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Briefing Notes
Capital Markets
Vistry posts £661m pre-tax loss and takes £475m write-down as new CEO signals radical downsizing of FTSE 250 housebuilder
A £475m write-down at a listed housebuilder triggers disclosure, covenant, and governance work across three practice areas at once.
Regulation
CMA designates Google with strategic market status and opens conduct requirements consultation for general search services
SMS designation is the gateway, conduct requirements are where the real constraints land.
International
Weil haemorrhages partners to Paul Weiss, Cravath, Sullivan & Cromwell and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in transatlantic talent exodus
Weil is losing whole practice groups, this is a platform question, not just poaching.
Regulation
CMA backs independent ombudsman and stronger financial protections in response to DESNZ consultation on consumer protection for home upgrade schemes
Ombudsman-backed redress in home upgrades sets a template for how regulators will govern the net zero transition consumer market.
M&A
CMA proposes final undertakings requiring Vandemoortele to divest a UK plant to resolve competition concerns from its completed acquisition of Délifrance
A forced plant divestiture in frozen pastries proves the CMA will apply structural remedies in niche food manufacturing, not just headline tech deals.
Regulation
ECB and EU central banks call on regulators to scrap the 60 per cent bank deposit rule for major stablecoin issuers under MiCA review
If the ESCB's liquidity-based reserve proposal replaces the 60 per cent bank deposit floor, stablecoin issuers must redesign their reserve structures from the ground up.
AI & Law
NewMod Fearn launches AI patent tool after raising $5.5m from Kindred Ventures and a16z Speedrun
Specialist AI tools for patent work signal the legal AI market is narrowing from general drafting toward high-value, domain-specific tasks.