In today’s email:

• Why cheese names matter

• Companies are choosing not to go public in the UK

• You next phone might be made in India

• The Law Society is taking the government to court

• Ask AI to plan your next holiday

• Check if the news you’re reading is politically biased

EDITOR'S RAMBLE 🗣

This is probably the only newsletter where law meets cheese - but I promise it’ll make sense in the end.

See, cheese is an important legal topic this week.

That’s because a court in the US has decided that gruyère cheese (which is from the Gruyère region of Switzerland and France) can be called ‘gruyère' regardless of where it’s been made.

The same fate has been suffered by cheddar cheese (which is originally from a small village in Somerset, England). ‘Cheddar’ is now also a generic term which means you can make it anywhere.

Some products like champagne are protected, meaning you can only call it champagne if it comes from the Champagne region of France.

This decision is a big win for US cheesemakers, because they can now make gruyère in their own back yard! But French and Swiss cheesemakers are not so happy.

Geographic protections of foods are good because…

• 🌍 Protecting tradition: Protections can help maintain traditional food products that come from a certain area.

• 👍 Ensuring quality: Protected products must follow specific rules to make sure they are of the high quality usually required in the local area.

• 💰 Helping the local economy: Protections can create jobs and make money for people who make and sell food in that area.

But some argue that geographic protections are bad because…

• 🚫 Limiting competition: Protections can make it harder for people from outside an area to sell similar products, creating a monopoly which can drive up the price for the good.

• ❓ Naming conflicts: Protections can lead to arguments over what a product should be called.

• 🤔 Enforcement problems: It can be hard to make sure that products with protections are really from the right area, which could be a problem for people who want to buy them.

See? I told you - there are real-life commercial impacts to cheese!

- Idin

FEATURED REPORT 📰

📲 Arm swaps its chips for fries

What’s going on here?

Arm is a British company that designs computer chips. They had planned to list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), but now they’ve decided to list in New York instead. This is not good news for the LSE because Arm was seen as an important company for them.

What is Arm?

Arm is a British microchip designer based in Cambridge. Their tech is in almost every smartphone in the world (and also in laptops and cars).

Why did they choose to list in the US rather than the UK?

Arm is planning a US-only listing this year, rather than listing in the UK.

The company says that listing in the US gives them:

• access to a deeper pool of investors,

• higher valuations and liquidity, and

• more favourable market conditions.

But the US has higher regulatory hurdles to jump through to list (making it more costly and time-consuming). The UK offers a more straightforward listing process (meaning quicker and cheaper). But this wasn’t enough to convince Arm.

Why’s this a big deal?

Firstly, it’s kind-of embarrassing for the UK. Apparently Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had been trying to convince Arm's owner, SoftBank (a Japanese investment company) to list here. But Arm’s chief executive, Rene Haas, said listing in the US was “the best path forward”. To see a historically British company swerve a UK listing isn’t a good look!

Secondly, ditching UK listings for the US is becoming a bit of a worrying trend. Other companies like CRH (a building material supplier) and Flutter Entertainment (a huge betting company) are considering making the same trip. Even Shell (the UK’s biggest listed company) considered making the move in 2021 before deciding against it. Each company had its own reasons for changing (for example, Flutter wanted to move because sports betting is getting bigger in the US nowadays). But it’s happening more than the UK government would probably like.

Why should law firms care?

Arm’s decision to list in the US might not worry law firms too much.

But the trend of companies opting for US listings over going public on the LSE is a bit worrying for law firms here in the UK.

UK corporate law firms help companies in the process of going public. For example, they prepare important, necessary documents like the prospectus which tells investors about the company.

If the LSE is considered to be less competitive than other foreign exchanges, then there will be fewer opportunities for UK corporate teams to advise on this lucrative type of work.

A BIT OF FUN 😄

🥕 Know your food geography?

Let’s return to the subject of Gruyère for today’s quiz.

The cheese was originally developed in the Swiss town of Gruyères (which is where it got its name from).

But there are loads of food products named after their place of origin.

Can you name the country which these foods are named after?

1. Ceylon tea

2. Demerara sugar (this one’s a hard one)

3. Branston Pickle

4. Yukon Gold potato

5. Habanero pepper

Scroll down to the bottom to see the answers 👀

IN OTHER NEWS 🗞

• 📱 Your next iPhone may be from India: Apple’s manufacturing partner, the Taiwanese company Foxconn, has plans to build a US$700 million factory in India. This is one of Foxconn’s biggest investments in the country and is a warning sign to China that it is potentially losing its consumer electronic heavyweight title.

• 🏦 The Bank of England might be keeping interest rates steady from now on: Last week, the Bank of England announced it would be keeping interest rates at their current level of 4%. In a very uncertain statement, the governor, Andrew Bailey, said “I would caution against suggesting either that we are done with increasing Bank rate, or that we will inevitably need to do more”.

• 💊 Lloyds Pharmacy risks closing 1,300 sites: Lloyds Pharmacy, one of the UK's largest pharmacy chains, is reportedly at risk of closing up to 1,300 sites because of a dispute with the NHS over funding. Lloyds is currently negotiations with the NHS to sort out this issue. If it can’t, the closure of so many stores would have a major impact on healthcare access in the UK.

• 🚨 The Law Society is taking the UK government to court: The dispute is over criminal legal aid. The Law Society (the professional association for solicitors in England and Wales) claims that the government's new legal aid system is causing harm to vulnerable people and is resulting in a decline in the quality of legal representation.

• 🧠 Get smarter every day: Every day Refind picks 5 articles that make you smarter, tailored to your interests. Loved by 100k+ curious minds. Subscribe to get 5 links / day*

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AROUND THE WEB 🌐

• 🧘‍♀️ Focus: This amazing site has everything you need to stay on top of your daily tasks. It’s got music, timers and a to-do list built in to an easy-to-use platform that will keep you productive.

• 🌍️ Travel: Got any holiday plans? Use this AI-travel planner to make a custom itinerary for yourself based on where you’re going and for how long.

• 📙 News: It’s tough to get a balanced reading of the news when all publications have a bias. This site solves that problem - it shares recent headlines with a simple bar chart showing how much attention it’s getting from the political ‘left’ or ‘right’.

STUFF THAT MIGHT HELP YOU 👌

• 👥 Community for aspiring lawyers: If you're struggling with motivation for law firm applications, check out FlowHuddle - a supportive online community, hosting remote co-working sessions, expert office hours and in-person meet-ups.

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• 📣 Advertise with us: If you're looking to reach an engaged audience of over 6,000 aspiring lawyers, drop us an email.

Quiz Answer: 

1. Ceylon tea = Sri Lanka

2. Demerara sugar = Guyana

3. Branston Pickle = England

4. Yukon Gold potato = Canada

5. Habanero pepper = Cuba