Europe: Consumer Protection

The Competition and Markets Authority has imposed six million pounds in fines against three businesses for misleading sales tactics, including fake time-limited offers and hidden fees. These enforcement actions demonstrate the regulator's increasingly robust approach under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, signaling heightened scrutiny for businesses employing questionable promotional practices.

This edition covers major developments in Norwegian consumer and market law, including the landmark class action ruling against Riverty over payment fees, ongoing litigation challenging banks' interest rate adjustment clauses, and updated guidance on environmental marketing claims. The newsletter also examines EU's proposed Kids Act regulations and enhanced platform requirements now applicable to ChatGPT, Reddit, and Roblox.

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has dramatically accelerated its consumer protection enforcement since acquiring new powers in April 2025, opening 19 investigations in just over a year...

The Law Commission has published its consultation on reforming UK product liability law, proposing significant changes including expanded definitions of products to cover AI and software, new liability frameworks for digital platforms, and revised defect determination principles. The consultation invites responses to 62 questions and runs until January 2027, with provisional proposals that could fundamentally reshape how product liability operates in Great Britain's post-Brexit legal landscape.

A 167 percent increase in the value of seized goods in just one year, followed by a doubling of the scale of violations in the next six months, is not a statistical anomaly. Nor is this, contrary to the optimism of authorities, merely evidence of the increasing accuracy of the Polish National Revenue Administration’s analytical algorithms. These results demonstrate the structural helplessness of the European market in the face of a phenomenon that has evolved from a niche practice into a cross-border sector of the digital economy.

Food allergy deaths remain preventable tragedies despite recent legal reforms in the UK. This analysis examines three critical pieces of legislation—Benedict's Law, Natasha's Law, and the proposed Owen's Law—revealing how each addresses specific gaps in allergy safety across schools, retail, and hospitality sectors, while highlighting the fragmented protections that still leave vulnerable individuals at risk depending on where and how food is served.

If you are a separated or divorced parent of an adult child, it might come as a surprise to know that your financial commitments to your children might continue beyond the secondary education. In fact, those financial provisions might stretch well into adulthood if the child remains in full-time education.

Higher education institutions are under increasing financial pressure, making effective credit control more critical than ever. This article examines the strategic importance of debt recovery in universities and colleges, exploring the balance between robust financial processes and the unique challenges of managing student debt alongside commercial obligations. Discover practical strategies for strengthening cash flow, improving collection rates, and building financially resilient institutions.

Food allergy deaths remain preventable tragedies despite recent legal reforms in the UK. This analysis examines three critical pieces of legislation—Benedict's Law, Natasha's Law, and the proposed Owen's Law—revealing how each addresses specific gaps in allergy safety across schools, retail, and hospitality sectors, while highlighting the fragmented protections that still leave vulnerable individuals at risk depending on where and how food is served.

A county court ruling challenges the conventional understanding of limitation periods in consumer credit claims, finding that sections 140A-C of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 may not be subject to statutory time limits at all. Drawing parallels with the Supreme Court's decision on unfair prejudice petitions, the judgment suggests that unfair relationship claims address a 'state of affairs' rather than a breach of duty, potentially opening the door to historic consumer credit litigation. The decision carries

The High Court has rejected the Financial Ombudsman Service's attempt to investigate consumer complaints about lending decisions made more than six years before complaints were raised, providing critical clarity on time limits for FOS complaints. This landmark decision saw unprecedented intervention by the FCA in support of the banks and arrives amid substantial reform to UK consumer financial services law through the Financial Services and Markets Bill.

De Wet op het financieel toezicht (Wft) verbiedt het aanbieden van krediet aan consumenten zonder vergunning van de AFM. Dit artikel biedt een praktisch overzicht van de belangrijkste aandachtspunten bij kredietverstrekking, inclusief recente jurisprudentie en concrete handvatten om te bepalen wanneer de vergunningplicht wel of niet van toepassing is.