We discuss recent company law, corporate governance and UK capital markets’ developments in-house legal and company secretarial teams should be aware of.

Die Demokratie ist weltweit unter Druck, längst auch in westlichen Staaten. Doch in Ohnmacht zu erstarren, hilft nicht weiter. Es gibt noch Mittel und Wege, um unsere Werte gegen die autoritäre Versuchung zu verteidigen, schreibt Franz C. Mayer. Für jeden von uns.

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Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, new regulatory requirements mean company directors and other individuals will need to verify their identity. These measures will affect corporate trustees.

The Regulator published its annual funding analysis for UK occupational DB and hybrid pension schemes on September 4, 2025. The 2025 report is based on “tranche 18 schemes”, which are those with effective valuation dates from September 22, 2022, to September 21, 2023. inclusive.

The Regulator and the FCA have released a joint podcast, which looks at two major proposals shaping the future of retirement: guided retirement and targeted support.

In its latest blog published on August 27, 2025, the Pensions Dashboards Programme highlights the role played by industry participants in helping shape and improve the process, and looks ahead as more pension providers and schemes prepare to connect.

Pat McFadden, MP for Wolverhampton South East, has been appointed the new Work and Pensions Secretary in the Cabinet reshuffle following the resignation of Angela Rayner. Mr McFadden replaces Liz Kendall who had held the position since last year's General Election.

The High Court has allowed an appeal by the trustee of a DB pension scheme against a decision of the Pensions Ombudsman which had upheld a complaint that the respondent was entitled to a bridging pension until age 66.

The Pensions Regulator has issued a press release which is centred on the fact that the Fraud Compensation Fund has now paid out £81.5 million in compensation to 58 pension schemes in respect of more than 2,000 victims of pension scams.

The Court of Appeal has confirmed that proof of disclosure to third parties is not required for data protection law breaches and that individuals’ rights are breached by unlawful “processing” alone.

The 2025 Budget date has been announced: Wednesday November 26. As pensions seem to be considered low-hanging fruit for the Treasury, there are some changes that could be on the cards.

On September 1, 2025, a lengthy paper was published detailing over 200 proposed amendments to the Pension Schemes Bill. The changes are currently being considered at the committee stage where the line by line reading of the Bill began the following day and is due to conclude on October 23, 2025.

The Pensions Regulator published a regulatory intervention report, on August 26, 2025, on its involvement in the Edinburgh Woollen Mills Ltd Retirement Benefits Scheme, a DB pension scheme for the employees of Edinburgh Woollen Mills Ltd (EWM). EWM collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic and administrators were appointed in November 2020.

In a recent determination, the Ombudsman rejected a scheme member’s claim that the trustees should have conducted due diligence on the receiving scheme before making a transfer in in 2014, as there was no duty of care on the trustees at the time of transfer.