Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is assessing the fallout after the Court of Appeal yesterday refused to lift an injunction barring the firm from the £9bn bid for Marks & Spencer in what promises to be an embarrassing affair for the City giant.

The judges, Lord Justice Kay and Lord Justice Pill, on Thursday (3 June) ruled that the effective use of Chinese walls in a non-agreed takeover is “wholly improbable”.