Your QM Law For All Society Newsletter
Welcome to the seventh issue of our newsletter, Unorthodox
We hope you've all had a good start to the term and that everyone is doing well during the current panorama/panasonic/pancreas ;)
Time for your favourite fortnightly legal updates brought to you by the LFA newsletter team!
Don't miss out on our upcoming event! Denis Viskovich is a dual qualified Australian and English lawyer and the founder of BUCAC, the largest commercial awareness competition for law students in the UK. To access the event save the zoom link here.What's going on in the world?
1) Boohoo buying the Debenhams brand and website for £55 million.
Boohoo (only founded in 2006) has decided to buy the Debenhams brand and website. Their investment into this purchase is the equivalent of half of their profits made last year. However, Debenhams is one of the most well recognised brands on the high street and one of the ten most visited retail websites in the UK. What does this mean? Boohoo is taking a major step, giving themselves an opportunity to diversify their business. The Debenhams brand includes various products that Boohoo does not sell such as bedding and homeware items. Boohoo already has an older and richer client base that increases the company's profit margins. Therefore, by increasing their range, Boohoo will be able to maximise their profits further. However, whilst they have bought the brand and website, Boohoo has not taken any responsibility in purchasing the stores too. Why is this important? Whilst the owners of Boohoo and Debenhams receive their fair share of the deal, it is safe to say the people losing out will be employees and owners of Debenhams' properties. With the stores not being bought, landlords will be forced to sell their property to others whilst employees will face the issue of unemployment due to the closure of physical stores.
2) Is Amsterdam overtaking London as Europe's top trade sharing hub? The Netherlands has started to claim businesses that the UK has lost as a result of Brexit. Amsterdam is outdoing London as Europe’s largest share trading centre last month. Volume of shares in London fell steeply to €8.6 billion, displacing the UK from its pedestal as the main hub for the European market. The Netherlands took over with roughly €9.2 billion shares being traded daily on Dutch arms of CBOE Europe and Turquoise, and on Euronext Amsterdam. What does this mean? Despite it sounding like a big shift, in reality not a lot has changed. Order flow is now increasingly going through Amsterdam, but teams have remained in London. Businesses are not actually moving to Amsterdam as increased activity is mainly a result of EU regulators insisting on trades being booked within the EU. London still dominates in more profitable aspects of trade such as risk management, settlement, and clearing(learn more this The Spectator article). Why is this important? Whilst the significance of this specific change is debatable, it is indicative of Britain's shifting position in European trade, and another reminder that whilst the City does have plenty of strengths that will continue to draw business, it also cannot afford to be complacent with its importance. The Financial Times discussed in detail how activity increase in Amsterdam related to the inability of the UK and EU to settle on equivalence terms. For example, Brussels has not accepted UK exchanges and trading venues as having the same supervisory status as its own and therefore a ban on EU-based financial institutions trading in London has been enforced, which led to the shift to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is not the only place to benefit from Brexit and it will not be the last, especially if equivalence is not granted to the UK to facilitate smooth cross-border dealing.
3) EU vs Big Tech: France and Australia's initiatives and the impact it has on EU-Big Tech relations France is insisting on implementing significant changes to proposed EU tech regulations, in order to have more power to reprimand tech companies and 'police content'. The EU is also considering adopting Australia's approach to Big Tech; new legislation has been proposed that would require technology companies to pay publishers and broadcasters for stories used in their news feeds or search results. What does this mean? EU regulators are currently apprehensive about being eclipsed by countries such as Germany and France on tackling Big Tech, as they're looking to implement their own laws to combat Big Tech. The Digital Services Act, which outlines the standards Big Tech needs to meet when monitoring online content, is being challenged by French officials, who want EU member states to have the right to sanction tech companies. EU laws can only be enforced by countries that have tech headquarters, such as Luxembourg and Ireland. As for reforms regarding payment for using news publications, the EU is looking to potentially add these reforms into the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), which are due to be finalised soon. Why is this important? According to some EU officials, this push from France risks dismantling the EU's single market, as the EU would no longer be the sole regulator. Instead, each state would have the right to subject companies to their own regulations. However, this shift is deemed by people such as Cedric O, the French minister for the digital economy, as necessary in order to ensure social media companies such as Facebook and Twitter do not have excessive free reign over the censoring of content. As for remuneration for news usage, Google threatened to pull its services from Australia over its new law proposal, and Facebook has also said it would block users from sharing news if the proposal is not amended. In Europe however, Facebook and Google have been trying to sort out licensing deals in Europe as a result of copyright laws being modified in 2019. Therefore, it may take a bit longer for the EU to commit to something as drastic as the Australian proposal.
Opportunities
Interactive Assessment Centre with Future City Lawyers
The Lawyers Portal - Online Mock Trial In Criminal Law
The Law Society - The Anti-Money Laundering Webinar Event
We also have an amazing competition open to everyone that you can learn more about below! If you're interested and would like to make a submission click here!Our top podcasts to tune in to:
1) Thinking Commercially- In their most recent episode, Ben Triggs and Chris Stoakes discussed GameStop, green investments, Asos and BooHoo acquisitions, and the importance of research reports for building commercial awareness.
2) The Pupillage Podcast - Brough to you by Middle Temple, this podcast runs through how to tackle CV writing, the demystification of mooting as well as exploring the different practise areas available to a barrister.
3) BBC Law in Action - Aimed to helping you think more about the implications of law in different situations. For example, do Love Island contesters leave their legal rights at the door of the villa?
4) Kingsley Napsley International Insights in Criminal Law - a series of podcasts covering various aspects of cross border crime.
Another amazing event to have a look at is the TCLA M&A Case Study Bootcamp.
If you're looking for daily law updates that are student-friendly and engaging, look no further! LittleLaw is a student-led website that aims to make commercial law easier to understand for students. Check out their Instagram page here to find out more!
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