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Financial Services UK
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May 23, 2024
Tech Resilience Regime Ambiguous, European Banks Say
A trade body representing banks in Europe warned on Thursday that new regulations requiring finance firms to prevent risks arising from cyberattack or systems failure are ambiguous and could create differing approaches to compliance.
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May 23, 2024
FCA Fines HSBC £6.2M For Mistreating Customers In Arrears
The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday that it has fined HSBC £6.2 million ($7.9 million) for inadequate treatment of customers in financial difficulty.
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May 30, 2024
White & Case Hires 2 Latham Partners In Germany
White & Case LLP has added two partners from Latham & Watkins LLP with more than three decades worth of experience between them in capital markets to its Frankfurt office.
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May 23, 2024
Hargreaves Lansdown Snubs £4.7B Bid From CVC, Abu Dhabi
The board of Hargreaves Lansdown said Thursday that it has rejected a proposed £4.7 billion ($6 billion) takeover offer from a consortium of private equity companies, including CVC and the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi.
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May 22, 2024
Property Transfer For Tax Break Not Dishonest, UK Court Says
Two liquidated London real estate companies failed to convince the United Kingdom Court of Appeal that their former director behaved dishonestly by transferring their holdings to Jersey trusts for less than market value to obtain a tax advantage, according to a judgment released Wednesday.
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May 22, 2024
HSBC Can't Use Brexit To End UK Role In EU Body, Staff Say
High street lender HSBC is obligated to keep the U.K. arm of its European works council despite Brexit, the representative body for European staff argued Wednesday as it challenged a ruling that the bank could exclude the U.K. once it left the European Economic Area.
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May 22, 2024
Ex-Goldman Banker Gets Contempt Sentence Suspended
A London appellate court on Wednesday chose "the road of mercy rather than justice" and suspended a prison sentence for a former Goldman Sachs banker who breached court orders to hand over information concerning the financial assets of the wife of an imprisoned Turkish politician.
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May 22, 2024
Hilco Exec Wins £296K After Being Sacked For Whistleblowing
A tribunal has awarded a former Hilco Capital Ltd. HR director almost £296,000 ($377,000) in compensation after she was unfairly sacked for blowing the whistle over alleged banking irregularities.
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May 22, 2024
UK Gov't Calls Elections For July 4 Despite Poor Polls
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday called an early general election to be held on July 4, advancing the electoral timetable even though his Conservative Party lags decisively behind the opposition Labour Party.
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May 22, 2024
City Group Warns Financial Fraud Still Major Problem
A City trade body for financial institutions said Tuesday that payment fraud remains a major problem, with criminals stealing more than £1 billion ($1.27 billion) in 2023, shifting into growth areas such as mobile banking.
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May 22, 2024
Swiss Gov't Adopts Proposals For Tougher AML Laws
Switzerland on Wednesday approved a new anti-money laundering framework that will introduce a register in which companies and other legal entities in the country will have to disclose information on their beneficial owners in a major shift in its anti-money laundering rules.
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May 22, 2024
UK Dependency To Implement Pillar 2 Starting In 2025
The island of Jersey, a U.K. crown dependency, said it would implement the international minimum tax for large corporations known as Pillar Two, with the law taking effect next year.
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May 22, 2024
HSBC Rejects Ex-Football Pro's £2M Loan Dispute
HSBC has denied losing former professional footballer Matthew Jansen almost £2 million ($2.5 million) by allegedly failing to monitor the risk of loans secured against properties during the 2008 financial crisis, claiming the sportsman could have kept track himself.
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May 22, 2024
Chinese Woman Faces Oct. Criminal Crypto Possession Trial
A Chinese woman and her alleged accomplice are scheduled to stand trial in London in October, charged with criminal possession and transfer of cryptocurrency, a judge said Wednesday.
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May 22, 2024
Digital Assets Investor To Return Up To £34M To Shareholders
Phoenix Digital Assets PLC launched on Wednesday a share repurchase program worth up to £33.7 million (£43 million), a move guided by Fladgate LLP, following the sale of some of its assets.
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May 22, 2024
EU Watchdog Seeks New Powers For Markets Regulation
The European Union's financial markets watchdog called Tuesday for more regulatory powers and a simplified rulebook to improve the bloc's declining global competitiveness.
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May 22, 2024
Greenberg-Led SPAC To Buy Safety Biz For $1.85B, Quit LSE
Admiral said on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy industry safety company Acuren for $1.85 billion, as the blank-check business seeks a slice of the growing and resilient infrastructure inspection sector.
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May 22, 2024
Citigroup Fined £61.6M For Trading Systems Failings
Two finance regulators said Wednesday they have fined Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. a total of £61.6 million ($78.4 million) for failures in trading systems that led to the lender mistakenly selling $1.4 billion in equities into European markets.
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May 21, 2024
EU Gives Final Approval To World's First AI Rulebook
European Union law negotiators gave the final green light on Tuesday to the first worldwide rules on artificial intelligence across most sectors including financial services, classifying its usage in bank lending risk assessments or insurance underwriting for EU citizens as high-risk.
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May 21, 2024
Denmark's Sydbank To Acquire Local Coop Bank For $50M
Danish lender Sydbank said Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire the country's Coop Bank AS from its parent company for a preliminary purchase price of 345 million Danish kroner ($50.2 million), in addition to signing a partnership agreement.
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May 21, 2024
I Am An Honest Man, British Trader Tells £1.4B Fraud Trial
Sanjay Shah, a former hedge fund owner who is accused of defrauding Denmark's tax authority out of £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion), told a London court on Tuesday that he is an "honest man" who traded using a legal "loophole."
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May 21, 2024
Finance Pros 'Too Afraid' To Blow Whistle On Fraud
More than three-quarters of finance professionals in the U.K. stayed silent after spotting or suspecting internal fraud in their workplaces, a survey published on Tuesday showed, with nearly half saying they feared a backlash.
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May 21, 2024
Credit Union In Default, £2.6M Compensation Expected
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme said Tuesday it will protect the members of Castle & Crystal Credit Union Ltd. as the financial company entered into administration.
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May 21, 2024
UK Pension Reform Could Create 'Too Big To Fail' Providers
The proposed government fix for the spiraling number of retirement savings pots could create pension giants that are too big to fail, an industry body warned on Tuesday.
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May 21, 2024
Mastercard, Visa Fee Hikes Face UK Competition Scrutiny
The Payment Systems Regulator said Tuesday that the two biggest card operators, Mastercard and Visa, do not give value for money on their services and that it will take steps to hold them more accountable.
Expert Analysis
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The Benefits Of Uniformity In EU Anti-Corruption Proposals
The proposed directive requiring European Union member states to incorporate uniform anti-bribery measures would bring greater harmony and consistency, doing much to facilitate the prevention of bribery and drive common standards in the compliance culture of companies, say lawyers at White & Case.
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What To Know About 'Prior Obligations' Sanctions Exemption
The U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation recently issued a "prior obligations" general license authorizing U.K. persons to receive funds or economic resources owed to them by any person targeted by U.K. asset freeze sanctions, and it is novel for its scope but by no means a panacea, say Jane Shvets and Konstantin Bureiko at Debevoise.
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Recent Cases Mark Maturation Of CAT Class Cert. Approach
The Competition Appeal Tribunal's recent refusal to grant collective proceedings applications against Visa and MasterCard in the Commercial and Interregional Card Claims case shows that the tribunal takes its role as a gatekeeper seriously, and that it will likely continue to be difficult for defendants to defeat certification first time around, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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Why The UK Needs Tougher Fraud Enforcement
The Crown Court's recent conviction of Anthony Constantinou for running a Ponzi scheme is a rare success for prosecutors, highlighting the legal system's painfully slow course when it comes to complex fraud, and the need for significant funds and resources in the fight against financial crime, says James Clark at Quillon Law.
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What New FCA Management Will Mean For Enforcement
Therese Chambers’ first speech since becoming the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s joint executive director provided insightful observations about the expected behaviors of firms and their legal advisers during investigations, indicating the advent of a proactive, prosecution-minded enforcement agency trying to do the right thing, says Richard Burger at WilmerHale.
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Global M&A Outlook: Slow But Moving Along
Global merger and acquisition markets had a tough start to the year, with inflation, rising interest rates and the Ukraine conflict knocking sentiment, but in the macroeconomic, deal makers have continued to unearth pockets of activity to keep deal volumes ticking over, say lawyers at White & Case.
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Why Int'l Investors Should Keep An Eye On German M&A Regs
While German reform proposals will digitize corporate law formalities that have long been immune to change, international limitations remain, particularly for countries outside the European Union, as Germany moves to tighten regulatory hurdles to control inbound investment, say Marcus Geiss and Sonja Ruttmann at Gibson Dunn.
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How B2B Data Sharing Could Unlock Untapped Value
B2B data sharing offers organizations an opportunity to extract greater value from an existing asset, and although it is essential to consider the legal and regulatory framework and maintain a sound governance structure, with strong support businesses that share data are likely to grow more than those that do not, say Jocelyn Paulley and Helen Davenport at Gowling WLG.
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Why Coordinated UK Crypto Regulation Is Needed
The slew of recently published crypto-sector consultations and reports differ in their treatment of the currency, so the industry must coordinate to establish regulations that can weather the proliferation of fraud while supporting the U.K.'s race to become a world leader in digital assets, says Nicola McKinney at Quillon Law.
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5 Code Of Ethics Recommendations For FTSE 350 Companies
In light of the U.K. Institute of Business Ethics' recent report on the FTSE 350, companies should regularly update their code of ethics in order to emphasize to employees and business partners the importance they place on following good practice, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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Examining The Effects Of Increased Construction Insolvency
With a significant rise in construction firm insolvencies, proactive monitoring of key counterparties is paramount, and if early warning signs such as failure to pay suppliers or a turnover in key management are triggered, parties should take steps to minimize exposure and potential losses, say lawyers at Reynolds Porter.
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What TPR's Guidance On DEI Means For Pensions Industry
The Pension Regulator is one of the first regulators to issue guidance on equality, diversity and inclusion, and employers and trustees should incorporate its advice by developing policies and monitoring progress to ensure that improvements are made regularly, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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The Many Challenges Of Post-Brexit Regulatory Divergence
As the regulatory effects of the U.K.'s departure from the EU emerge and the geopolitical landscape continues to evolve, firms must monitor compliance with fast-changing trade sanctions and the foreign investment screening regime that continues to add cost and complexity to the cross-border acquisitions market, say lawyers at Shepherd & Wedderburn.
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Economic Issues To Watch In The Libor Transition
With the London Interbank Offered Rate officially retiring June 30, market participants and their counsel should consider how the economic questions presented by outstanding contracts and the pros and cons of different alternative reference rates may lead to litigation around Libor cessation, say analysts at The Brattle Group.
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Reserved Investor Fund Would Plug Gap In UK Finance Market
The reserved investor fund recently proposed by HM Treasury has the potential to be a welcome tax-efficient addition to the U.K.’s canon of products for real estate investments, with attractive features for companies and, in particular, large asset managers, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.