Financial Services UK

  • October 11, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen billionaire Lakshmi Mittal sue steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta in a long-running clash to claw back €140 million ($153 million) of debt, a high-profile AI researcher take action against the Intellectual Property Office to register his software as a listed patent inventor and troubled housing trust Home Reit face a claim by a real estate developer. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • October 11, 2024

    G-20 Regulators Told To Learn From Credit Suisse Collapse

    A global banking standards setter reminded regulators from G-20 countries Friday of the lessons they can learn from what led to the collapse of Credit Suisse and other banks during the 2023 crisis, including failures in risk management, governance and supervision.

  • October 11, 2024

    Market Abuse Behind Majority Of €71M EU Fines

    The European Union's markets authority said Friday the bloc's national regulators issued fines totaling €71.3 million ($93.2 million) in 2023 as they doubled down their efforts to curb insider trading and market manipulation.

  • October 11, 2024

    Art Dealer's Ex-Wife Denies Liability For His Loan

    The former wife of Andrew Valmorbida, an art dealer to the stars who was involved in a multi-million dollar art fraud, has said she should not pay back an investment firm part of $33.4 million taken by her then-husband, arguing the business can pursue other assets first.

  • October 11, 2024

    UK Insurer Saga In Talks Over £140M 20-Year Deal With Ageas

    Travel and insurance company Saga PLC confirmed Friday that it was in "exclusive negotiations" with Ageas over a two-decade partnership, as well as the sale of its underwriting unit to the Belgian business.

  • October 10, 2024

    Miner Liable To PE Firm Over Axed $1B Brazilian Mine Deal

    South African miner Sibanye-Stillwater is liable to pay damages to private equity firm Appian Capital Advisory LLP for withdrawing from a $1 billion deal to buy two Brazilian copper and nickel mines, a London court ruled Thursday.

  • October 17, 2024

    Sidley Boosts Global Finance Practice With 5 Partner Hires

    Sidley Austin LLP has bolstered its global finance practice with the hire of five new partners in the firm's London office from Latham & Watkins LLP.

  • October 10, 2024

    Ex-Goldman Manager Claims £3.8M In Paternity Sex Bias Case

    A former Goldman Sachs compliance manager launched his sex discrimination case against the investment bank on Thursday, claiming £3.8 million ($5 million) and alleging that his bosses used redundancy as a smokescreen to sack him for taking paternity leave.

  • October 10, 2024

    Ireland's Finance Bill Sets Out Foreign Dividend Exemption

    The Irish government set out its plans for a new participation tax exemption for foreign dividends as part of a finance bill published Thursday.

  • October 10, 2024

    HSBC Appeals To Throw Out Job Applicant's Race Bias Claim

    HSBC Bank PLC urged a London appeals court Thursday to dismiss a job applicant's discrimination claim that alleged it unfairly refused to hire her for a director role, arguing that an employment tribunal had made factual errors when it revived the case.

  • October 10, 2024

    Risk Co. Can't Pursue Bankruptcy Against Guernsey Resident

    A risk management company lost its attempt to bring bankruptcy proceedings against a man in Guernsey that owes it around £2 million ($2.6 million), after a London court ruled the business couldn't meet the conditions to file outside England and Wales.

  • October 10, 2024

    Gupta Prosecuted Over Missing Accounts For 76 Companies

    British businessman Sanjeev Gupta and four other executives in his industrial group face criminal charges over their alleged failure to file accounts for more than 70 listed companies, the U.K. corporate registry confirmed Thursday.

  • October 10, 2024

    Lebanese Bank Claims It Was Told Not To Repay $234M Debt

    Lebanon's largest private lender has claimed that the central bank of the Middle East state advised it not to repay foreign loans and interests totaling more than $234 million it owed to a member of the World Bank Group because of an economic crisis.

  • October 10, 2024

    £300B Of Pension Assets Could Be Invested In UK, PwC Says

    The largest pension funds in Britain could potentially invest up to £300 billion ($391 billion) into the U.K. economy, PwC said Thursday, after the sector logged a record funding surplus in September.

  • October 10, 2024

    FCA Warns Of Rise In Market Abuse Through Regulated Firms

    The Financial Conduct Authority has said it has seen a rise in potential market abuse from trading accounts administered by authorized companies working with overseas firms.

  • October 10, 2024

    Advisers Say Council's 'Extreme' Risk Appetite Lost It £20M

    Laven Advisors LLP has denied that one of its representatives made fraudulent misrepresentations about high-risk bonds to an English local authority, claiming the £20 million ($26.1 million) investment loss incurred by the council was a result of its own "extreme" risk appetite.

  • October 10, 2024

    TSB Bank Fined £11M For Mistreating Vulnerable Customers

    The finance watchdog said Thursday that it has hit TSB Bank PLC with a fine of £10.9 million ($14.2 million) after finding that the lender had unfairly treated tens of thousands of customers in arrears or facing financial difficulties between 2014 and 2020.

  • October 09, 2024

    Bank Of Scotland Forced £18.5M Hotel Asset Sale, Court Hears

    The Bank of Scotland acted in bad faith by forcing a high-end hotel group it partly owns to sell valuable premises at a reduced price, a lawyer for the hospitality chain said on the first day of trial Wednesday.

  • October 09, 2024

    UK Gov't Greenlights Film Industry Tax Credit

    U.K. film companies will be able to gain over 50% tax relief for their films' costs from a tax credit approved Wednesday by the Labour government.

  • October 09, 2024

    EU Launches Consultation On Securitization Rules

    The European Commission on Wednesday started a consultation on the European Union's securitization framework, with a focus on due diligence and transparency requirements, supervision and the prudential treatment of securitizations for banks and insurers.

  • October 09, 2024

    Litigation Funder Sues After-The-Event Insurer For £61M

    A legal loans company has sued an insurer for around £61.4 million ($80.3 million) over its alleged failure to pay out under a litigation funding arrangement.

  • October 09, 2024

    Trader Fights Insider Dealing US Extradition At Top UK Court

    A former securities trader asked the U.K. Supreme Court Wednesday to overturn his extradition to America to face insider trading charges, arguing that he cannot be sent to the U.S. over offenses alleged to have taken place in Britain.

  • October 09, 2024

    Tech Co. Denies Claim That Plasma Reactor Was Never Built

    A developer of graphene-based materials has denied misusing money that a Chinese businessman invested in the British company in the belief that it would build a so-called plasma reactor.

  • October 09, 2024

    Switzerland OKs £5.4B Hargreaves Lansdown PE Takeover

    The Swiss Competition Commission has given the thumbs up to the £5.4 billion ($7 billion) takeover of Hargreaves Lansdown by a group of private equity companies, consortium member CVC Capital Partners Ltd. said Wednesday.

  • October 09, 2024

    Law Firms Sued For Botched Advice In £5M Ponzi Scheme

    Property investors have claimed two law firms failed to warn them of the dangers of sinking their savings into a building project that turned out to be an alleged £5.4 million ($7 million) Ponzi scheme.

Expert Analysis

  • Traversing The Web Of Nonjudicial Grievance Mechanisms

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    Attorneys at Covington provide an overview of how companies can best align their environmental and human rights compliance with "hard-law" requirements like the EU's recently approved Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive while also navigating the complex global network of existing nonjudicial grievance mechanisms.

  • Opinion

    FCA Greenwashing Rules Need To Be Stronger To Be Effective

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    The Financial Conduct Authority's forthcoming anti-greenwashing measures, aimed at ensuring the veracity of regulated entities’ statements about sustainability credentials, need external scrutiny and an effective definition of "corporate social responsibility" to give them bite, says Jingchen Zhao at Nottingham Trent University.

  • EU Ruling Exposes Sovereignty Fissures In Int'l Arbitration

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    The European Court of Justice's recent ruling that the U.K. had breached EU law by allowing an arbitral award to proceed underscores the diminished influence of EU jurisprudence in the U.K., hinting at the EU courts' increasingly nominal sway in international arbitration within jurisdictions that prize legal autonomy, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray’s Inn.

  • Companies House False Filings Raise Issues Of Integrity

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    A recent spate of unauthorized company filings with Companies House raises specific concerns for secured lenders, but also highlights the potential for false filings to be used to facilitate fraudulent schemes, says Daniel Sullivan at Charles Russell.

  • UK Courts Continue To Struggle With Crypto-Asset Cases

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    Although the common law has proved capable of applying established principles to crypto-assets, recent cases highlight persistent challenges in identifying defendants, locating assets and determining jurisdiction, suggesting that any meaningful development will likely come from legislative or regulatory change, say Emily Saunderson and Sam Mitchell at Quadrant Chambers.

  • Comparing The UK And EU Approaches To AI Regulation

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    While there are significant points of convergence between the recently published U.K. approach to artificial intelligence regulation and the EU AI Act, there is also notable divergence between them, and it appears that the U.K. will remain a less regulatory environment for AI in the foreseeable future, say lawyers at Steptoe.

  • Lessons On Using 3rd-Party Disclosure Orders In Fraud Cases

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    The expansion of the gateway for service out of jurisdiction regarding third-party information orders has proven to be an effective tool against fraud since it was introduced in 2022, and recent case law offers practical tips on what applicants should be aware of when submitting such orders, says Rosie Wild at Cooke Young.

  • A Look At The Latest EU Alternative Investment Regulation

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    Recent amendments to the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive governing a range of alternative investment funds reflect a growing regulatory focus on nonbanking financial institutions, which expand credit to support economic growth but carry a commensurate risk, say Juliette Mills and Alix Prentice at Cadwalader.

  • Unpacking The Law Commission's Digital Assets Consultation

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    The Law Commission recently published a consultation on recognizing a third personal property category to accommodate the development of digital assets, highlighting difficulties with current models of property rights and the potential consequences of considering digital assets as personal property, say Andrew Tsang and Tom Bacon at BCLP.

  • Unpacking The FCA's Approach To AML Compliance Failures

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    In light of the upward trend of skilled-person reviews by the Financial Conduct Authority, including the latest investigation into Lloyds' anti-money laundering controls, financial firms should familiarize themselves with the mechanisms of FCA supervision and enforcement investigations, says Kathryn Westmore at RUSI.

  • New Russia Sanctions Reveal Int'l Enforcement Capabilities

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    Significant new U.K., U.S. and EU sanctions imposed on Russia notably target Europe-based individuals and entities accused of sanctions evasion, and with an apparent political will to enhance capabilities, the rhetoric is translating into international enforcement activity, say lawyers at Cadwalader.

  • What COVID Payout Ruling Means For Lockdown Loss Claims

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    While the High Court's recent COVID-19 payout decision in Gatwick v. Liberty Mutual, holding that pandemic-related regulations trigger prevention of access clauses, will likely lead to insurers accepting more business interruption claims, there are still evidentiary challenges and issues regarding policy limits and furlough, say Josianne El Antoury and Greg Lascelles at Covington.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • EEA Equivalence Statement Is Welcomed By Fund Managers

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    The recent statement confirming European Economic Area equivalence to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities for U.K. overseas funds regime purposes removes many managers’ concerns in the wake of Brexit, giving a clear pathway out of temporary marketing permissions and easing the transition from one regime to another, says Catherine Weeks at Simmons & Simmons.

  • In Int'l Arbitration Agreements, Be Clear About Governing Law

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    A trilogy of recent cases in the English High Court and Court of Appeal highlight the importance of parties agreeing to explicit choice of law language at the outset of an arbitration agreement in order to avoid costly legal skirmishes down the road, say lawyers at Faegre Drinker.

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