Insights: Coronavirus (COVID-19) - April 2020

In the current climate it will come as no great surprise, that a growing number of residential tenants have been approaching their landlord requesting a reduction in rent or for a rent payment holiday. Most have either been furloughed by their employers and are receiving less income, have lost their jobs completely or have been […]

Intellectual property rights are – by definition – monopolistic. How, then, can researchers, charities and NGOs collaborate with business in the development of new technologies to control and eradicate COVID-19? The Pledge The Open COVID Pledge[1] is intended to encourage business and academia to pledge to make their intellectual property (IP) available free of charge […]

There has been a great deal in the press recently about insurers rejecting coronavirus claims and disappointed policy-holders. Some of those speaking publicly on behalf of the insurance industry have not done much to dispel the confusion and get to the nub of the issue. The issue is not one of what the insurer “intended” […]

With calls growing for the UK government to provide a detailed exit strategy from country-wide lockdown, Matthew Gould (NHSX chief executive) and Geraint Lewis (public health doctor and programme lead) recently published a blog discussing their plans to launch a contact-tracing app in the next few weeks. This follows health minister Matt Hancock’s recent announcement […]

NHSX recently published a draft Digital Health Technology Standard[1] aimed at streamlining the way health innovations such as apps and other digital tools are reviewed and assessed by the NHS.  The new standard is particularly important against the current background of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the use of technology in aiding the […]

The following article was a joint collaboration between Aon’s Cyber Solutions and Fladgate LLP, an international law firm. This alert explores the FCA’s “Cyber Coordination Groups (CCG) Insights” published on the 11th of March, 2020 and the impact that COVID-19 has already had on the threat landscape since its release. Aon explores how the previously […]

Shareholders, particularly institutional shareholders and the voting advisory services that support them, have traditionally taken a strict approach to the grant of share authorities and disapplication of pre-emption rights by public companies. This has developed widely accepted levels of both share authority and disapplication of pre-emption rights, which institutional shareholders will accept and vote in […]

Overview The UK Government has announced plans for a new “Future Fund” designed to top up funding raised by early stage UK companies during the Covid-19 crisis by providing unsecured convertible loans subject to matched funding from private investors. The Future Fund is part of a total of up to £1.25bn in new funding for […]

Regulators have been prompt in responding to the Covid-19 crisis, with the FCA, FRC, LSE, Companies House and others having published advice and guidelines on a range of issues. This note outlines the guidance for listed companies regarding their reporting and disclosure obligations. To see more click here      

It is over three weeks since the Government published its full guidance on ‘Staying at home and away from others’ and we have certainly seen a number of articles published dealing with how best to manage Child Contact Arrangements during the Covid-19 pandemic. This merely highlights the point that the Government’s social distancing restrictions are […]

The rights of UK employees are contained in an employment contract (incorporating  express rights and implied rights which are derived from the common law) and in statutory rules and regulations laid down by parliament which are mandatory in nature.  The entitlement to pay during a period of leave  depends to some extent upon the rights […]

On 20 March 2020, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) published an Inside AIM newsletter setting out temporary measures that would be implemented by the AIM Regulation team to support AIM companies and nominated advisers in addressing the challenges arising from the COVID-19 pandemic. Until further notice, AIM Regulation will be applying discretion to the application […]