A recent, high profile, judgment from the UK’s top court has wider application than just standard-form contracts such as those that are a feature of the construction industry. Central to the decision in Providence Building Services Limited v Hexagon Housing Association Limited (2026) was the termination mechanism in a standard form (UK) construction industry contract. […]

A private member’s bill providing a stopgap measure which allows directors to use an alternative address, and not their home address, on the Companies Register was passed last night. The stopgap measure in the Companies (Address Information) Amendment Bill seems destined to be replaced by a (full) director identification number, similar to that used in

Last month, Radich J delivered a very long decision in what was obviously a keenly contested dispute affecting the Drylandcarbon joint venture. Ultimately, the judgment applies a number of well-known and long-established principles relating to the diversion (by a director) of a corporate opportunity for their own personal benefit.  But the background to this case

Branded as ‘commonsense changes’, the Government announced yesterday that it will make significant changes to the disclosure regime for climate reporting entities.  As a result, some commentators have said that this will reduce the number of climate reporting entities by two-thirds, from approx. 164 to 76. The press statement from the Minister of Commerce and

In another example of the in-house lawyer’s worst nightmare, the UK Court of Appeal has upheld the assertion of a binding contract on the basis of a series of informal messages via WhatsApp and email despite what appears to have been a clear (and shared) expectation that formal documentation was to follow. In DAZN Limited

At the end of last week, the High Court delivered its decision on the case stated proceeding brought by the FMA, seeking a High Court determination about the use, confirmation, and acceptance of ‘eligible investor certificates’ for ‘wholesale’ investments.  To recap, the ‘eligible investor’ route is one of the key hard-wired exceptions from the FMC

The deadline for all incorporated societies to re-register under the Incorporated Societies Act 2022 is now less than 6 months away.  Every incorporated society must re-register under the 2022 Act before 5 April 2026.  If that is not done, the society will cease to exist.  After re-registration, the society will continue operating as the same

The Law Commission has announced its review of directors’ duties and liabilities. This is the second limb of the package of measures announced by the previous Commerce Minister with the aim of modernising the Companies Act 1993 and related corporate governance laws. Terms of reference The terms of reference published by the Law Commission has

Prior to the publication by the FMA on Monday of a report, I hadn’t heard the term ‘shadow insider trading’: Insider trading typically involves trading or tipping in the [quoted] securities of a listed issuer directly associated with the non-public, price sensitive information.   According to the FMA ‘shadow insider trading’ means: Using material information

I was intrigued to read media reports at the end of July, that the High Court had dismissed an application by the FMA for issue of a new or enlarged (depending on which report I read) search warrants in conjunction with its investigations into Du Val.  Having heard quite a bit from my litigation colleagues