By John Forrest, Paul Hardy, Sophie Dembinski | DLA Piper The UK Government is eager to promote the merits of increased trade with the Commonwealth after Brexit. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting "CHOGM" held in London from 16 - 20 April 2018 was a much needed opportunity to showcase credible post-Brexit trade and investment opportunities with some of the world's most diverse and fastest growing economies. Following agreement reached in the March 2018 European Council summit, the UK is free to negotiate...

KEY EVENTS THIS WEEK: EUROPEAN UNION Commission hands judges extra powers to seize e-evidence from other countries  Judges and prosecutors across the EU are expected to be granted new powers that would it make it easier for them to obtain emails, text messages and other electronic evidence from other jurisdictions within the bloc. The plan would see the creation of a warrant known as the European Production Order and is intended to force powerful tech companies to hand over sensitive information without...

By  Mark Gregory | UK Chief Economist | EY The attractiveness of the UK as a place for foreign investors to locate may be waning slightly, according to our latest report, launched today. View the full report.  Our recent UK Attractiveness survey of 440 foreign investors, shows positive sentiment towards the UK hasn’t dramatically collapsed, as some commentators feared, but there are early signs that inbound flows are slowing and beyond the three year horizon, the outlook appears significantly more challenging. The report, Inward...

GLOBAL TECH REGULATION Regulators pile pressure on Facebook after Cambridge Analytica data leak The popular social media tech company Facebook is facing increased scrutiny from regulators across the world after it emerged that the data of 50 million users had been leaked to the UK data analytics firm Cambridge Analytica, which played a role in the Donald Trump Presidential Campaign. Former employee turned whistle-blower Christopher Wylie revealed that the data company took the personal information without consent in early 2014 that...

Brexit will have an impact far beyond Britain. What preparations should you be considering to limit its effect on your business? The countdown is on.  In March 2019, the UK formally exits the European Union (EU). A “hard” border may be established that would separate the UK from the European single market. UK companies and foreign subsidiaries located there are readying themselves for a major change. But this isn’t just an issue for Britain — global businesses trading with UK-EU partners...