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Little is known about morbidity due to drug-related hyponatraemia, despite hyponatraemia being a common side effect of frequently prescribed medicines. We conducted a 12-month retrospective service evaluation of hospital admissions due to drug-related hyponatraemia to determine what drugs are contributing factors, describe patient demographics and burden of morbidity. This was undertaken at a large acute UK hospital and drug-related hyponatraemia was defined by admissions where hyponatraemia was coded as the principal diagnosis and specific medication(s) were recorded as either contributory factor(s) or the principal cause of hyponatraemia and these medication(s) were discontinued. Of 131 hyponatraemia admissions, 71 (54%) were drug-related. Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors/ angiotensin receptor blockers, proton pump inhibitors and thiazide diuretics were drug classes most commonly associated. 61% of patients were women, median age 81 (IQR15.5) years, 61% were on more than 2 implicated drugs. The median length of stay was 4 (2-9 days IQR). This study highlights that elderly woman on more than 2 drugs that can cause hyponatraemia, constituted the majority of patients admitted to hospital with drug-related hyponatraemia.

ObjectiveTo determine the rates of asymptomatic viral carriage and seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in healthcare workers.DesignA cross-sectional study of asymptomatic healthcare workers undertaken on 24/25 April 2020.SettingUniversity Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHBFT), UK.Participants545 asymptomatic healthcare workers were recruited while at work. Participants were invited to participate via the UHBFT social media. Exclusion criteria included current symptoms consistent with COVID-19. No potential participants were excluded.InterventionParticipants volunteered a nasopharyngeal swab and a venous blood sample that were tested for SARS-CoV-2 RNA and anti-SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein antibodies, respectively. Results were interpreted in the context of prior illnesses and the hospital departments in which participants worked.Main outcome measureProportion of participants demonstrating infection and positive SARS-CoV-2 serology.ResultsThe point prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 viral carriage was 2.4% (n=13/545). The overall seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies was 24.4% (n=126/516). Participants who reported prior symptomatic illness had higher seroprevalence (37.5% vs 17.1%, χ2=21.1034, pConclusions and relevanceWe identify differences in the occupational risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2 between hospital departments and confirm asymptomatic seroconversion occurs in healthcare workers. Further investigation of these observations is required to inform future infection control and occupational health practices.

Vaccines have reduced the transmission and severity of COVID-19, but there remains a paucity of efficacious treatment for drug-resistant strains and more susceptible individuals, particularly those who mount a suboptimal vaccine response, either due to underlying health conditions or concomitant therapies. Repurposing existing drugs is a timely, safe and scientifically robust method for treating pandemics, such as COVID-19. Here, we review the pharmacology and scientific rationale for repurposing niclosamide, an anti-helminth already in human use as a treatment for COVID-19. In addition, its potent antiviral activity, niclosamide has shown pleiotropic anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, bronchodilatory and anticancer effects in numerous preclinical and early clinical studies. The advantages and rationale for nebulized and intranasal formulations of niclosamide, which target the site of the primary infection in COVID-19, are reviewed. Finally, we give an overview of ongoing clinical trials investigating niclosamide as a promising candidate against SARS-CoV-2.

Vaccines have reduced the transmission and severity of COVID-19 but there remains a paucity of efficacious treatment for drug resistant strains and more susceptible individuals. Repurposing existing drugs is a timely, safe and scientifically robust method for treating pandemics such as COVID-19. Here, we review the pharmacology and scientific rationale for repurposing niclosamide, an anti-helminth already in human use as a treatment for COVID-19. In addition to potent antiviral activity, niclosamide has shown pleiotropic anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, bronchodilatory and anticancer effects in numerous pre-clinical and early clinical studies. The advantages and rationale for nebulised and intranasal formulations of niclosamide, which target the site of primary infection in COVID-19, are reviewed. Finally, we discuss the TACTIC-E clinical trial, an international COVID-19 therapeutic platform trial for the use of licensed and novel therapeutic agents, which is investigating niclosamide as a promising candidate against SARS-CoV-2.

Background & Aims Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an immune-mediated disease with no curative treatment. Regulatory T cell (Treg) therapy is potentially curative in AIH given the critical role of Tregs in preventing autoimmunity. To work effectively, adoptively transferred Tregs must migrate to and survive within the inflamed liver. We conducted a proof-of-concept study aiming to assess the safety and liver-homing properties of good manufacturing practice (GMP)-grade autologous Tregs in patients with AIH. Methods Autologous polyclonal GMP-grade Tregs were isolated using leukapheresis and CliniMACS, labelled with indium tropolonate and re-infused intravenously to 4 patients with AIH. GMP-Treg homing to the liver was investigated with longitudinal gamma camera and SPECT-CT scanning. GMP-Treg immunophenotype, function and immunometabolic state were assessed during the study. Results We observed that the isolated Tregs were suppressive and expressed CXCR3, a chemokine receptor involved in recruitment into the inflamed liver, as well as Treg functional markers CD39, CTLA-4 and the transcription factor Foxp3. Serial gamma camera and SPECT-CT imaging demonstrated that 22–44% of infused Tregs homed to and were retained in the livers of patients with autoimmune hepatitis for up to 72 h. The infused cells did not localise to any off-target organs other than the spleen and bone marrow. GMP-Tregs were metabolically competent and there were no infusion reactions or high-grade adverse effects after Treg infusion. Conclusion Our novel findings suggest that the liver is a good target organ for Treg cellular therapy, supporting the development of clinical trials to test efficacy in autoimmune hepatitis and other autoimmune liver diseases. Lay summary Autoimmune liver diseases occur when the body’s immune cells target their own liver cells. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) prevent autoimmunity, thus they are a potential therapy for autoimmune liver diseases. In patients with autoimmune hepatitis, Treg infusion is safe, with nearly a quarter of infused Tregs homing to the liver and suppressing tissue-damaging effector T cells. Thus, Tregs are a potentially curative immune cell therapy for early autoimmune liver diseases., Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image, Highlights • Tregs from patients with autoimmune hepatitis are suppressive, possess functional markers CD39 and CTLA-4, and express CXCR3. • Treg infusion in autoimmune liver disease is safe without any side effects. • 22-44% of infused Tregs home to and were retained in the livers of patients with autoimmune hepatitis for up to 72 hours. • GMP-Tregs from patients with autoimmune hepatitis were metabolically competent.

Diagnostic testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has undergone significant changes over the duration of the pandemic. In early 2020, SARS-CoV-2 specific nucleic acid testing (NAT) protocols were predominantly in-house assays developed based on protocols published in peer reviewed journals. As the pandemic has progressed, there has been an increase in the choice of testing platforms. A proficiency testing program for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 by NAT was provided to assist laboratories in assessing and improving test capabilities in the early stages of the pandemic. This was vital in quality assuring initial in-house assays, later commercially produced assays, and informing the public health response. The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia Quality Assurance Programs (RCPAQAP) offered three rounds of proficiency testing for SARS-CoV-2 to Australian and New Zealand public and private laboratories in March, May, and November 2020. Each round included a panel of five specimens, consisting of positive (low, medium or high viral loads), inconclusive (technical specimen of selected SARS-CoV-2 specific genes) and negative specimens. Results were received for round 1 from 16, round 2 from 97 and round 3 from 101 participating laboratories. Improvement in the accuracy over time was shown, with the concordance of results in round 1 being 75.0%, in round 2 above 95.0% for all samples except one, and for round 3 above 95.0%. Overall, participants demonstrated high capabilities in detecting SARS-CoV-2, even in samples of low viral load, indicating excellent testing accuracy and therefore providing confidence in Australian and New Zealand public and private laboratories test results.

In the environment engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) are subject to chemical and physical transformation processes. Thus, to understand their impact, it is important to consider how bioavailability and toxicity are influenced by these “aging” transformations with relation to environmental conditions and ENP properties. Here, two soil bacteria were exposed to Ag ENPs in ISO media (± fulvic acid) and soil pore water extracts with pH 6 and pH 8. The ENPs tested were 49 nm unfunctionalised, citrate stabilised (Ag-citr), 58 nm PVP-coated (Ag-PVP) and 36 nm sulphidised (Ag2S-PVP); AgNO3 was used as a positive control. Exposures were carried out using pristine (unaged) and 24 h aged ENPs, and the 24 h soluble fraction. Overall, toxicity was ranked AgNO3 > Ag-PVP ≥ Ag-citr ≫ Ag2S. Aging of AgNO3, Ag-PVP and Ag-citr in the ISO medium caused little change from unaged exposures and growth inhibition was mainly caused by soluble silver. Added fulvic acid decreased silver toxicity after aging and reduced the contribution of dissolution; as was the case in the soil pore waters where toxicity could not be attributed to ionic silver. Ag2S toxicity to A. globiformis in both ISO variants increased after aging, yet followed the same patterns as the metallic ENPs in the pore waters. For all ENPs pH effects were species dependent. Together this data showed that aging reduced toxicity in media with organic matter and despite soluble silver being the main driver of pristine ENP toxicity in the standard ISO medium, dissolution did not fully explain toxicity in the presence of organic matter., This work was funded by the project GUIDEnano under the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission (grant agreement no. 6043387), the Natural Environment Research Council Highlight Topic Nanomaterials (grant number: NE/N006224/1), and the project NanoFASE under the EU Horizon 2020 research innovation programme (grant agreement no. 646002).

This chapter considers the often-ignored role of legal elites—practitioners, judges, arbitrators, and academics—in shaping and legitimizing modern finance. The financial crisis of 2007 involved legal innovation as much as it involved financial innovation, and this pattern is not new. Legal history shows us a constant trend, going back at least as far as the seventeenth century, of financial elites working through and with legal actors to reshape, extend, and repurpose legal concepts, categories, and understandings in ways that better serve the ends they seek to pursue. This chapter uses a historical analysis to consider who these legal actors are; the role they play within networks of financial elites and the financial system; how they influence understandings of what is and what is not permissible, possible, or legitimate within the framework of law; and how the law might be structured to ameliorate the most deleterious effects of their influence.

The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to examine questions about the role and responsibilities of transaction lawyers working in the financial sector that, it is argued here, deserve closer scrutiny than they have hitherto received since the banking and economic crisis of 2008. It considers the manner in which the conduct of such lawyers in the pre-crisis financial markets may have played a particular role in contributing to the sources of latent risk that bore systemic fruit in 2008. It poses the question, ‘Could (and should) they have acted differently?’. The first section concludes that there are strong and persuasive arguments both for and against reorienting the responsibilities of the transaction lawyer to include some obligation to take account of the risk to the financial system which the transactions they are conducting for their clients may pose. Secondly, this paper explores ways in which, nonetheless, financial sector lawyers could – and indeed should – be expected to play a part ...

This chapter explores the challenges presented by the interplay between State aid control and financial regulation. While, during the financial crisis, State aid law and policy demonstrated remarkable openness towards the conceptual toolkit of financial regulation, the uncertain contours of concepts such as systemic risk and moral hazard affected the degree of congruence between theory, policy and practice. What is more, the presence of multiple regulatory objectives tended to present the European Commission with some difficult trade-offs in attempting to pursue stability, the prevention of moral hazard and the preservation of lending to the real economy simultaneously, while attempting to minimize distortions of competition.

ObjectiveDysregulation of enzymes that control local tissue steroid metabolism has been implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity and insulin resistance; however, longitudinal changes in glucocorticoid metabolism have not been investigated. This study was performed to evaluate the role of glucocorticoid metabolism in the development of insulin resistance and obesity and to identify biomarkers for future development of metabolic disease.DesignThis was a prospective longitudinal observation study conducted over 5 years.MethodsA 24-h collection was used to serially analyze urinary glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid metabolites in 57 obese and overweight patients with no prior diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, recruited from the community.ResultsBaseline higher 5α-reductase (5αR) activity, but not 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 activity, was predictive of increased fasting insulin at final visit (11.4 compared with 7.4 mU/l in subjects with lower 5αR activity, PPPConclusionsIncreased 5αR activity and glucocorticoid secretion rate over time are linked with the development of metabolic disease, and may represent targets for therapeutic intervention, which merits further study.

This article explores to what extent the new ‘judgement-led’ supervisory model promises to be different from its predecessors. It highlights the legal difficulties that may be encountered in the supervisory construction of reliable and useful systemic risk maps in terms, and probes some possible areas of tension with the legal system in following through on supervisory judgements formed out of contestable interpretations of a vast constellation of ‘Big Data’ arising from the financial system as a whole and its many different layers and components.

Definitive chemo-radiotherapy (dCRT) has been advocated as an alternative to surgical resection for the treatment of locally advanced oesophageal cancer (OC). We have retrospectively reviewed 4 years' experience of patients (pts) who underwent contemporary staging and were treated with concurrent chemo-radiotherapy (dCRT) or single modality radical radiotherapy (RT) with curative intent.Retrospective analysis permitted identification of consecutive patients who underwent contemporary staging prior to non-surgical treatment for locally advanced oesophageal carcinoma. The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS), adjusted for baseline differences in age, tumour staging and histological cell type. All patients were treated with either dCRT or single modality RT within a single centre between 2009 and 2012.We identified 235 patients in total [median age 69.8 years, male =130 pts, female =105 pts, adenocarcinoma (ACA) =85 pts, squamous =150 pts]. A total of 190 pts received dCRT and 45 patients were treated with RT. All patients were staged with CT of chest, abdomen and pelvis, 226 patients underwent endoscopic ultrasound (EUS), and 183 patients had PET-CT. Patients treated with dCRT demonstrated longer OS (27 vs. 25 months respectively, P=0.02) and DFS (31 vs. 16 months respectively, P=0.01) compared to those treated with RT. More advanced tumour stage (stage 3 vs. stage 1/2) at presentation conferred poorer OS (32 vs. 38.2 months, P=0.02) and DFS (11 vs. 28 months, P=0.013). We demonstrated an acceptable toxicity profile with only 77 patients (32.8%) suffering grade 3 toxicity and 9 patients (4.2%) experiencing grade 4 toxicity by CTC criteria. The NG/PEG feeding rates were 4% across all treated patients.This retrospective analysis is in keeping with current treatment paradigms emphasising the importance and safety of concurrent CRT in maximising curative potential for patients undergoing non-surgical treatment of OC. Although retrospective, in comparison to similar retrospective series from both our centre and historical literature, this data suggest improvements in OS and DFS, possibly due to improved patient selection through the use of more effective tumour staging.

This article explores the meanings of ownership and shareholding in the context of the 2007 run on Northern Rock, its subsequent nationalization in 2008, and the resulting legal challenge brought by former shareholders. Drawing on evidence from a range of sources outside traditional legal and official doctrine, and from original empirical research, it focuses on the perspective and voices of local small individual shareholders in relation to shareholding, bank failure, and government responses to financial crisis. It tells the story of these individual shareholders against differing conceptions of share ownership rights and responsibilities, and from various angles, to show the many different subjectivities of corporate shareholding and ownership of enterprise of which orthodox legal and economic models take scant account. It concludes on a note of historic persistence in demand for proprietary shares in banking institutions, despite the differing levels of understanding and tolerance of equity risk among shareholders that our research reveals.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss R (on the application of British Bankers Association) v. Financial Services Authority and another (Queens Bench Division: Administrative Court: Mr Justice Ouseley). Date of Judgment: 20 April 2011.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the decision.FindingsThis is a lengthy judgment that is dense in closely reasoned interpretative analysis of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 schema for regulation of the conduct of retail financial business and attendant redress mechanisms.Originality/valueThis keenly awaited decision raises several issues of wider public interest about the design and operation of the regulatory environment for retail finance in the UK. In the context of the FSA's emphasis over the past few years of its “Treating Customers Fairly” programme of work the legality of the action taken by both FSA and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to effect a broad measure and depth of consumer redress in respect of what they judged to be widespread incidence of inappropriate sales of payment protection insurance (PPI) by banks in particular came under intensive scrutiny from the Court in what is a fascinating judgment for regulatory lawyers.

BackgroundThe increasingly large sample size requirements of modern adult mental health research suggests the need for a data collection and diagnostic application that can be used across a broad range of clinical and research populations.AimsTo develop a data collection and diagnostic application that can be used across a broad range of clinical and research settings.MethodWe expanded and redeveloped the OPCRIT system into a broadly applicable diagnostic and data-collection package and carried out an interrater reliability study of this new tool.ResultsOPCRIT+ performed well in an interrater reliability study with relatively inexperienced clinicians, giving a combined, weighted kappa of 0.70 for diagnostic reliability.ConclusionsOPCRIT+ showed good overall interrater reliability scores for diagnoses. It is now incorporated in the electronic patient record of the Maudsley and associated hospitals. OPCRIT+ can be downloaded free of charge at http://sgdp.iop.kcl.ac.uk/opcritplus.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the judicial review of Financial Services Compensation Scheme's (FSCS) exercise of power to impose compensation costs levy (R v. Financial Services Compensation Scheme Ltd and Financial Services Authority ex parte ABS Financial Planning and others; Queens Bench Division of High Court; Administrative Court (Birmingham); Mr Justice Beatson).Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the judicial review action. It arose out of the FSCS imposition of an interim levy of some £32 million to defray compensation costs arising from the default of Keydata Investment Services Ltd (Keydata) and the claimants impugned, as wrong in law and procedurally incorrect, its decision in March 2010 to allocate the costs of that levy to be borne by those firms that the FSCS classified as “investment intermediaries”. The paper gives details of the decision.FindingsThe claimants argued that the error in law or irrationality were constituted by the FSCS's determination that: first, the costs of the Keydata claims arose or could be expected to arise out of one or more of the four regulated activities in the D2 sub‐class to which FSCS referred in its reasoning behind its decision. Rather, the claimants argued, the true position was that the claims did not arise out of any of these activities but arose out of Keydata's marketing of its plans; and second, the costs did not arise and could not be expected to arise out of any D1 sub‐class activity of “managing investments”.Originality/valueThis decision illustrates the increasing difficulty of drawing a clear line between discretionary management and agency broking, for the claimants made a strong argument that Keydata should be considered to have been much more than a passive distribution conduit or channel.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to discuss the Court of Appeal's consideration regarding Lehman Bros International (Europe) (in Administration) (Court of Appeal: Civil Division: Lord Neuberger, Lady Justice Arden and Sir Mark Waller). Date of Judgment: 2 August 2010.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the decision.FindingsThe court ruled on trust status and client money protection in relation to Lehman Bros funds.Originality/valueThis judgment provides a rare example of the courts' application of the Client Assets Sourcebook rules and guidance in general private law disputes about property ownership and entitlement that invariably arise within the context of insolvency.

The collapse of Northern Rock in 2007 was the first major run on a UK retail bank since 1866. The Northern Rock case is exemplary on two fronts. First, described at the time of its collapse as an example of an aggressive business model employed by naive management, it is now clear that Northern Rock marked the beginning of and provides insights into the credit crunch and wider global banking crisis. Second, Northern Rock provides a distinct context-geographically and institutionally-to explore the banking crisis. The article utilizes management interviews, secondary literatures and an investigation of the wider impacts of the restructuring of Northern Rock to produce a reading from the perspective of a peripheral financial region. It contributes to attempts to understand financial geographies that range beyond the major international financial centres that often dominate debates in Economic Geography. © The Author (2011). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report and comment on a High Court ruling where the Court had to decide certain preliminary issues of law arising out of a mis‐selling claim brought against Royal Bank of Scotland Plc (hereafter “the Bank”) by Titan Steel Wheels Ltd (hereafter “Titan”) following losses incurred on two Euro/Sterling derivative products provided to Titan by the bank in June and September 2007.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the decision.FindingsThe Judge's decision is given on three issues. The first issue – was Titan a “private person”? The second issue – did the Bank act in an advisory role to Titan on the two transactions in issue and hence owe a common law duty of care? The third issue – whether the Bank's terms of business were subject to the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977?Originality/valueThis case offers interesting insights into the changing nature of the relationship between major corporate users of the derivatives markets with the products traded and business transacted in those markets. It also represents a classic attempt to use the legal system to reallocate losses resulting from the ultimate uncertainty that besets every market place and simply reasserts that ex ante contractual loss allocation agreed between commercial parties will not be lightly set aside.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex genetic disease for which the underlying pathophysiology has yet to be fully explained. 5,10-Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a crucial enzyme in folate-mediated one-carbon metabolism and folate deficiency can be associated with psychiatric symptoms. A single base variant in MTHFR gene (C677T) results in the production of a mildly dysfunctional thermolabile enzyme and has recently been implicated in BD. We conducted an association study of this polymorphism in 897 patients with bipolar I or bipolar II disorder, and 1,687 healthy control subjects. We found no evidence for genotypic or allelic association in this sample. We also performed a meta-analysis of our own, and all published data, and report no evidence for association. Our findings suggest that the MTHFR C677T polymorphism is not involved in the genetic etiology of clinically significant BD.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report and comment on the High Court ruling on Icelandic bank's challenge to HM Treasury's use of emergency powers during 2008.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the decision.FindingsThe High Court disagreed that the claimant's view of events accorded with the way the treasury in fact acted.Originality/valueThis appeal shows how two very differently motivated, yet equally well‐intentioned, regulatory regimes can come into conflict.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report and comment on Northern Rock shareholders' challenge to basis of compensation in nationalisation considered in the High Court and Court of Appeal.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the decisions.FindingsThe High Court, in a carefully reasoned judgement which reviewed relevant UK and European Court of Human Rights case law, rejected all the claimants' arguments for judicial review and the claimants appealed to the Court of Appeal.Originality/valueBoth the High Court and the Court of Appeal judgment provide a rare glimpse of the legal process examining the “lender of last resort” function of a central bank – a key technique of macro‐economic policy, the very delicacy and subtlety of which appear to defy ready legal definition.

Udgivelsesdato: 2009-Nov The aim of this study was to investigate genetic predictors of an increase in suicidal ideation during treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor or a tricyclic antidepressant. A total of 796 adult patients with major depressive disorder who were treated with a flexible dosage of escitalopram or nortriptyline in Genome-based Therapeutic Drugs for Depression (GENDEP) were included in the sample and provided data on suicidal ideation. Nine candidate genes involved in neurotrophic, serotonergic, and noradrenergic pathways were selected based on previous association studies with suicidal ideation or behavior. Using a logistic regression model, 123 polymorphisms in these genes were compared between subjects with an increase in suicidal ideation and those without any increase in suicidal ideation. Polymorphisms in BDNF, the gene encoding the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, were significantly associated with an increase in suicidal ideation. The strongest association was observed for rs962369 in BDNF (p=0.0015). Moreover, a significant interaction was found between variants in BDNF and NTRK2, the gene encoding the BNDF receptor (p=0.0003). Among men taking nortriptyline, suicidality was also associated with rs11195419 SNP in the alpha(2A)-adrenergic receptor gene (ADRA2A) (p=0.007). The associations observed with polymorphisms in BDNF suggest the involvement of the neurotrophic system in vulnerability to suicidality. Epistasis between BDNF and NTRK2 suggests that genetic variations in the two genes are involved in the same causal mechanisms leading to suicidality during antidepressant treatment. Among men, genetic variation in noradrenergic signaling may interact with norepinephrine reuptake-inhibiting antidepressants, thereby contributing to suicidality.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to look at a recent Financial Services Authority (FSA) challenge in the Court of Appeal to finding of Financial Services and Markets Tribunal on question of whether solicitors' firm had contravened financial promotion regime (FSA v. Fox Hayes: Court of Appeal (civil division): Lord Justice Longmore, Lord Justice Wilson, Lord Justice Lawrence Collins).Design/methodology/approachExamines the FSA's various grounds for appeal and what was an appropriate level of penalty.FindingsProvides the court of appeal's decisions on point of law in relation to three issues.Originality/valueThis paper will be of interest to regulated firms who fear the consequences of regulatory liability for breaches of FSA rules.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report and comment on the High Court ruling on recoverability of claimants' losses arising from unauthorised insurance activity.Design/methodology/approach – The paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the decision.Findings – The court pointed out that the issues that fell to be determined were all law and principle and not of fact.Originality/value – The paper highlights how this was the first occasion that the courts had had cause to consider the effect of some key provisions of Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 that relate to the enforceability and redress position in the context of unauthorised insurance business.

PurposeThe paper's aim is to report and comment on two preliminary issues that arose from claims being pursued by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) against Abbey National Treasury Services (ANTS) and NDF Administration Ltd (NDF).Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts and explains the decision.FindingsThe FSCS commenced action against ANTS as assignee of the assigned claims and alleged that ANTS had collaborated with NDF in product development and promotion of the Structured Capital at Risk Products and was liable in negligence and misrepresentation to the investors whose claims it held as assignee. Having considered the arguments, the Judge concluded that FSA did have power to make rules enabling FSCS to take assignment of investor claims.Originality/valueThe issues in this case go to the heart of the funding mechanism of the FSCS. The financing of such compensation schemes is a perennially controversial issue in every jurisdiction that has them.

PurposeThe paper's aim is to outline and comment on the Court of Appeal case: Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform v. Aaron and Others, October 2008.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the ruling.FindingsLord Justice Thomas gave the judgment in this appeal, considering the admissible in disqualification proceedings. However, in relation to the Secretary of State's attempt to rely in evidence on material in the FOS decision and the FSA final notice LJ Thomas ruled that that the implied exception to the strict rule of evidence in Hollington v. Hewthorn did not apply so as to allow their admission in evidence.Originality/valueThe current market crisis has focused the attention of regulatory investigators around the world on the activities of major UK financial institutions in a number of jurisdictions in which they were active.

It has been suggested that alteration in the muscarinic-cholinergic system is involved in modulation of mood. Three studies have reported linkage on chromosome 7 with major depressive disorder (MDD) in or close to a region containing the muscarinic receptor CHRM2 gene. A haplotype of SNPs located in CHRM2 (rs1824024-rs2061174-rs324650) has been significantly associated with MDD in a previous study. We report the first study investigating this gene in a large, adequately powered, clinical depression case-control sample (n = 1420 cases, 1624 controls). Our data fail to support association with the CHRM2 polymorphisms previously implicated in the genetic aetiology of depression. It is possible our failure to replicate may be a consequence of differences in definition of the MDD phenotype and/or ethnic differences.

The Lower River Roding Regeneration (LRRR) project was funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) with a contribution from the Environment Agency and was charged with achieving environmental and social gains along the highly urbanised lower 4.4 km of the River Roding. The funding allowed £1.5 million for all elements of work within a 2-year-period. Of the four sites constructed, two allowed significant river restoration to be achieved: Creekmouth Open Space and Frogmore Frontage. In the former, an existing flood defence was set back to create a tidal backwater. In the latter, a concrete river wall was demolished and a graded riverbank was created. A total of 1 ha of new saltmarsh was created on these two sites. The project demonstrates how multiple objectives of river restoration, flood defence, habitat creation, improved public amenity and urban regeneration can be achieved in an industrial urban area.

PurposeThe article's aim is to report and comment on the High Court case Spreadex Ltd v. Sekhon.Design/methodology/approachThe article outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the ruling.FindingsThe High Court rules that a customer who opted from private to intermediate customer status was contributorily negligent to his spread betting losses.Originality/valueThe article shows that there are many points in this decision where either what was revealed by the evidence or the Judge's comments and reasoning will echo beyond the parameters of the case itself.

PurposeThe article's aim is to report and comment on the Court of Appeal case Shore v. Sedgwick Financial Services Ltd & Others.Design/methodology/approachThe article outlines the facts surrounding the appeal and comments on the ruling.FindingsThe Court of Appeal reached the same conclusion as the trial Judge as to the outcome– both claims were time barred through limitation. However, the reasoning differed from that of the trial judge in certain respects as to the significance of the exact dates on which the claimant was properly to be seen to have suffered loss or to have been aware of his loss.Originality/valueThe article highlights how this case shows how important it is to actively and continually review one's financial situation in order to make any meaningful use of common law and statutory remedies for negligent or non‐compliant financial advice.

This is the second part of a two-part article that presents the results and conclusions of a year-long research project into what the BCCI liquidators' claim against the Bank of England for misfeasance in public office might have to tell us about risk-based financial regulation. Part 1, published in the last issue of LFMR, explained the legal nature of that claim and discussed possible understandings of “risk” that might provide insight into how and why this litigation took the course it did. Part 2 continues the analysis of the liquidators' claim at trial stage and draws some more general conclusions about risk-based financial regulation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report and comment on the High Court of Justice ruling on Shore v. Sedgwick Financial Services Ltd & Others.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the ruling.FindingsThe claim for breach of duty against the defendants was time barred.Originality/valueAn interesting feature of this judgment is that one theme that runs its entire course in terms of judicial finding of fact and of law is the degree to which the defendants did or did not adequately explain the risks associated with income drawdown and the degree to which the claimant either understood or failed to understand or indeed voluntary undertook the extra risk of taking maximum income under income drawdown pension schemes in his desire to for flexibility and retention of control over pension capital.

This article presents the results and conclusions of a year-long research project into what the BCCI liquidators” claim against the Bank of England for misfeasance in public office might have to tell us about risk-based financial regulation. Due to the complexity of that claim, as well as its long and tortuous procedural history, this article is divided into two parts with Part 1 explaining the legal nature of that claim as well as some theoretical discussion pertinent to any understanding of such a contestable concept as “risk”. Part 2 (which will appear in the next issue of LFMR) continues the analysis of the liquidators' claim at trial stage and draws some conclusions.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal ruling on the application of the financial promotion regime, involving Fox Hayes v. Financial Services Authority.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the ruling.FindingsThe Tribunal disagreed with the FSA that the applicant had acted negligently or recklessly.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the lack of clarity and guidance on the part of the FSA as to exactly which firms on its list of unauthorised firms it considered as “boiler rooms” and which it did not.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report and comment on the Court of Appeal, Poole and Others v. HM Treasury.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the case and comments on the ruling.FindingsLord Justice Buxton gave the only judgment in this appeal, with which his fellow judges concurred, and he confirmed that the lower Court was right to dismiss the appellants' claim based on their interpretation of the 1973 insurance directive and the effect of the European Court of Justice decision in Francovich.Originality/valueThe Court of Appeal, in this decision, confirms that the principles of European law surrounding state liability are unlikely to be of much help to those who suffer such losses and see them partly as a result of state or regulatory failure.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline the objections to terms of FSA decision notice heard by the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the decision and comments on the ruling.FindingsIt was found that this ruling shows the difficulty facing senior individuals who have worked in head of compliance and other senior management functions within firms which are subsequently subject to discipline and enforcement for breaches of FSA rules and principles in relation to corporate governance, systems and controls and other serious compliance failings.Originality/valueThis paper provides useful information for those working in a senior management role.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to report on the company directors' disqualification proceedings following the failure of FSA‐regulated firm.Design/methodology/approachThe paper outlines the facts surrounding the decision and comments on the ruling.FindingsIt was found that this whole question of overlapping laws in highly complex and regulated business sectors is a real one and is set to become a growing problem for courts to manage and boards to predict.Originality/valueThe paper highlights the real, practical problems that can arise when different legal regimes criss‐cross the same factual domain.