The Archive (2020-2023)

2024 is set to be a big year for UK employers. We are anticipating significant changes to employment law, affecting how people work, diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) and hiring and firing. In addition, the post-Brexit employment landscape is starting to take shape, with significant changes taking effect on 1 January 2024. There is much for employers to look out for, to ensure they keep pace with the changing legal landscape. In this podcast Clare Fletcher and David Rintoul take you through the key changes, and what you need to do to ensure your business is prepared.

Phase 1 Complete; Phase 2 to come! In this podcast, we reflect on the lessons learned from Phase 1 of consumer duty implementation, and the challenges that face firms for closed books ahead of 31 July 2024. This episode sets out a general market-wide overview; we will separately be launching follow up discussions deep diving into specific issues that consumer duty poses for banking, insurance and asset management sectors.

Three years on from the pandemic and one year on from our last podcast, what does hybrid working look like and are there any emerging trends? In this podcast, partners Phil Linnard and Jane Edwarde are joined by Martin Boyle (Head of Legal - Dispute Resolution and Employment, Ocado Group) to discuss what has changed over the last year, the current global picture and the wider impact of hybrid working on employee retention, human resources, real estate requirements and mental wellbeing.

The past 9 months have seen turbulence stemming from the Truss-Kwarteng mini budget, a UK government debt market intervention by the Bank of England and rising interest rates, against the backdrop of questions about the UK's ability to thrive outside the EU. Charles Randell, Jan Putnis, Nick Bonsall, Dr. Sabine Dittrich and our host Selmin Hakki discuss how the post-crisis financial system is weathering these challenges and anticipate future areas of focus for financial regulators. They also explore where the UK stands in its plan to 'rethink the rulebook' post-Brexit. 

2023 promises to be a significant year for low carbon hydrogen production in the UK with the first contracts supporting green and blue hydrogen production expected to be entered into from H2 2023. As a result, hydrogen producers, their investors and lenders will be examining the UK Government's latest update to the hydrogen production business model with interest.  In this podcast we discuss some of the key issues on which industry is engaging with government. These include which end uses will be eligible for support under the business model, how volume risk is managed, and how CO2 network cross-chain risks are proposed to be mitigated.

As AI adoption increases, and governments and regulators across the globe grapple with how best to regulate AI, Slaughter and May are producing a series of ‘Regulating AI' thought pieces that will consider some of the legal issues that arise from developing and using AI solutions. The latest in this series is a podcast in which IP Partner Laura Houston and PSL Richard Barker discuss some of the key intellectual property law considerations and issues relating to AI. They consider which IP rights are relevant, look at whether AI itself can own or infringe IP, discuss some of the outcomes of the UKIPO's recent consultations and calls for views and talk us through some of the changes that are expected to be made following those consultations.

In this podcast, Competition Partner, Jordan Ellison and Senior PSL Annalisa Tosdevin discuss the competition law considerations arising from the use of algorithms. They consider some of the concerns around algorithms, the extent to which these concerns are really a competition law issue and how competition regulators might get involved. They finish with some practical takeaways for clients who use AI and algorithms in their business.

The UK government has thrown its weight behind CCS, aiming to capture and store 20-30 Mt of carbon emissions per year by 2030 from across the economy. However, the cost of installing and operating carbon capture equipment, together with the cost of transporting and storing that carbon once captured, is currently prohibitively expensive and therefore requires government support. With detailed draft contracts designed to support capture projects published recently, Oliver Moir, Iain McCann, Rory Botros and Kathryn Emmett discuss key issues for investors in capture projects: from pricing and deliverability, to co-dependency on the CCS network and termination rights.

The UK government has doubled its ambitions for low carbon hydrogen and is now aiming for 10 GW of low carbon hydrogen capacity by 2030. However, revenue support for new build production projects is needed to make them viable, investable and bankable. Oliver Moir and Kathryn Emmett discuss the draft heads of terms for low carbon hydrogen support in the UK including key issues for hydrogen production projects: from pricing and the low carbon hydrogen standard, to network co-dependency issues, offtake and termination rights.

Two years after lockdown was first imposed, most businesses now have increased flexibility about where and how their employees work. But what have we learnt about the hybrid model, and can this be taken forward as we move beyond COVID-19? In this podcast, partners Jane Edwarde and Phil Linnard discuss how hybrid working has evolved over the past two years, and what challenges and opportunities this presents for both the employment relationship and the UK property sector.

In our third and final podcast in our Autumn series of M&A Perspective, David Watkins, Alex Dustan and Kerry O'Connell explore trends behind the headline M&A statistics in Europe and look at how companies are navigating increased regulation in order to get deals done.

In the second podcast of our M&A Perspective Autumn series. David Watkins, a corporate partner at Slaughter and May join Laura Turano and Krishna Veeraraghavan at Paul Weiss to discuss the record deal activity in the US, the drivers behind the growth, and also share their views on recent changes at the DOJ and FTC and the subsequent impact on competition law. 

In the Autumn series of M&A Perspective, we take an in depth look at some of the key trends influencing M&A across three regions. In the first of the series, David Watkins, Natalie Yeung and Chris McGaffin examine differences and similarities in deal activity across Asia. They discuss geopolitical pressure, pivotal shifts in Chinese policy and then take a broader view of deal activity and dynamics in South East Asia.

As employers put into place their return to office strategy, leases are now being reviewed with an ‘ESG' lens. In this podcast, our Real Estate team discusses the increasing importance of ESG considerations for corporate occupiers. Graham Rounce, Samantha Brady, Mark Gulliford and Ben Redding share some insight on what we are seeing from clients in this space and answer questions on government-led initiatives to improve the sustainability of workplaces and corporate HQ's, while also touching on the importance of lenders in this process. Listen to the full podcast below.

In this podcast, our lawyers give some practical pointers on what businesses can do to build operational resilience and be prepared for future challenging periods. The pandemic affected large swathes of the economy, but with temporary COVID-related restrictions easing and vaccination programme bedded down, the economy is open for business. However, businesses are facing a number of headwinds, including supply chain disruption, raw material price increases, gas price increases and labour shortages. With the backdrop of government support starting to wind down and temporary protections being withdrawn, in this podcast, Ian Johnson, Andrew Jolly and Megan Sparber discuss how businesses facing a possible restructuring can prepare for all eventualities in order to achieve the best outcome.

Climate change and sustainability currently has a strong focus not only within ESG circles but also in the broader business and investment community. As part of our 'Path to COP26' series, this podcast features partners Harry Hecht, Jan Putnis and Lisa Wright in conversation about how in-house lawyers can join the conversation on climate change, covering topics such as TCFD disclosures, climate reporting and sustainability standards and what challenges and opportunities they expect to come in light of COP26. 

An increasing number of companies and treasury teams have been considering issuing green and ESG bonds. Earlier this year our financing team worked with Chris Vaughan, GC at Whitbread on the issuance of a dual-tranche Green Bond. In this podcast, Chris gives us an issuer's perspective on green and ESG bonds, and discusses the attraction, advantages and practicalities for these bonds with Matthew Tobin and Jennifer Sadek.

As businesses reshape their working patterns, Standard Chartered Bank was already ahead with their ‘Future Workplace, Now' project. We sat down with Nicola Doran, Head of Employment Law Europe, Americas & AME at Standard Chartered, to discuss the challenges and opportunities of hybrid working models across the world.  From employee surveys and office space design to diversity and inclusion and future generations, partners Phil Linnard and Caroline Phillips explore with Nicola how we can reinvent the 9 to 5 and what role legal teams can play.

As businesses reshape their working patterns, social cohesion appears at the heart of the discussion around the future of work. In this podcast, partners Jan Putnis, Jeff Twentyman, Phil Linnard and Natalie Cook discuss how we can define social cohesion, how it has been impacted (and could be re-invented) by the pandemic and why it matters to in-house legal functions.

In the final podcast in this series, Ben Kingsley, Natalie Donovan and Emily Bradley turn to consider the promise presented by quantum technologies, and discuss how businesses can start to leverage the opportunities they present. They catch up with Alexei Kondratyev, Managing Director and Head of Data Science and Innovation at Standard Chartered Bank, to hear more about the work that Slaughter and May's clients are already doing in this space.

In this podcast Rob Sumroy, head of Technology Group and the global Cyber hub at Slaughter and May, Robert Hannigan, Chairman of BlueVoyant International and Senior Adviser to McKinsey & Co, and Dr Ali El Kaafarani, Research Fellow at the Mathematical Institute (University of Oxford) and Founder/CEO of PQShield, discuss the risks that quantum computing poses to the security of organisations and their data. Is there a solution we should be investing in now to stay quantum secure?

In this podcast David Subel, an associate in one of our corporate teams and Emily Bradley, a professional support lawyer in our financial regulation group, discuss the key findings of their research into what is meant by ‘quantum computing'. Both David and Emily are members of our Slaughter and May quantum technologies hub.

In this podcast, Professor Scott Moeller (Director of the M&A Research Centre at the Business School (formerly Cass)) and Jordan Ellison (Competition Partner at Slaughter and May) discuss why companies engage in M&A, what makes a successful deal and what the latest research studies tell us about the impact of transactions on shareholder value and innovation. In a world where competition authorities are increasingly likely to block deals on the basis of limited competition harms, communicating the value of M&A is now more important than ever.

Sustainability-linked loans: what are they, how are they structured and why are they increasingly popular? In this podcast, we discuss the features that make a loan sustainability-linked, what parties should be thinking about when putting one in place, the impact of meeting key performance indicators and how the various indicators are measured.

In this podcast, Corporate partners Filippo de Falco and Claire Jackson discuss the shareholder activism trends that emerged in 2020, and whether these trends will carry over into 2021. They reflect on both the increase in M&A activism and the increasing importance of ESG considerations to both activists and corporates, before providing key tips for companies looking to defend themselves against activist shareholders.

In the third podcast of the series, Jonny Cotton, Sir David Green and Holly Ware discuss the criminal investigations and enforcement outlook for 2021. In particular they look at the Serious Fraud Office's (SFO) recent activity, the possible changes to the corporate criminal liability regime, the impact of Brexit and other likely international developments.

In this podcast we consider the impact on the new requirements on climate related risk governance and reporting requirements in the Pension Schemes Act 2021.  We cover the detailed new requirements for trustees of larger occupational pension schemes, which will come into force in October 2021, and how schemes of all sizes will need to take into account the new requirements.

In the second podcast of the series, Jan Putnis, Ewan Brown and Ella Williams discuss the outlook for financial institutions enforcement in 2021. In particular they focus on the expected areas of increased activity for the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the reported drop in criminal investigations conducted by the FCA, the likelihood of the FCA pursuing civil resolutions and the impact of COVID-19 on financial services firms.

In this podcast, part of our Regulating Digital series, Natalie Donovan interviews Rob Sumroy and Duncan Blaikie about whether our current privacy rules are fit-for-purpose in an increasingly digital age, whether the ICO is doing enough to encourage innovation in the digital space and how, in practice, businesses can innovate in a privacy compliant way.

In this podcast Camilla Sanger, Damian Taylor and Tim Blanchard discuss the UK Supreme Court's much-anticipated judgment in Merricks v Mastercard and its wider implications. The judgment is one of the most important commercial judgments of 2020 and represents a significant development in the future of the UK's collective proceedings regime.

In the first podcast of our Investigations and Enforcement Outlook 2021 series, Jonathan Cotton, Richard Jeens and Rebecca Cousin discuss the outlook for data privacy-related enforcement and litigation in 2021. In particular they focus on the increased (and varied) risks of regulatory enforcement and follow on civil litigation arising from breaches of data protection and privacy legislation.

In this podcast Richard Sargeant (both COO of Faculty, a leading applied AI company, and a board member of the UK's Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation) and Rob Sumroy (Head of Technology Group and co-head of Global Privacy practice at Slaughter and May) discuss the use, ownership and regulation of data in an increasingly digital world, what blockers and value drivers exist for businesses wanting to innovate in this area and how issues around IP ownership and open data, and the UK's national data strategy, impact these discussions.

In the first podcast of our Regulating Digital series, Ariel Ezrachi (Professor of Competition Law at the University of Oxford) and Jordan Ellison (Competition Partner at Slaughter and May) discuss the relationship between privacy and competition considerations, and debate whether the GDPR is anticompetitive.

In this podcast, Clare Fletcher and Philippa O'Malley discuss the employment implications of COVID testing and vaccination. They reflect on the developments since their podcast on COVID testing back in July, and how workplace testing is likely to evolve as we move into a new stage of the pandemic. They also consider the employment implications of a COVID-19 vaccine and highlight key areas for employers to think about.

Brexit planning should now firmly be on everyone's agendas as the end of the transition period looms closer. This podcast discusses the implications of Brexit on data privacy and considers the key, practical steps that organisations need to put in place as part of their Brexit preparations. As well as considering the importance of adequacy of transfers of personal data from the EEA to the UK in light of the most recent developments, we also consider how the EU GDPR will continue to apply to certain personal data after the end of the transition period; the implications flowing from a change in regulator and the potential for multiple enforcement actions; the need, in some cases, to appoint a representative in the UK and/or the EU; and the impact on processing grounds and processor terms.

In the fifth and final episode of our ‘Redundancies in focus' podcast series, Padraig Cronin and Clare Fletcher discuss the aftermath of redundancies. They consider the recent extension of the furlough scheme and postponement of the Job Retention Bonus, dealing with survivors guilt, and an important recent European decision about consultation on successive redundancies.

In the fourth episode of our ‘Redundancies in focus' podcast series, Richard Goldstein, Ian Brown and Clare Fletcher discuss the pensions and incentives aspects of redundancy. They consider the potential implications for pension schemes, the approach taken by employers and what this means for their employees.

This podcast explores how business strategy can align with ESG. Azadeh Nassiri and Jeff Twentyman walk us through the key issues in demonstrating authenticity. 

In the third episode of our ‘Redundancies in focus' podcast series, Philippa O'Malley, Dave Rintoul and Clare Fletcher discuss some key issues for employers and insolvency practitioners when facing the prospect of redundancies. These include timing issues in the run up to insolvency, the potential discrimination risk faced by administrators, and changes introduced by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

In this podcast Roland Turnill, Camilla Sanger and Efstathios Michael discuss the rise of shareholder group litigation and some of the issues listed companies should be thinking about, including how to avoid it in the first place.

In the second episode of our ‘Redundancies in focus' podcast series, Lizzie Twigger, Katherine Flower and Clare Fletcher discuss the ‘people' angle, and consider how traditional labels, terminology and mindset on redundancies need to adapt in the current climate.

In August 2020 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published proposals for legislation and statutory guidance on governance and reporting of climate change issues in line with the Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). In this podcast we discuss different aspects of the consultation, including translating the TCFD Recommendations into law and guidance, the impact of climate-related risks on trustees' duties, DB vs DC schemes, and penalties for non-compliance with the new regulations.

COVID-19 has forced corporates to re-evaluate their recovery plans and consider alternative measures to protect their long-term futures. One such measure is redundancies. In the first of a new, five-part podcast series addressing business-critical areas for employers to consider in the current climate, Phil Linnard and Clare Fletcher share their insights on how Brexit and COVID-19 is shaping the landscape for redundancies.

Last year saw EMEA corporate sale and leaseback transactions hit a record high. With such transactions seen as an effective source of capital raising, and in the midst of the COVID crisis, is this upward curve set to continue? In this podcast, Michael Evans and Nick Compton of JLL, and Jane Edwarde discuss how sale and leaseback transactions have been used this year to raise capital, the sector opportunities and trends seen over the past 10 months, and what we can expect to see in the future.

COVID-19 has forced London workers to abandon their office desks and adjust at home. After nearly six months of doing so, a gradual return to work is on the horizon for many. However, employees may find a different work space from the one they left. How has the pandemic changed employers' thinking about their working environments? What do occupiers now want from their HQs and from their landlords? In this podcast, Paul Williams of Derwent London, Phil Hobley of Knight Frank, and Jane Edwarde discuss whether, in a post-pandemic London, the office market landscape will change forever and, if so, in what ways.

There is no doubt that retailers have been heavily impacted by COVID-19 – both physically and financially. With retailers having to change their set-up by introducing plexi-glass screens at the tills, social distancing markings on floors, and the enforced wearing of masks – the physical shopping experience and the way consumers behave has dramatically changed.  David Kozack of Ocado, John Nevin and Graham Rounce consider the immediate and longer term impact of COVID-19 on the retail and logistics sectors.

In this podcast, Matthew Tobin and Kathrine Meloni discuss key issues for companies contemplating debt financings, refinancings or restructurings in the coming months and some of the themes that are starting to emerge.

Following the European elections in May of 2019, and amidst the uncertainty of the COVID-19, the European Commission laid out its plan for the next five years. These plans will affect businesses across a diverse range of areas; including FDI, data, competition, environment and tax. In this podcast, a number of our experts explain the potential effects and impacts of the plans moving forward.

In his latest podcast Richard Goldstein focuses on Brexit - specifically the actions pension schemes should be taking now in preparation for 1 January 2021, when the transition period comes to an end.

In this podcast, Tim Blanchard, Filippo de Falco, Sir David Green CB QC and Ella Williams assess bribery and corruption risk and successor liability in the context of distressed M&A in COVID-19 times. Our team discuss the potential for enforcement actions relevant to those transactions and how purchasers might spot red flags and manage or mitigate those risks.

COVID-19 has brought unprecedented disruption to normal working arrangements. As businesses adapt to the changing environment, they need to keep in mind the legal framework. In the sixth and final podcast in this series, Dave Rintoul and Clare Fletcher consider the law on flexible working, whether it is fit for purpose in the current climate, and some key practical issues for employers.