United Kingdom: With the peak summer holiday travel season about to get underway in the Northern Hemisphere, the preceding spring and early summer have been equally busy on the regulatory front for aviation. The trend of consolidation and collaboration across the aviation sector has continued. The lengthy timelines frequently being seen for regulatory clearances have presented issues for parties' transaction timetables.

New Zealand: New Zealand continues to increase the size of its renewable energy footprint and transition away from fossil-fuelled generation. The inherent variability of renewables (the sun does not always shine, and the wind does not always blow) creates a well-recognised energy intermittence issue. The Electricity Authority (EA) has released its regulatory roadmap for battery energy storage systems. This article comments on some of the highlights and where we see clear signals that New Zealand is “open for business” for further BESS development at scale. 

Köln/Berlin (DAV). Die Adoption eines Volljährigen setzt eine Eltern-Kind-Beziehung voraus, mindestens aber muss diese im Entstehen sein. Ein herzliches verwandtschaftliches Verhältnis ist nicht ausreichend, berichtet die Arbeitsgemeinschaft Familienrecht des Deutschen Anwaltvereins (DAV) mit Blick auf eine Entscheidung des Oberlandesgerichts Köln vom 30. Januar 2025 (AZ: 14 UF 6/25).

Der Mann wollte seinen volljährigen Neffen adoptieren. Der Vater des Neffen ist sein Zwillingsbruder. Der Onkel berät den Neffen in Ausbildungsfragen und finanziert unter anderem sein Studium. Nach eigenen Angaben ist er Millionär.

Das Gericht lehnte die Adoption ab. Zwar hätten sich die Richter davon überzeugen können, dass das Verhältnis zwischen Onkel und Neffen sehr herzlich sei, doch bestünden Zweifel, dass der Adoption ein rein familienbezogenes Motiv zugrunde liege. Sie sahen unter anderem auch steuerrechtliche Motive. Durch die Adoption würden dem Staat Steuereinnahmen in beträchtlicher Höhe entgehen.

Darüber hinaus hatten die Richter Zweifel, dass zwischen den Beteiligten ein Eltern-Kind-Verhältnis bestehe oder sich entwickle. Das Gericht konnte nicht erkennen, dass sich das Verhältnis zwischen Onkel und Neffen klar von einer engen Freundschaft oder engen Verbundenheit zwischen Verwandten unterscheide. Ebenso bleibe offen, inwiefern der Neffe aktuell für den Annehmenden die besondere Stellung eines Kinds habe, also einer Person, die aufgrund einer langen familiären Bindung jederzeit bereit sei, für den Elternteil "einzuspringen", ihn emotional zu unterstützen oder einfach zu lieben.

Information: www.dav-familienrecht.de

Asian Legal Business has named Senior Partner Chun Ying Ng and Partner Sarah Chan among Singapore’s top legal stars for 2025, recognising their exceptional expertise, leadership, and client impact.

Poland: In our series of articles, we will explore the legal and regulatory landscape shaping investments in gas-fired units in Poland. We will present and discuss key aspects of gas project development and review the investment process for high-efficiency cogeneration units of both smaller and larger capacity.

House v. NCAA (filed 2020 in the Northern District of California) consolidated three antitrust class actions—House, Hubbard, and Carter. The plaintiffs (current and former Division I athletes) alleged that the NCAA and the Power 5 conferences violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act by: 1) capping athlete compensation and educational benefits; and 2) agreeing to bar athletes from monetizing their name, image, and likeness (NIL).

Asian Legal Business has named Senior Partner Chun Ying Ng and Partner Sarah Chan among Singapore’s top legal stars for 2025, recognising their exceptional expertise, leadership, and client impact.

Australia: On 25 June 2025, the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) was found to have unlawfully terminated Antoinette Lattouf for reasons including that she held a political opinion opposing Israel's conduct in its ongoing conflict with Palestine. The landmark ruling indicates employers face higher hurdles than ever when dismissing employees for their out-of-hours conduct for the purpose of reputation management alone.

New Zealand: Dentons helps clients from around the world navigate the complexities of their data centre projects in New Zealand and globally. The Dentons team in New Zealand is perfectly placed to assist you with your data centre projects thanks to its combination of specialist legal expertise, industry knowledge, and its understanding of New Zealand’s legal, economic and political environment.

South Korea is preparing to make significant changes to its digital asset regulatory framework including virtual assets under the new leadership of President Lee Jae-Myung.

Dentons has advised the financiers on a landmark AED 760 million, eight-year secured facility provided to Al Seer Marine (ASM), a leading maritime company based in the UAE. The facility was arranged by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB) and will support ASM's capital efficiency and next phase of growth.

United Kingdom: The FCA has published its final Prospectus Rules sourcebook, setting out the rules which will implement the new Public Offers and Admission to Trading Regulations (POATR). The new rules, set out in the FCA's policy statement PS25/9, aim to facilitate capital raising by giving investors the information they need, but requiring a prospectus only where there is a clear information gap between companies and investors.

Global: The second alert in the Dentons Merger Control Summer Series takes a deep dive into recent jurisdictional issues in merger control across Europe. We explore how regulators are tackling "killer acquisitions" (and "serial acquisitions") and what this means for legal certainty in dealmaking, with a spotlight on recent developments in the EU, Netherlands, Belgium, France and the UK.

United Kingdom: AI is transforming the workplace but brings with it complex legal and regulatory challenges for employers. Following our recent webinar, we explore key employment law issues and practical strategies for responsible AI adoption in the workplace.

On June 23, 2022, the German parliament, Bundestag, passed a draft law that implements the EU Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions. This amends, among other things, the German Verification Act. The law has far-reaching consequences for employers. Employment contracts will have to be adapted and the work of HR departments will become more extensive.

Global law firm Dentons has announced its practice group leadership appointments for the Europe Region for the term ending December 2027.  

Ukraine: In a significant move towards economic recovery and strategic growth, Ukraine and its international partners have launched several finance initiatives aimed at mobilizing capital and transforming critical sectors.

France: Did You Know? An employer who chooses to furnish the rest area with mere stools is making an avoidable mistake. Article R. 4228-25 of the French Labor Code clearly states that “seats made available to workers in a rest area must be equipped with backrests”. During a labor inspection or in the event of a workplace incident, this seemingly minor oversight could be deemed a regulatory breach. Even rest has legal requirements!

United Kingdom: As the Government introduces legislation to regulate Buy Now Pay Later agreements, we look at the regulatory changes and what they mean for lenders, merchants and consumers.

England and UAE: Ship financings are inherently international, typically involving multiple jurisdictions. This complexity arises because: (i) vessels often operate worldwide and may be registered under a flag different from the owner's country of incorporation; (ii) key parties such as financiers, shipowners and charterers are frequently based in different countries; and (iii) security interests, as well as enforcement rights, must be effective and recognised across various legal systems. These factors combine to make cross-border ship financing uniquely challenging.