In a decision with far-reaching implications, the UK Supreme Court has determined that a grant of planning permission for oil production was unlawful for failing to take into account downstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions...more
On 22 February 2024, the UK announced it is withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) on the basis that it is incompatible with the energy transition, being the 11th state to do so. However, ECT protections for...more
The English Court has upheld a challenge to an US$11 billion arbitration award against Nigeria on grounds that it was obtained fraudulently and “only by practising the most severe abuses of the arbitral process”, contrary to...more
The upcoming changes to the UK Arbitration Act are an important development for energy practitioners. That’s because arbitration is the default means to resolve cross-border energy and natural resources disputes, and London...more
On 6 September 2023, the Law Commission published the long-awaited final report of its review of the UK Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act”) and a draft bill setting out the recommended amendments to the Act. The upshot is that...more
In a move with significant implications for the crypto sector, the UK has enacted legislation to bring cryptoassets within the scope of the existing financial services regulatory regime. The relevant provisions of the...more
9/21/2023
/ Banking Acts ,
Cryptoassets ,
Digital Assets ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Promotions ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FSMA ,
Investment ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Regulatory Agencies ,
Stablecoins ,
UK
Biomethane is indistinguishable from natural gas and can be deployed as a drop-in renewable replacement to natural gas without the need for adaptation of network infrastructure or end-user equipment.
The scale of...more
The Hong Kong High Court (“Court”) has, for the first time, confirmed that cryptocurrencies constitute “property” under Hong Kong law and are capable of being held on trust. The landmark ruling of Re Gatecoin Limited (In...more
The UK government has announced that it plans to regulate crypto under its existing financial services regime. Under the proposals, crypto will be subject to the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and under the remit...more
In October 2022 the European Council approved the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, one of the first attempts globally at comprehensive regulation of cryptocurrency markets. The regulation extends to money...more
In a decision with global arbitral significance, the U.S. Supreme Court has now clarified that § 1782 discovery is not available in support of foreign private international arbitration proceedings. Parties subject to U.S....more
6/15/2022
/ 28 U.S.C. § 1782 ,
Arbitration ,
Business Disputes ,
Commercial Arbitration ,
Discovery ,
Document Productions ,
Foreign Jurisdictions ,
Foreign Tribunals ,
International Arbitration ,
International Litigation ,
Litigation Strategies ,
SCOTUS
Disputes as to the licensing of standard-essential patents (SEP) and determination of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms are typically resolved through either negotiation or litigation in national courts....more
The ground-breaking draft European Union Act on Artificial Intelligence (AI), which has far-reaching implications beyond Europe, is currently going through the legislative procedure of the European Parliament and Council. The...more
On April 21, 2021, the European Commission (Commission) published its draft Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (AI). It follows the strategies outlined in the February 2020 Commission’s White Paper on AI. The draft...more
5/3/2021
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Registration Requirement ,
Transparency
Finality is often cited as an advantage of arbitration. But what happens if there is a clear error or irregularity in an award? Institutional rules and national arbitration laws typically provide a limited mechanism to...more
In a landmark decision handed down on November 27, 2020, the U.K. Supreme Court has confirmed that the English law of arbitration imposes a duty on arbitrators to disclose matters which would or might lead to the conclusion...more
12/2/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitrators ,
Bias ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Duty of Confidentiality ,
Duty to Disclose ,
International Arbitration ,
International Bar Association (IBA) ,
Personal Liability ,
UK Supreme Court
The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) has issued updated arbitration rules (the “2020 Rules”). These include some important changes, many of which are designed to address users’ concern to improve time and...more
8/13/2020
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Case Consolidation ,
Case Management ,
Data Protection ,
Dismissals ,
Information Security ,
International Arbitration ,
LCIA ,
Remote Hearings ,
Tribunals
There are currently substantial commercial incentives for Asian buyers to seek price adjustments under their long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts. In Part 1 of this series we outlined the elements of an effective...more
On February 19, 2020, the European Commission (Commission) published proposals for the regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with potentially far-reaching implications both for users and developers worldwide. The...more
3/11/2020
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Corporate Counsel ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Research and Development ,
Technology Sector ,
White Papers
Part 1 -
There are currently substantial commercial incentives for Asian buyers to seek price adjustments under their long-term LNG contracts. But whether an adjustment can be achieved at all, and if so the process and the...more
The increasing divergence between oil prices and spot liquefied natural gas (LNG) prices has created strong incentives for Asian buyers under long-term LNG contracts to seek price adjustment and other forms of LNG contract...more
With the UK General Election on 12 December 2019 only days away, both of the leading parties are promising policies that in different ways may impact inward investors into the UK. Whether this is the rapid Brexit promised by...more
The last few weeks have seen a raft of new investor-state arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), including the first known investor-state claim against the European Union (EU) itself. These claims largely arise...more
10/21/2019
/ Energy Charter Treaty ,
Energy Sector ,
EU ,
Foreign Investment ,
ICSID ,
International Arbitration ,
Investor Protection ,
Investor-State Arbitration ,
Investors ,
Member State ,
Oil & Gas ,
Renewable Energy ,
UNCITRAL
• The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals recently approved the use of 28 U.S.C. 1782(a) to obtain discovery in connection with a commercial arbitration proceeding occurring outside the United States.
• The decision establishes a...more
10/8/2019
/ 28 U.S.C. § 1782 ,
Appeals ,
Arbitration ,
Discovery ,
Document Productions ,
Foreign Arbitration Clauses ,
Foreign Tribunals ,
International Arbitration ,
Scope of Discovery Requests ,
Split of Authority ,
Statutory Interpretation
In Sabbagh v. Khoury [2019] EWCA Civ. 1219, the English Court of Appeal has held that English courts have the power, in “exceptional cases”, to grant anti-arbitration injunctions to restrain an arbitration seated abroad—even...more