The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Secretary of State), will not refer the acquisition of HBOS by Lloyds TSB to the Competition Commission. The decision was made despite the Office of Fair Trading's (OFT) finding that there is a realistic prospect that the anticipated merger will result in substantial lessening of competition in relation to personal current accounts, banking services for small and medium sized businesses and mortgages.

What is the position where a company has suffered a direct loss through fraud perpetrated by one of its agents? Furthermore, what is the position where the company was audited during the relevant period and the fraud went undetected?

Due to the success and popularity of the Community trade marks (CTM) system it was believed that the popularity of UK trade mark registrations was subsiding. However, recent changes may see trade mark owners favouring a UK registration or at least pursuing one in conjunction with a CTM.

Businesses wishing to protect their names and brands may wish to take note of new rules relating to the registration of companies names which came into force on 1 October 2008 as part of the further implementation of the Companies Act 2006.

The changes follow a consultation by the Ministry of Justice which sought to clarify and improve the existing service provisions. The consultation was welcomed following Collier v Williams [2006] EWCA Civ 20, in which the Court of Appeal heard four appeals, each raising points on CPR Part 6. At the appeals, Dyson LJ commented that CPR Parts 6 and 7.6 “have generated an inordinate amount of jurisprudence” which is what Lord Woolf in his reforms hoped to reduce by creating the CPR.

In response to Recommendation 62 of The Fraud Review published in July 2006, the Attorney General appointed a working group to devise a plea negotiation framework for fraud cases. The fundamental proposal is that the parties conduct confidential negotiations and make a written agreement which includes a guilty plea, agreed facts and a recommended sentence which they will submit to the court.