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Recent insights
Electric vehicles: the direction of travel
16 Jul 2018
Three documents were published this week which all refer to electric vehicles (EV). Read together they start to provide us with the bigger picture for the development of the necessary infrastructure and the anticipated uptake of the new technology.
Is the BBC "making progress" on its gender pay gap?
13 Jul 2018
The BBC has published their latest list of its highest-paid stars as part of its annual report. Lorraine Heard, Legal Director, comments on the issues surrounding equal pay and gender pay gap.
WBD takes part in Institute of Export summit
13 Jul 2018
Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD), which has a large office in Bristol, has taken part in the South West World Trade Summit, organised by the Institute of Export (IOE).
Goldman Sachs held liable for infringement by its investee company
12 Jul 2018
The EU General Court has today ruled that Goldman Sachs, which had a financial investment in the group of companies containing one of the parties found guilty in the power cable makers cartel, was correctly held liable, jointly and severally, for a fine of €37.3 million imposed on the cartelist Prysmian. There was no evidence that Goldman Sachs (or its investee vehicle) had instigated the cartel or been involved in it: but that is not something, the General Court said, the EU Commission is required to demonstrate in order to hold a parent company jointly and severally liable with the relevant subsidiary for payment of the fine. Once one member of the "undertaking" is found guilty, that gives rise to the collective responsibility of all the principals in the group structure for the breach of the competition rules.
Brexit: what does the whitepaper say on 'free trade area for goods'?
12 Jul 2018
"The government's white paper proposes the creation of a "free trade area for goods", coupled with a "facilitated customs arrangement" to allow cross-border trade to be as "frictionless" as possible. Central to those proposals is the concept of "trusted traders". For example, it suggests that: "where a good reaches the UK border, and the destination can be robustly demonstrated by a trusted trader, it will pay the UK tariff if it is destined for the UK and the EU tariff if it is destined for the EU".
FCA proposes further consumer support and protection in the retirement income market
12 Jul 2018
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has launched a consultation on a package of measures designed to protect consumers, improve engagement and promote competition in the retirement income market. Alongside the consultation, the FCA has published the final report of its Retirement Outcomes Review, an investigation into how the pensions and retirement income sector has been working since the pension freedoms were introduced in 2015.
