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Financial Services UK
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August 29, 2024
Oil Execs Get 13 Years For $1.8B 1MDB Fraud
Two former PetroSaudi executives have been sentenced at a Swiss court to a combined 13 years in prison for embezzling more than $1.8 billion from Malaysia's state-backed investment fund in what prosecutors said was one of the biggest frauds ever perpetrated.
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August 29, 2024
Pension Consolidator Would Be Useful, Broadstone Says
Proposals put forward by the previous government to launch a public sector consolidator of retirement savings plans run by the pensions lifeboat fund would be a "welcome addition" to the market, Broadstone said Thursday.
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August 29, 2024
EU Warns That Greenwashing Risk Could Hit Investment
The European Union's markets watchdog said Thursday in its latest risk monitoring report that greenwashing and related malpractices are undermining investor trust and the credibility of green finance.
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August 29, 2024
Another British Steel Pension Adviser Declared In Default
A financial adviser connected to the British Steel pension scandal has been declared in default by the U.K.'s lifeboat scheme.
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August 29, 2024
UK Teetering On Pensions Crisis, Mercer Warns
The U.K. needs pension reform to avert a looming crisis that threatens a secure retirement for pensioners, according to a report by American consultancy firm Mercer LLC released Thursday.
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August 29, 2024
Ombudsman Reports 70% Surge In Financial Complaints
Users of financial products lodged 70% more complaints in the first quarter of the 2024/25 financial year compared with the corresponding previous period, the Financial Ombudsman Service reported on Thursday, a jump from almost 44,000 to approximately 75,000.
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August 29, 2024
Law Firm Can Use Client Comms To Fight Conspiracy Claim
A commercial law firm and its solicitor can fully plead their defenses against claims of conspiracy, a London court has ruled, finding that details of communication with clients are not limited by legal professional privilege because of a recently clarified legal exception.
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August 28, 2024
Businessman Can't Force $1B Gramercy Suit Into Arbitration
A Wyoming federal judge has ruled that Gramercy Funds Management will not have to arbitrate its racketeering lawsuit accusing a Ukrainian businessman of fraudulently transferring more than a billion dollars from his agricultural business, a debtor of the Connecticut-based hedge fund.
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August 28, 2024
Collapsed Forex Broker To Pay Whistleblowing Exec £564K
A compliance director at a foreign exchange brokerage who reported the firm to the financial services watchdog over its alleged illicit activities has won more than £560,000 ($740,000) after a tribunal ruled the company had unlawfully sacked him.
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August 28, 2024
BoE To Widen Checks On How Finance Absorbs Disruption
The Bank of England has said it will develop its approach to assessing how financial markets deal with disruption to cover new technologies and more risks, potentially extending its scrutiny beyond the payments sector.
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August 28, 2024
LDI Managers Urged To Influence Gov't Climate Policy
Liability-driven investment managers ought to be doing more to influence climate policy to protect members' pensions as government debt plays an increasingly large role in retirement savings portfolios, Lane Clark & Peacock LLP said.
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August 28, 2024
Swiss Life To Acquire Green Hydrogen Biz For $106M
The asset management arm of insurer Swiss Life will buy Everfuel AS of Denmark in a deal that values the green hydrogen producer at $106 million and will take it off of the Euronext Growth market, the companies said Wednesday.
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August 27, 2024
Money Laundering Cases Surge At Crown Courts, KPMG Says
The overall value of fraud cases involving money laundering heard at crown courts has risen nearly fourfold in the first half of this year, according a report issued by KPMG on Wednesday.
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August 27, 2024
Ex-Barclays Exec Loses Appeal Over FCA Ban On Senior Job
Former Barclays wealth boss Thomas Kalaris has lost his appeal against the Financial Conduct Authority's decision banning him from holding a regulated senior management position at the firm he founded, as a London tribunal found in a judgment made public Tuesday he had given false evidence during interviews with the regulator.
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September 03, 2024
Kirkland Hires German Restructuring Pair From Gleiss Lutz
Kirkland & Ellis LLP said on Tuesday that it has recruited two restructuring and insolvency specialists from German outfit Gleiss Lutz, as the firm continues to expand after unveiling plans to open a new office in Frankfurt.
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August 27, 2024
Hong Kong Woman's Asset Freeze Extended Over Fraud Case
A London judge on Tuesday allowed a freezing order to be extended against a woman accused of defrauding her former employers of 164 million Hong Kong dollars ($21 million).
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August 27, 2024
Starmer Warns Of 'Painful' Budget As UK Braces For Tax Hikes
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Tuesday of "painful" decisions to plug budget gaps, including tax increases and spending cuts, looming in the Oct. 30 budget statement.
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August 27, 2024
25 Banks To Adopt Tool For Survivors Of Economic Abuse
Twenty-five banks and building societies have committed to working with a new tool designed to help survivors of economic abuse, Britain's banking trade body said on Tuesday.
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August 27, 2024
BCLP Guides Fintech Plus500 On $110M Buyback Program
Plus500 Ltd. rolled out a $110 million share repurchase program Tuesday aimed at rewarding investors,which the financial technology business said reflects its "continued confidence" in its prospects.
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August 27, 2024
Pinsent Masons Steers Insurer On £42M Pensions Deal
British insurer Just Group said on Tuesday that it has taken on pension liabilities valued at £42 million ($56 million) from a retirement savings plan sponsored by a British farmer-owned dairy co-operative, First Milk.
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August 27, 2024
Gov't Urged To Reform Pension Tax To Fill Budget Gaps
The Labour government should reform £66 billion ($87 billion) worth of pension tax relief to raise extra revenue to help plug the black hole in public finances, a think tank affiliated to the party has said.
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August 27, 2024
Santander To Buy Back Shares Worth €1.5B To Trim Capital
Banco Santander SA said Tuesday that it is launching a €1.5 billion ($1.7 billion) buyback program as the Spanish group looks to reward shareholders with approximately 50% of its underlying profit.
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August 24, 2024
Italian Prosecutors Open Criminal Probe Into Yacht Sinking
Italian prosecutors said Saturday that they have opened a criminal investigation into the sinking of a superyacht that claimed the lives of seven people including a partner at Clifford Chance LLP and his client, British technology mogul Mike Lynch.
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August 23, 2024
Ex-Iraqi Minister Foils Reporting Org.'s Defense In Libel Case
An Iraqi politician has successfully persuaded a judge to throw out an investigative reporting organization's qualified privilege defense to his defamation claim, with the judge ruling Friday that an article about alleged corruption in the Iraqi oil business did not accurately reflect court proceedings.
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August 23, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
The past week in London has seen Google sue several Russian media outlets in response to challenges to the tech giant's response to international sanctions, easyGroup bring an intellectual property claim against delivery company Easycargo, and e-money business Nyavo challenge action by the Financial Conduct Authority.
Expert Analysis
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FDI Considerations For UK Venture Capital Transactions
With the U.K. National Security and Investment Act highlighting foreign direct investment matters for venture capital transactions, investors dealing with companies connected to the U.K. should be alive to how the act's requirements can affect deal timelines, structures and terms, say lawyers at Covington.
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How Employers Can Support Neurodiversity In The Workplace
A recent run of cases emphasize employers' duties to make reasonable adjustments for neurodiverse employees under the Equalities Act, illustrating the importance of investing in staff education and listening to neurodivergent workers to improve recruitment, retention and productivity in the workplace, say Anna Henderson and Tim Leaver at Herbert Smith.
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What The Anti-Coercion Instrument Will Bring To The EU
Vassilis Akritidis and Jean-Baptiste Blancardi at Crowell & Moring discuss why the European Union recently adopted a report on the anti-coercion instrument to reform its trade legislation, how the instrument will be used to respond to unfair economic pressure from third countries, and how businesses can impact the EU's decision making.
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Why FCA Crypto Rules Need To Align With UK Gov't Aims
There is a critical need for cryptocurrency regulations that protect consumers while supporting the government's aim to make the U.K. a crypto hub, but the Financial Conduct Authority’s recently effective rules on financial promotion of crypto-assets bring an unintended risk that legitimate firms will be driven out of the market, says Laura Navarathnam at the Crypto Council for Innovation.
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CMA Report On AI May Lead to Greater Competition Control
The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority’s recent report on artificial intelligence foundation models is a sign that developers could face increased merger control and antitrust enforcement, and businesses should be mindful of these views to ensure that their models do not come under investigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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UK Mozambique Ruling Will Have Int'l Ramifications
The recent U.K. Supreme Court judgment in Mozambique v. Privinvest considered for the first time stay proceedings under the Arbitration Act, offering guidance on whether claims are a "matter" within the scope of an arbitration clause, which could become a point of reference for foreign courts in the future, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.
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Recent Trends In European ESG-Related Shareholder Activism
New ESG reporting standards in the European Union, as well as recent climate change, board diversity and human rights cases, illustrate how shareholder activism may become more prominent in years to come as regulation and investor engagement continues to strengthen, say lawyers at Debevoise.
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Audit Regulator Review Has Tips On Climate Metric Reporting
The U.K. Financial Reporting Council’s recent review of climate-related metrics and targets in listed companies’ annual reports is an extremely useful guide for issuers considering the quality of their disclosure reporting, with a number of key areas identified as central to further improvement, say lawyers at Bryan Cave.
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What Russia Case Reveals About UK Sanctions Enforcement
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation recently issued its first enforcement action under the U.K.'s expanded Russia sanctions against a relatively small company for a moderately severe breach — a decision that highlights several questions about the watchdog’s purpose and methods, say Maia Cohen-Lask and Tasha Benkhadra at Corker Binning.
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Breaking Down The UK's Draft Updates To Prospectus Regime
While there still may be changes, the U.K.'s near-final draft statutory instrument to update and in some parts replace the current on-shored EU prospectus regime is likely to represent a significant overhaul of the existing regime and may make U.K. capital markets a more attractive venue for listings for issuers, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Italy's Bank-Profits Tax Plan May Become Model For Eurozone
If Italy's recently proposed 40% bank-profits tax helps keep its populist coalition government in power, notwithstanding the European Central Bank's legal challenges, the passage could spark a windfall tax trend across the eurozone and even in the U.K., says Cris Cicala at Stinson.
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Bitcoin Case Highlights Advanced Age Of UK's IP Law
An appellate court's recent decision in a case involving the copyright of bitcoin's file format emphasizes the role of copyright protection in software, and also the challenges of applying decades-old laws to new technologies, say Marianna Foerg and Ben Bell at Potter Clarkson.
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Accountability Is Key To Preventing Miscarriages Of Justice
The wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson and other recent cases show that in order to avoid future miscarriages of justice, there needs to be a fundamental reevaluation of how investigators, prosecutors and the Criminal Cases Review Commission operate, prioritizing stronger penalties and increased funding, say Thomas Walford at Expert Evidence International and policy analyst Gerald Frost.
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4 Compliance Considerations Under FCA Consumer Duty
Following the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's recent introduction of the new consumer duty regime, firms will need to be mindful of data protection implications when managing their compliance with the duty and data protection legislation, say lawyers at Bird & Bird.
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What Could Come Of CFPB, EU Consumer Finance Collab
A recent joint statement from the European Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau focused on how technology is affecting consumers of financial services, potentially recognizing that legal protections are lacking because tech regulations lag behind its development, say attorneys at DLA Piper.