Osborne Clarke's best legal reads of the week - October 26 - 30

What are the top reads of the week around the web written by Osborne Clarke people? Which posts have been shared the most via social?

Here’s the best legal reads of the week…

• Private equity and venture capital update – October 2015

Check out October’s edition of the quarterly private equity and venture capital update. In the update we discuss the PSC register, the latest on the Modern Slavery Act and what the EU Capital Markets Union mean for private equity and venture capital? Read the edition here. 

• SmarterUK launches with Osborne Clarke a founding member

Tuesday evening saw the launch of techUK’s new initiative, SmarterUK. Chaired by Dan Byles (a former MP and founding Vice Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smart Cities), SmarterUK aims to be the UK’s national champion for the development of world class smart infrastructure, focussing specifically on transport, energy/utilities, and smart cities. Read the blog post on our dedicated Smart Cities hub here. 

• What’s in a name? Major employers commit to name-blind recruitment

This week, major employers responsible for employing 1.8 million people in the UK, have pledged to recruit for certain roles on a “name-blind” basis. The BBC, Deloitte, HSBC, KPMG, Virgin Money, learndirect, the NHS, Teach First and local authorities have all agreed to remove names from job applications for all graduate and apprenticeship roles. Read the blog post here. 

• Fracking: RCJ grants residents permission to bring a judicial review claim 

In the latest set-back for the nascent fracking industry, the RCJ has granted a local residents’ group permission to challenge Lancashire County Council’s (LCC) decision to allow Cuadrilla to monitor seismic activity and water quality around Roseacre Wood. Read the update here. 

• Pension schemes and VAT: still no solution 

HMRC has published further guidance on the VAT treatment of pension scheme services, which has been eagerly anticipated by the industry. Whilst clarifying some points, the guidance unfortunately leaves a number of issues unclear. Read the full update here.

• [Event] IP in Retail

Join the team from across Osborne Clarke’s European offices to look at a cross-section of the commercial IP issues facing the retail sector. We’ll consider the latest trends in franchising models, the delicate question of lookalike products, and the accelerating overlap between fashion and digital technology, both the products themselves and the increasingly hi-tech environments in which they’re sold, from holograms on the catwalk and smart fabrics to virtual worlds on the web. Read more and register for the event here.