Financial Services UK

Nikhil Rathi, chief executive officer of the Financial Conduct Authority

FCA Awaits Gov't Answer To City Consumer Duty Pushback

The Financial Conduct Authority is waiting for the government to clarify how much consumers can be exposed to risk in favor of more growth-focused regulation as the watchdog faces push back from the sector against its flagship consumer protection program.

Blowback From Name And Shame Plan Hurts FCA Credibility

An embarrassing rebuke for the City watchdog's controversial proposal to "name and shame" companies under investigation for financial misconduct at an early stage has undermined its regulatory credibility as well as efforts to boost London's competitiveness as a financial center.

FCA's 2024 Consumer Focus Still Has Firms Guessing

The Financial Conduct Authority shifted further toward results-based financial regulation in 2024 by requiring regulated companies to comply better with its Consumer Duty, forcing managers to make individual interpretations of the regime's often ambiguous requirements where more specific rules are missing.

Experts See Risks In FCA's Soft-Touch Response To AI

The Financial Conduct Authority has so far failed to detail its rules on artificial intelligence and is moving toward a reliance on companies to self-report, putting it at risk of deferring excessively to the sector it regulates, legal experts say.

March 10, 2025
Barclays' Jes Staley Was 'Honest' With FCA Over Epstein Ties

Former Barclays boss Jes Staley has denied attempting to mislead the Financial Conduct Authority about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, telling a tribunal on Monday that he always maintained they had a "close professional relationship."
March 10, 2025
Addleshaw Wins Bankruptcy Order Against Former LC&F Boss

Addleshaw Goddard has obtained a bankruptcy order against a former boss of London Capital & Finance after a court ruled he defrauded investors out of £237 million ($306 million) by running the investment company like a Ponzi scheme.
March 10, 2025
German Election Raises Doubts About Pillar 2 From Tax Pros

The new German government could end up abandoning the international corporate minimum tax agreement known as Pillar Two because of rising competition between the U.S. and Europe, experts told Law360.
March 10, 2025
Eversheds Guides Canada Life £361M Pension Scheme Deal

Insurer Canada Life Ltd. said Monday it has finalized a buy-in transaction with a U.K. pension scheme worth £361 million ($465 million).
March 10, 2025
FCA Finds Firms Prioritizing Sales Over Consumer Outcomes

Some companies in the financial services sector are coming up short under the Consumer Duty regime by prioritizing sales over good customer outcomes, according to a review by the City watchdog.
March 10, 2025
FRC Launches Tool To Boost Access To Company Data

Britain's accounting watchdog on Monday said it has launched a new digital tool it said would improve free access to company reporting data.
March 10, 2025
Aviva Finalizes £4.8M Buy-Out For Defunct Fruit Distributor

Aviva PLC said Monday it has finalized a bulk purchase annuity buy-out with a pensions scheme for a now-defunct U.K. fresh fruit distributor A Gomez Ltd. for £4.8 million ($6.2 million).
March 07, 2025
FCA Can Reject Criticism Of Redress For Misselling Scandal

The Financial Conduct Authority is entitled to "reasonable disagreement" with an official review that criticized its decision to exclude around 10,000 transactions from a compensation scheme for a bank misselling scandal, a court ruled Friday.
March 07, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen an Iranian oil company sued for $95 million, Betfred hit with a lawsuit from a property company and NHS England face a human rights claim brought by a man detained under the Mental Health Act for over 20 years. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
March 07, 2025
Four Men Imprisoned For 43 Yrs For Money Laundering Plot

Four men involved in a plot to launder £266 million ($343 million) in criminal cash were on Friday sentenced to a total of more than 43 years in prison, in one of the biggest cases of its kind ever prosecuted in England.
March 07, 2025
EU Regulator Eyes Harmonized AML Enforcement

Europe's banking regulator wants the European Union's planned anti-money laundering watchdog to harmonize enforcement across member states, penalizing rule breaches against categories of severity.
March 07, 2025
Barclays Asked Andrew Bailey To Speed Up Staley Probe

Andrew Bailey testified Friday that Barclays asked him to "expedite" an investigation into its chief executive, Jes Staley, while he was head of the U.K. financial regulator amid concerns about the fallout from the probe into the CEO's relationship with Jeffrey Epstein being made public.
March 07, 2025
Xeinadin Settles £1M Claim Against Ex-Director Over Poaching

Accountancy group and business adviser Xeinadin has settled its over £1 million ($1.3 million) claim against the former director of an accountancy firm it acquired over allegations he had sought to lure clients and employees to a rival practice after he was ousted from the business.
March 07, 2025
Fintech Unable To Hike $28M Claim Against Tanzanian Bank

A London-based fintech company on Friday lost its bid to add an extra $4.9 million to its $28 million claim against a Tanzanian bank, with a London court ruling that adding to the case would scupper a looming trial.
March 07, 2025
EU Fund Managers Push For More Competitive Regulations

Europe's fund managers have called for more regulatory consistency across the European Union to help restore competitiveness, removing unnecessary rules as well as making environmental, social and governance data more reliable.
March 06, 2025
FCA Finds Most Firms Fail To Service Vulnerable Customers

The Financial Conduct Authority said Friday it has found that most firms are failing to ensure they're adequately serving vulnerable customers, according to a long-awaited review.
March 06, 2025
Ex-Credit Suisse Banker Avoids Prison In 'Tuna Bond' Fraud

A Brooklyn federal judge spared a former Credit Suisse banker from prison time Thursday, after he pled guilty and became a testifying government cooperator over a plot to defraud investors in a $2 billion state-backed development initiative in Mozambique.
March 06, 2025
Barclays GC Helped Staley Respond To Epstein Controversy

Former Barclays boss Jes Staley was helped by executives in the bank to draft talking points to "properly reflect" his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein to avoid being sacked as trustee from his alma mater, the bank's former top lawyer told a trial court Thursday.
March 06, 2025
UK Authorities Clear Amex GBT's $570M CWT Buy

United Kingdom antitrust authorities gave the formal all-clear Thursday to American Express Global Business Travel Inc.'s planned $570 million purchase of CWT Holdings LLC, leaving a Justice Department lawsuit the only hurdle remaining for the corporate travel management services merger.
March 06, 2025
First 3 Firms Connect To UK Gov't Pension 'Dashboard'

Three pension businesses have successfully plugged into the government's planned new online retirement savings portal, in a major milestone for the troubled project.
March 06, 2025
Visa, Mastercard Face UK Regulatory Action Over Fees

The U.K.'s Payment Systems Regulator said Thursday it will act against Mastercard and Visa over concerns about the duopoly's sharp price hikes on bank card fees.
March 06, 2025
Slaughter & May-Led L&G Seals £505M Inchcape Pension Deal

Insurer Legal & General has said it has covered £505 million ($650 million) of liabilities for the Inchcape Motors Pension Scheme, the U.K. retirement fund for the global automobile distributor, to secure the benefits of its members.
March 05, 2025
Russian Billionaire Loses Fight To Lift EU Sanctions

Russian billionaire Alexander Ponomarenko on Wednesday lost his fight to lift European Union sanctions imposed after Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, with an EU court ruling that the restrictions should remain in place.
March 05, 2025
Former Crypto Exec Can't Sue Bulgarian Biz In England

The former director of a Bulgarian cryptocurrency company cannot sue the current owner over an alleged failure to transfer him his stake in the business, after a judge ruled Wednesday that the English courts do not have jurisdiction over the claim.
March 05, 2025
McCann FitzGerald Guides AIB On Planned €1.2B Buyback

AIB Group PLC said Wednesday it's planning to repurchase €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) worth of shares from the Irish government, as the lender looks to potentially return to full private ownership this year.

Editor's Picks

5 Questions For Spencer West Partner Karl Foster

The Financial Conduct Authority's approach to enforcement and consumer protection has come up against government economic growth priorities and resistance from the sector to its proposals to "name and shame" companies early on during regulatory probes.
UK Draft Pay Fraud Rules Open Tricky Legal Liabilities

The government's new draft legislation, which will give banks longer to investigate suspicions of fraud before they send payments instructed by customers, will create a wave of new legal liabilities and lead to regulatory hurdles, according to lawyers.
FCA Fires Warning Shot Over City's Consumer Duty Failings

The Financial Conduct Authority has sent out a fresh warning to financial services companies highlighting how some of them are failing to comply with its Consumer Duty regime. But experts have told Law360 that the expectations are unclear.

Expert Analysis

How EU's Anticoercion Tool May Counter New US Tariffs

The never-before-used anticoercion instrument could allow the European Union to respond to the imposition of U.S. tariffs, potentially effective March 12, and gives EU companies a voice in the process as it provides for consultation with economic operators at different steps throughout the procedure, say lawyers at Crowell & Moring.
Takeaways From BoE Progress Updates On UK Digital Pound

The Bank of England’s recent update on a decision concerning a digital pound indicates that there is scope for innovation in the payments landscape that can help to boost economic growth, while keeping the U.K. firmly in the global conversation on digital currency development, say lawyers at Hogan Lovells.
Key Themes From New PRA Supervisory Letters

Two recent supervisory letters from the Prudential Regulation Authority outline priorities for international banks and U.K. deposit takers for the year ahead, including the need to strengthen risk culture, manage credit risk and govern data integrity, all of which indicate that banks will face greater regulatory interest in their internal controls, say lawyers at Skadden.
Banker Remuneration Proposals Could Affect More Than Pay

The Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority’s pending proposals to reduce banker remuneration restrictions bring obvious personal financial advantages for bankers, but may have repercussions that result in increased scrutiny of bonus payments and wider changes to workplace culture and overall accountability, say lawyers at Fox Williams.
Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
EU Report May Influence Regulation Of Decentralized Finance

The European supervisory authorities’ recent report on decentralized finance highlights the major regulatory challenges and increased cybersecurity risks of this ecosystem, and will likely provide useful guidance on how the market could be regulated to limit potential risks for investors, say Hubert de Vauplane and Hugo Bordet at Morgan Lewis.
Market Infrastructure Regs Aim To Reinvigorate EU Trading

The recently amended European Market Infrastructure Regulation, imposing a requirement on certain financial and nonfinancial institutions to maintain an active EU counterparty account, hopes to incentivize the central clearing of trades, although there are concerns that higher compliance costs will lead to a decrease in competitiveness, say lawyers at McDermott.
Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Equal Rights Limit State Immunity

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales' recent determination that Spain’s London embassy could not dodge a former U.K.-based employee’s discrimination claims by invoking sovereign immunity reaffirms its position that employment and human rights should come before the privileges of foreign powers, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray’s Inn.
How Proposed Private Share Trading System May Benefit Cos.

The government's proposal for a private securities and capital exchange system intends to enhance market practices and risk tolerances, offering a significant way for firms to free up liquidity by allowing investors to trade existing private company shares, say lawyers at Mishcon de Reya.
Nonfinancial Misconduct Lessons From Rail Worker's Win

While financial services firms wait for the Financial Conduct Authority’s final policy statement on nonfinancial misconduct, an Employment Tribunal’s recent award to a railroad worker targeted by a hostile human resources team provides guidance on developing even-handed and inclusive company policies, say attorneys at Shoosmiths.
Important Changes To Note In Accountant Ethics Code Update

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales' forthcoming code of ethics will bring a number of significant updates to raise standards within the profession, but also risks of professional indemnity claims that could lead to challenges for firms, say lawyers at RPC.
A Look At Collateralized Loan Obligations Post-Reform

The Financial Stability Board's recent report on global securitization reforms, analyzing resilience trends in the collateralized loan obligation market post-2008, suggests that, while risk retention rules have a limited impact on observable characteristics, other structural features play a significant role in ensuring risk alignment, says Kos Vavelidis at DLA Piper.
What EU Sustainable Category Proposals Will Mean For Funds

The European Union Platform on Sustainable Finance’s recent proposals to apply stricter product categorization standards for funds subject to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation will assist retail investors in selecting sustainable products, and allow advisers to easily match their clients’ preferences, say lawyers at Debevoise.
What To Expect As CAT Considers Mastercard Settlement

It is expected that the Competition Appeal Tribunal will closely scrutinize the proposed collective settlement in Merricks v. Mastercard, including the role of the case’s litigation funder, as the CAT's past approach to such cases shows it does not treat the process as a rubber stamp exercise, say lawyers at BCLP.
Managing Transatlantic Antitrust Investigations And Litigation

As transatlantic competition regulators cooperate more closely and European antitrust investigations increasingly spark follow-up civil suits in the U.S., companies must understand how to simultaneously juggle high-stakes multigovernment investigations and manage the risks of expensive new claims across jurisdictions, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.