Whisky distillers will head to the Supreme Court next year to challenge minimum pricing for alcohol north of the border after being given the go-ahead by Scotland’s highest civil court.

In an early Christmas gift to the Scotch Whisky Association, the Court of Session in Edinburgh granted permission for the organisation to take its fight against the Scottish government’s pricing plans.

It is the latest step in an extended legal wrangle over the proposals, which has delayed implementation of a policy aimed at tackling Scotland’s drink problem. According to a Press Association report, the whisky association aims to stop Scottish ministers from pressing ahead with the minimum pricing plan, arguing that it is incompatible with EU law.

After getting the green light from the Edinburgh court, Julie Hesketh-Laird, the association’s acting chief executive, said: “We now hope the appeal can be heard quickly by the Supreme Court, with a final ruling next year.”

She has previously insisted that the association’s intention to continue the legal challenge was not taken lightly and followed wide consultation. She has described the proposed measure as likely to be “ineffective”.

A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court predicted that if the judges approved an application from the association for the hearing to be expedited, “then I would envisage that the court would hear the appeal in the first half of 2017”.

Up to half a million British property-owners in Spain are likely to be reimbursed thousands of pounds each in mortgage payments after Europe’s top court ruled that local banks had imposed unfair terms.

Spanish banks will have to pay back an estimated €4 billion as the Court of Justice of the EU found that Spanish mortgage buyers did not profit fully from record-low interest rates available over recent years.

The judges ruled that so-called floor clauses used by Spanish banks imposed a minimum interest rate on floating-rate mortgages by setting a limit on how far mortgage rates could fall in tandem with the benchmark rate.

Under EU law, said the court, “the finding that floor clauses are unfair must allow the restitution of advantages wrongly obtained by the seller or supplier to the consumer’s detriment”.

The European court overturned several domestic Spanish court rulings that the banks did not have to pay back the excess money they received. Lawyers described the court’s decision as creating an unwanted blip in the gradual recovering of the Spanish banking sector, which was badly hit during the global financial crisis.

There are about half a million British property-owners in Spain. Analysts forecast that those with local mortgages could qualify for substantial refund of overpaid interest.

“This ruling provides additional legal and stronger financial security for British owners in Spain as well as for all Britons thinking about Spain as a destination,” said León Fernando Del Canto, a partner at Del Canto Chambers, a Madrid law firm with offices in London.

Will conditions improve for stock market listings?

Powerful evidence from Baker McKenzie, the international law firm, of the impact on stock market listings of the UK’s vote to leave the EU, reports Edward Fennell.

While all types of IPOs listed on the firm’s annual index were down globally in 2016, the drop in the UK market was notably vertiginous – a decline of 85 per cent in value and 38 per cent in volume for cross-border listings. Meanwhile, domestic UK stock market floats dropped 58 per cent by value and 26 per cent by volume.

“The EU referendum played a starring role in the year when nothing seemingly went right for initial public offerings,” says Edward Bibko, head of capital markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Baker McKenzie. “After a flurry of deals at the start of the year, anticipation of the Brexit vote depressed activity through June, and volatility after the vote resulted in many IPOs being pulled.”

Normally IPOs thrive in periods of certainty and stability, points out the firm. And there is a natural rhythm to the IPO calendar. However, volatility is inevitably a dampener because of the difficulty of pricing a deal when markets are seesawing.

“Investors were never likely to place their bets on IPOs until after the EU referendum,” says Bibko. “So the plan for most potential issuers was to prepare to price deals in the rally that was almost sure to follow the Remain result.

“When things turned out differently, many announced and unannounced deals were pulled. After a restorative summer, a dark sense of déjà vu settled over the year's second half with investors warily eyeing the US elections and, ultimately, another surprise result.”

Looking ahead, the prospects appear marginally better for 2017. “Although there are plenty of things to worry about,” reckons Bibko, the 2017 diary does not include the obvious bear traps that marked 2016, or even 2015 – think back to the Greek elections and the Scottish referendum. “The market may have adjusted to a new normal level of uncertainty," says Bibko with fingers crossed.

Nonetheless, as Germany and France prepare for general elections and with uncertainty about Italian banks rumbling, the political landscape still has some pitfalls that could delay a much hoped for upswing in IPOs.

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