018, Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, told the US Senate Judiciary Committee that the question was no longer whether there should be regulation of the internet, but what is the right regulation.

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Thinking - Blog

Law Society introduces new Code for Completion by Post

Published on 04 Mar 2019. By Will Sefton, Partner and Head of the Lawyers Liability and Regulatory Group

Conveyancing practitioners need of course to familiarise themselves with the new Code, in advance of its implementation date of 1 May 2019. Following Dreamvar, the new Code underlines the fact that the burden of detecting fraudulent sellers falls squarely on the sellers' solicitors.

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Thinking - Blog

Organ Donation: The New Law

Published on 28 Feb 2019. By Emma Kislingbury, Senior Associate

An "opt-out" system for organ donation is expected to come into effect in England next year after passing the final parliamentary vote this week

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Thinking - Blog

Medicinal Cannabis – How far have we really come?

Published on 25 Feb 2019. By Natalie Drew, Senior Associate

Cannabis, for medicinal purposes, was legalised nearly four months ago in the UK, but how many patients are actually reaping the benefits, and how far have we really come?

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Thinking - Publication

General liability newsletter February 2019

Published on 11 Feb 2019.

The latest general liability news coming out of the courts.

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Thinking - Blog

"Move fast and break things" (just not patients)

Published on 08 Feb 2019.

The AoMRC's report on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare presents dilemmas for clinicians, hospital and industry

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Thinking - Blog

LOIs and liability for inducement of breach of contract

Published on 01 Feb 2019.

A recent Court of Appeal ruling highlights the risk to traders and, in particular, to their officers and employees personally, of giving/arranging a letter of indemnity to a carrier against liability arising out of delivery of goods without presentation of the bills of lading. This blog examines the risk of such arrangements giving rise to a liability on their part under the tort of procuring a breach of contract.

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Thinking - Blog

FCA promises "greater clarity" over Crypto regulation

Published on 31 Jan 2019.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has made further progress in relation to the regulation of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, in an attempt to tackle the growing market. The aim of regulation will be to provide greater clarity to both the industry and consumers.

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Thinking - Blog

Could the NHS Long Term Plan mean less opportunity for NHS contracts?

Published on 23 Jan 2019. By Genevieve Isherwood, Senior Associate

The NHS's Long Term Plan includes a provision to repeal elements of the Health and Social Care Act 2012; in this blog we consider the potential impact on private providers and their opportunity to tender for NHS contracts.

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Thinking - Publication

Annual Insurance Review 2019

Published on 21 Jan 2019. By Simon Laird, Global Head of Insurance and Robert Morris, Partner

Welcome to RPC’s Annual Insurance Review

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Thinking - Blog

Trainees took on 2018: did we predict the unpredictable?

Published on 16 Jan 2019.

2018 certainly will not be forgotten in a hurry, and what a year it was. Brexit negotiations dominated headlines, Theresa May's 'Dancing Queen' routine went viral, and England made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup! No, we didn't predict that either.

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Thinking - Blog

Four UK financial crime compliance predictions for 2019

Published on 15 Jan 2019. By Sam Tate, Partner

Last week we published our "UK white-collar crime enforcement predictions for 2019". This week, it is the turn of financial crime compliance.

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