Rush to Close

Hi ZipLawyer! Today’s Memo:

🏠 Rush to buy homes
🪓 Shein to cut valuation
🇺🇸 Trump open to weapons sales
🧓 Gowling, Squire head pension buy-in
🎵 Macfarlanes leads on IP dispute
🙋 What is a pension buy-in?

Rush to Complete

What happens when a tax hike looms over the property market? Chaos. London is seeing the UK’s worst housing bottleneck, as buyers rush to close deals before the 1 April stamp duty increase.

What's the tax increase?

• Currently, first-time buyers pay no stamp duty on properties valued up to £425,000
• From 1 April, this threshold will be lowered, introducing new tax bands
• As a result, stamp duty costs for first-time buyers in London could increase by up to £10,000

So what's the result of this?

• Buyers are desperate to close deals before the tax increase kicks in
• First-time buyers in the capital are up nearly a third from last year
• Over 500,000 home sales are in progress—a 25% jump from February 2024

In a bid to untangle the gridlock, the government is exploring digital verification to speed up transactions but it might not be enough.

Cut your Valuation

Shein is under investor pressure to slash its valuation to $30 billion, a steep drop from earlier $100 billion estimates, as it pivots toward a UK listing. The fast-fashion giant’s US IPO plans stalled amid scrutiny over labor practices and supply chain concerns, forcing a rethink. Backers like IDG Capital and Mubadala are adjusting expectations, especially with Trump’s tariff shifts threatening Shein’s low-cost model. While the company confidentially filed for a London IPO last year, market uncertainty looms, making its next move far from a fashion-forward certainty.

Buy American

Donald Trump is scaling back direct U.S. military aid to Ukraine but is open to letting European nations buy American weapons for Kyiv. The move could allow Ukraine to access U.S.-made arms while Trump pressures for peace talks—a strategy that might cement Russia’s territorial gains. His administration is also nudging Europe to take a bigger role in Ukraine’s defence and boost NATO ties by purchasing more U.S. military equipment. While details remain fuzzy, Trump confirmed that Ukraine will have a seat at the negotiation table.

Gowling, Squire head Pension Buy-In