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Financial Services UK
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September 23, 2024
UK Watchdog Thins Out Pension Plan Reporting Rules
The Pensions Regulator said Monday it has scaled back the amount of data that retirement schemes are expected to submit under new funding regulations, which went live this weekend.
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September 23, 2024
Finance Sector Seeks Regulatory Clarity As Challenges Loom
The financial services sector is pushing for clearer regulations on artificial intelligence and environmental, social and governance criteria, according to research by global law firm DLA Piper.
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September 23, 2024
Clifford Chance-Led BNP To Buy HSBC Unit In Germany
BNP Paribas SA said Monday that it has agreed to buy HSBC's private banking unit in Germany as part of its plans to expand its wealth management arm in a "key strategic market."
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September 20, 2024
BNP Paribas Plugging $5B Into Apollo-Backed Atlas
Private equity giant Apollo and its Atlas SP Partners platform, both advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, on Friday unveiled a strategic partnership with European Union bank BNP Paribas, led by Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, that will see the global bank plugging an initial $5 billion investment into the collaboration.
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September 20, 2024
EU Moves To Hike Ukraine Loan To €35B In Case US Pulls Out
The European Commission proposed Friday that the European Union should increase its share of loans to Ukraine backed by frozen and immobilized Russian state assets up to €35 billion ($39.1 billion) from about €18 billion in case the U.S. backs out of its part of a Group of Seven agreement.
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September 20, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
The past week in London has seen crypto exchange Binance face a new claim from the co-founder of SO Legal, a U.S. immersive art company take on a Bristol venue for copyright violations and Blake Morgan LLP hit with a pension schemes claim by The Trust for Welsh Archeology. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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September 20, 2024
Businessman Gets 18 Months In Prison For COVID Loan Fraud
A British businessman was sentenced to 18 months in prison at a criminal court Friday for dishonestly obtaining a COVID-19 small business loan to repay an associate embroiled in a fight with the Serious Fraud Office.
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September 20, 2024
BoE Tells Small Banks To Choose Preferred Capital Regime
The Bank of England told smaller banks Friday to choose now whether to apply the latest Basel 3.1 capital rules or an alternative simpler regime, freeing them up to focus on growth.
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September 20, 2024
Willkie Guides On African Banking Biz's SocGen Deal
Societe Generale said Friday it has inked a deal to offload its 57.93% stake in its bank based in Guinea Conakry, West Africa, for an undisclosed sum to Atlantic Financial Group, which was advised by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP.
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September 20, 2024
DLA Piper Boosts Corporate, Insurance Teams With 2 Partners
DLA Piper has strengthened its European corporate and insurance practices with the recruitment of two experienced partners to its offices in Spain and Italy.
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September 20, 2024
Audit Watchdog Revises Actuarial Standard For Insurers
Britain's accounting watchdog on Friday published a revised version of the rules for actuarial work in the insurance sector that it said reflected recent regulatory changes around delivering good outcomes for consumers.
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September 20, 2024
Pension Savings Plans Warned Over 'Deflation Spiral' Risk
Pension schemes should make contingency plans now for falling inflation, a consultancy has said, as it warned that failure to prepare could result in a destabilizing rush to sell off U.K. government bonds.
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September 20, 2024
EQT To Buy Indian Affordable Housing Finance Biz For $210M
Swedish investment giant EQT plans to buy Indostar Home Finance of India for $120 million, to help its growth as the Asian country struggles with housing shortages.
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September 20, 2024
UK Fraud Reimbursement Plan Could Attract Organized Crime
A program launching in October that allows victims of fraudulent authorized push payments to get reimbursement from banks and payments companies could be exploited by organized crime to cash in with bogus claims, according to lawyers.
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September 19, 2024
London Law Firm Fined For Breaching AML Rules
A London law firm must pay £3,700 ($4,900) in fines plus costs after it failed to comply with strict anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules, the solicitors' watchdog for England and Wales has said.
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September 26, 2024
Wiggin Scores 6-Person Sports Law Team From Walker Morris
Wiggin LLP announced Thursday it has hired a new chief for its sports law practice, along with his five-strong team, as the firm looks to cement its practice in the area.
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September 19, 2024
Lloyds Bank Beats Employees' Settled Hybrid Working Claims
An employment tribunal has nixed claims against Lloyds Bank after ruling that three employees were unlikely to prove the bank had wrongly rejected their request to work from home.
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September 19, 2024
Gov't Urged To Push Collective Defined Benefit Pension Plans
The U.K. government should push forward new collective pension plans with "bold and innovative" thinking to address Britain's retirement adequacy challenge, Hymans Robertson LLP said Thursday.
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September 19, 2024
UK Issues Disclosure Exemptions For Investment Trusts
The government and Financial Conduct Authority announced Thursday plans to reform the U.K. retail disclosure rules in early 2025, with immediate interim exemption of investment trusts from current requirements on cost disclosures to retail investors.
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September 19, 2024
AI Helping Rise In UK Insurance Fraud, Report Shows
Nearly one in five insurance claim handlers believe that many fraud claims now involve fake supporting documents created or altered using artificial intelligence tools, a new report shows.
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September 19, 2024
EU Wrong To Block Berlusconi's Bank Stake, Top Court Rules
Europe's highest court ruled Thursday that the European Central Bank was wrong to decide that a prior conviction for tax fraud prevented former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi from holding a stake in a bank in the country.
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September 19, 2024
Close Brothers To Sell Wealth Manager To Oaktree For £200M
Close Brothers said Thursday that it has agreed to offload its wealth management business to Oaktree Capital Management for up to £200 million ($265 million) in a bid to boost its capital position and "navigate the current uncertain environment."
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September 18, 2024
City Presses For Strategy To Draw £7.7B In New Foreign Cash
The governing body of the City of London urged the government on Thursday to design a strategy that will entice foreign sovereign investors to plow an estimated £7.7 billion ($10.2 billion) of additional capital into the domestic economy.
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September 18, 2024
FCA Accuses 4 Of Textile Co. Pump-And-Dump Scheme
Four businessmen connected to Worthington Group were accused by the Financial Conduct Authority at the beginning of a London criminal trial Wednesday of being involved in a scheme to artificially pump up the price of shares of the former textiles company while it was effectively insolvent.
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September 18, 2024
Privinvest Says Missing Disclosure Made Fair Trial Impossible
A shipbuilding company is seeking to dodge having to pay approximately $2 billion in damages awarded to Mozambique over a bribery scheme that wrecked the country's economy, urging a court to stay enforcement of the judgment to await the outcome of any appeal.
Expert Analysis
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Breaking Down The New Rules For High Net Worth Individuals
Andrew Northage at Walker Morris outlines what businesses need to be aware of to ensure ongoing compliance with revised conditions in the U.K. government's updated financial promotion exemptions for high net worth individuals and sophisticated investors, and suggests a few practical tips for businesses to follow.
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How Data Privacy Law Cases Are Evolving In UK, EU And US
To see where the law is heading in 2024, it is worth looking at privacy litigation and enforcement trends from last year, where we saw a focus on General Data Protection Regulation regulatory enforcement actions in the U.K. and EU, and class actions brought by private plaintiffs in the U.S., say lawyers at Morgan Lewis.
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Misleading Airline Ads Offer Lessons To Avoid Greenwashing
Following the Advertising Standards Authority's recent decision that three airlines' adverts misled customers about their environmental impact, companies should ensure that their green claims comply with legal standards to avoid risking reputational damage, which could have financial repercussions, say Elaina Bailes and Olivia Shaw at Stewarts.
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An Overview Of UK Short Selling Regulation Reforms
The steps taken by the U.K. government to reform the short selling regime show a thoughtful and considered approach and a willingness to listen to industry feedback in adapting the legacy EU regime to the realities of the U.K. markets, say Anna Maleva-Otto and Matthew Dow at Schulte Roth.
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Supreme Court Ruling Is A Gift To Insolvency Practitioners
As corporate criminal liability is in sharp focus, the Supreme Court's recent decision in Palmer v. Northern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court that administrators are not company officers and should not be held liable under U.K. labor law is instructive in focusing on the substance and not merely the title of a person's role within a company, say lawyers at Greenberg Traurig.
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What Can Be Learned From Adobe-Figma Merger Termination
The Competition and Markets Authority’s role in the recent termination of the proposed Adobe-Figma merger deal indicates the regulator's intention to be seen as a strong enforcer in the technology sphere, and serves as a warning for companies to address antitrust risks early on in the merger process, say Deirdre Taylor and Molly Heslop at Gibson Dunn.
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How FCA Listing Regime Reform Proposals Are Developing
The Financial Conduct Authority’s recently proposed U.K. equity listings reforms maintain increased flexibility with a disclosure-based approach, but much of the new regime’s success will depend on the eligibility criteria used and whether additional governance will be required for inclusion, say lawyers at Debevoise.
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Major EU AI Banking Ruling Will Reverberate Across Sectors
Following the European Court of Justice's recent OQ v. Land Hessen decision that banks' use of AI-driven credit scores to make consumer decisions did not comply with the General Data Protection Regulation, regulators indicated that the ruling would apply broadly, leaving numerous industries that employ AI-powered decisions open to scrutiny, say lawyers at Alston & Bird.
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Key Points From Ireland's New Accountability Framework
The recently introduced Individual Accountability Framework is a positive step for the financial services industry in Ireland, and in contributing to cultural and practical change will encourage positive behavior and good governance for the benefit of the industry and investors, say Aongus McCarthy and Niall Esler at Walkers Global.
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Technology And AI: 2024's Legal And Regulatory Landscape
Alexander Amato-Cravero at Herbert Smith discusses what businesses and their lawyers can expect in the year ahead in terms of regulation, policies and associated risks related to advancing technologies and artificial intelligence, including the need for increased internal governance and workforce engagement.
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US And UK Law Firms Continue Trend Of EU Expansion
A broad spectrum of U.S. and U.K. law firms are now seeking fresh opportunities in Europe's fastest growing and constantly evolving sectors by opening offices in strategic locations across the continent, says James Lavan at Buchanan Law.
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A Look At 2023's Landmark Insolvency Developments
The insolvency landscape in 2023 witnessed pivotal court decisions that will continue to shape the industry in 2024, with a focus on refining director and administrator duties and obligations, and addressing emerging challenges, says Kerri Wilson at Ontier.
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Pension Industry Should Monitor Evolving ESG Issues In 2024
ESG thinking in the pensions industry has substantially evolved from focusing on climate change and net-zero to including nature and social considerations, and formalizing governance processes — illustrating that, in 2024, continually monitoring ESG issues sits squarely within trustee fiduciary duties, says Liz Ramsaran at DWF.
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What 2024 Has In Store For White Collar Crime Enforcement
Changes in Serious Fraud Office leadership and corporate crime laws in the U.K. signal a chance to kickstart enforcement in 2024, and companies need to stay alive to risks within their business, preparing in particular for the new offense of failure to prevent fraud, say lawyers at Latham.
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Emerging Trends From A Busy Climate Litigation Year
Although many environmental cases brought in the U.K. were unsuccessful in 2023, they arguably clarified several relevant issues, such as climate rights, director and trustee obligations, and the extent to which claimants can hold the government accountable, illustrating what 2024 may have in store for climate litigation, say Simon Bishop and Patrick Kenny at Hausfeld.