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MFA Submits Comments to UK Call for Evidence on Non-Compete Clauses

On July 19, MFA submitted comments to the UK Department for Business Innovation & Skills (BIS), in response to its call for evidence on the use of non-compete clauses by employers. In the letter, we express support for the existing framework for non-compete clauses in the UK, and explain that the use of non-competes in employment contracts provides effective and necessary protection to fund managers for their proprietary information and their investment in client relationships and staff.  We further note that restrictions, particularly ones of any significant duration, are typically limited to the contracts of highly sophisticated senior staff with extensive experience in the industry.  As a result, non-competes promote an orderly and relatively efficient recruitment market in the industry, and employers can entrust their staff with oversight of strategically important information in the knowledge that they will have some measure of protection if staff leave.