By: Maria Ward-Brennan

Senior Reporter Maria Ward-Brennan is a senior reporter focused on law and professional services. Contact her via email on maria.ward-brennan@cityam.com or X (Twitter) @MariaW_B

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Employment Rights Bill will become law – as Tories vow to repeal it

December 16, 2025

The controversial Employment Rights Bill will become law after legislation cleared Parliament on Tuesday afternoon. After weeks of the Bill ping-ponging from the House of Lords to the Commons over controversial ‘day one’ rights, the government agreed earlier this month to drop its pledge of ‘day one’ rights in exchange for certain protections kicking in [...]
Fowl play: Morrisons loses £17m VAT battle over rotisserie chickens

December 16, 2025

Supermarket giant Morrisons faces a £17m tax bill after the First-Tier Tax Tribunal threw out its dispute over VAT on cool-down rotisserie chickens. The dispute arose from George Osborne’s controversial 2012 Finance Act changes that sought to clarify the VAT treatment of hot takeaway food, famously known as the “pasty tax” debacle. Morrisons tried to [...]
Shoosmiths to give staff extra £1m after hitting AI target

December 16, 2025

Law firm Shoosmiths will give staff an extra £1m in bonuses after they hit the firm’s annual target for 1m Microsoft Copilot prompts more than four months ahead of schedule, City AM can reveal. The firm told City AM in April that it had set a “clear and ambitious annual target” of 1m on its [...]
Trump sues BBC for $10bn in Florida, citing producers trips to Mar-a-Lago

December 16, 2025

US Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against the BBC in the Southern District of Florida, alleging that BBC producers travelled to Florida to film “significant portions of the [Panorama] documentary”. Last month, Trump threatened to sue the BBC for $1bn over the misleading edit of a Panorama programme, which spliced together two parts of [...]
English Common Law: Britain’s greatest soft power

December 11, 2025

From London’s boardrooms to Abu Dhabi’s courtrooms, English law shapes the rules of global business as it quietly but decisively finds itself at the heart of international deals and disputes. The late Joseph S. Nye defined ‘soft power’ in the 1980s as “The ability to affect others to obtain the outcomes one wants through attraction [...]
Watchdog launches new probe into EY over ‘unauthorised’ audit reports

December 10, 2025

The accountancy watchdog has commenced a new investigation into the Big Four firm EY and two of its members. In an announcement on Wednesday morning, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) revealed that it has commenced an investigation into “unauthorised issuance of auditor’s reports to audited entities”. This comes after the Big Four firm informed the [...]
Netflix $72bn Warner offer: ‘I never saw it coming’ says co-founder Marc Randolph

December 10, 2025

Netflix’s former CEO and co-founder, Marc Randolph, said the $72bn bid by his former company last week for Warner Bros.’ film studios and streaming business, “came as a shock”. Speaking at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Randolph told the audience, “I will confess I never saw that [move] coming. I haven’t worked at Netflix for quite [...]
David Cameron sounds alarm over British brain drain

December 10, 2025

Former Prime Minister Lord David Cameron has expressed concern about the exodus of British entrepreneurs and talent, warning that the UK government needs to set aside ‘other goals’ and prioritise business growth. Speaking at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Lord Cameron acknowledged British talent leaving for places such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), stating: “I [...]
CMS rolls out Suits-inspired AI after saving lawyers 100 hours

December 10, 2025

Law firm CMS has said it aims to ‘stay ahead of the curve’ by rolling out legal tool Harvey AI after lawyers reported already seeing “meaningful time savings”. The law firm is set to extend the use of the AI tool, named after the fictional character in Suits, across all 21 CMS member organisations in [...]
UBS chief strategist: Market is not in a ‘bubble’, but US debt poses the real risk

December 9, 2025

Despite narrow market leadership that mirrors the crashes of the 1970s and 1990s, the equity market is not currently in a ‘bubble,’ according to UBS Investment Bank Chief Strategist Bhanu Baweja. Speaking at Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Baweja addressed investor concerns that just nine companies in the Russell 3000 have driven 72 per cent of [...]

Ocado eyes global tech push after US setback

Exclusive: O2 Arena open to hosting NBA Europe after record-breaking year

This remote part of Patagonia is one of the wildest places on Earth

By: Maria Ward-Brennan

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