News & Views

Nelson Mandela said that money won’t create success but the freedom to make it will. Perhaps this explains why more and more companies are using employee share schemes as a means of incentivising staff - aligning the interests of employees and shareholders whilst providing tax-efficient rewards.

American actor and comedian Jonathan Katz once said that he hated going to funerals because he was not a mourning person. Well at least he had a funeral plan.

Selling a business is usually the biggest decision a business owner takes and managing a sale process is emotionally demanding and time-consuming - time away from running the business. Taking steps to prepare your business for a sale, well before a buyer is on the horizon, will make things very much easier when the sale process starts.

Under section 19 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (‘FSMA’) there is a general prohibition against a person (which includes a body corporate) carrying on (or purporting to carry on) a regulated activity in the UK unless they are an authorised or exempt person. Carrying on a regulated activity in breach of this general prohibition is a criminal offence and could result in certain agreements entered into being unenforceable.

Warranty and indemnity (‘W&I’) insurance is now a well-established product for parties in corporate transactions and, for deals of a certain size, is frequently taken out as a matter of course.

One of the fundamental reasons to run a dental business via a limited company is to protect the owners and directors from incurring personal liability for the debts and liabilities of the business. The general rule is that an owner or director of an incorporated business cannot be held personally liable for its debts and liabilities provided their actions fall within the parameters of the company’s constitution and the actions are otherwise lawful.

In a recent warning to the operators of cryptoasset automated teller machines (“CATMs”), the FCA confirmed that of the cryptoasset firms listed on its register, none have been approved to offer CATM services. Therefore, any providers that do operate CATMs in the UK do so unlawfully and risk getting on the wrong side of the regulator.

In January last year, the government issued a consultation paper and call for evidence on the UK’s regulatory approach to cryptoassets and stablecoins. The consultation paper wanted views on how the UK can ensure its regulatory framework is equipped to harness the benefits of new technologies, supporting innovation and competition, while mitigating risks to consumers, market integrity, and financial stability. The government’s proposals in the consultation paper were largely informed by views expressed by UK’s the Cryptoassets Taskforce (made up of HM Treasury, the Bank of England, and the FCA) in its final report setting out a regulatory pathway for the UK to mitigate the risks, and enhance the benefits, of cryptoassets and distributed ledger technology (“DLT”).  

‘Building Back Better’ has become the world’s slogan - from budget decisions to carbon emissions. The concept is, of course, far from new. It has been used in disaster recovery parlance for decades and derives from evidence that the collective shock of a major catastrophe somehow seeds a desire in those affected not just to return to normal but to pursue a better normal.

Azelis, a leading global innovation service provider in the speciality chemicals and food ingredients industry, announces the acquisition of 100% of the shares of Whitfield Chemical Group Limited, the ultimate parent company of WhitChem, a well-regarded distributor focused on CASE (coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers) and R&PA (rubber & plastic additives) in the UK.