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Financial Services UK
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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.
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May 21, 2024
Ex-Insurance Exec's Wife Denies Knowledge Of Illegal Money
The wife of a former executive at Gable Insurance has denied cashing in on unauthorized payments from her husband who, the Liechtenstein insurer alleges, siphoned off millions of pounds from the company to accounts he had links to.
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May 21, 2024
Hayes Gets Lifeline In Bid To Overturn Libor Conviction
An English appellate court on Tuesday opened the door for two traders convicted of manipulating benchmark interest rates to appeal to the U.K.'s top court but said that the justices must decide whether to hear the case.
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May 20, 2024
Autonomy CEO Reaped $516M From HP Acquisition, Jurors Told
Ex-Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch took home more than $516 million from the software company's $11.7 billion sale to HP, an FBI agent testified Monday as the government's last witness in a trial over allegations Lynch duped HP into overpaying to buy the company.
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May 20, 2024
SFO Seizes Cash In Bank Account Linked To Nigerian Bribery
Britian's anti-corruption agency has seized more than £36,000 ($46,000) from the former managing director of an African state-owned banknote printing company after prosecutors traced the money to a bribery scheme.
Expert Analysis
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Why The Draft UK Fraud Offense May Not Be A Game Changer
Although the U.K.’s proposed "failure to prevent fraud" offense will generate a need for large businesses to reassess their existing processes, given the long lead-in times for prosecutions and the Serious Fraud Office's current success rate, it seems unlikely that the corporate fraud landscape will be immediately transformed, say Charles Kuhn and Charlotte Gill at Clyde & Co.
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A Review Of The EU FDI Screening Regulation And Its Scope
The EU advocate general’s recent broad interpretation of the EU Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation takes account of some of the geopolitical challenges faced by the bloc, and may foreshadow a revision of the regulation and widen the scope of investments screened, say Vassilis Akritidis and Jean-Baptiste Blancardi at Crowell & Moring.
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Key Takeaways From EU Proposal For Greenwashing Rules
If the proposal for a Green Claims Directive, with its enhanced rules on claims about a product or trader's environmental impact, is adopted, it will affect all businesses selling their products in the EU and bring major changes to the way those products are packaged and advertised, say attorneys at Shearman.
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How EU ESG Regs Affect US Financial Market Participants
The European Commission recently confirmed that the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation applies to all funds marketed in the EU, so affected U.S. financial market participants will need to consider the new guidance on principal adverse impacts, sustainable investments and promotion of carbon emissions reductions, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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UK Plan For AI Rules Raises Compliance Questions For Cos.
The U.K. government's proposal for a new, clear and pro-innovation regulatory framework on artificial intelligence diverges from the European Union's approach, which may create incoherence and compliance burdens for businesses operating in both jurisdictions, says attorneys at Akin Gump.
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UK Investment Screening Inches Closer To US Regime
The recent agreement between the U.K. Cabinet Office and House of Commons concerning parliamentary scrutiny of the Investment Security Unit represents a step toward greater transparency of intervention in investments that may raise national security concerns, and underscores increasing alignment with the U.S. regime, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
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UK Ruling May Affect 3rd-Party Fraud Liability Post-Insolvency
While the recent Court of Appeal decision in Tradition Financial Services v. Bilta could make Section 213 of the Insolvency Act a powerful tool for liquidators, it also heightens the risk of companies tangentially involved in fraud being subject to claims following insolvency, say attorneys at Dechert.
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5 Ways For A Legal Practice To Close Technology Gaps
With technology a driving force for success, the U.K. legal sector must embrace innovation to maintain its competitive edge, and investing in new processes is no longer optional, says Gareth Preece at Doherty Associates.
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UK Ruling Offers Useful Guidance To Insolvency Practitioners
The recent U.K. High Court ruling in a matter involving Sova Capital represents the first unsecured credit bid to be approved by an English court, demonstrating a pragmatic approach to complex sanctions-related administrations and identifying a novel solution for insolvency practitioners to maximize value for the benefit of creditors, say attorneys at Katten.
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The FCA's Timely Plan To Reform Asset Management Regime
The discussion paper recently issued by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority finally addresses how, in the future, asset management regulation will work in totality from an investor, manager and distributor perspective, and its review of the purpose and balance of the regime is welcomed, says Tim Dolan at Greenberg Traurig.
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UK's Draft Fraud Offense And How It May Affect Companies
The new U.K. corporate criminal offense of "failing to prevent fraud," recently published in draft form, will make it easier for prosecutions to be brought against companies, with no need to show that the "directing mind and will" of a company were involved in the fraud, say attorneys at Allen & Overy.
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Questions Raised By UK Plan For ESG Ratings Providers
HM Treasury is taking steps toward regulating environmental, social and corporate governance ratings providers, aiming to ensure adequate protection for U.K. users and level the playing field, but the potential new regime risks imposing undue regulatory burden and overlapping requirements on U.K. and overseas firms, say Ferdisha Snagg and Andreas Wildner at Cleary.
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Why The Royal Mint Failed To Launch An NFT
Without a clear objective it is unsurprising that The Royal Mint’s attempt to launch a nonfungible token ended with a whimper rather than bang, says Dion Seymour at Andersen.
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Review Of Senior Managers Regime Provides Useful Insight
Although the recently launched review of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime suggests a remodel rather than wholesale change, the topics raised illustrate the mindset of the three key stakeholders in the U.K. financial services sector, say Richard Burger and Katy O’Connor at WilmerHale.
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Highlights Of The UK's New Economic Crime Plan
With the direction of the U.K. government’s newly launched second economic crime plan undeniably altered by the recent focus on kleptocrats and their money, the emphasis is now on how the U.K. can deliver a more effective approach to reducing the threat of economic crime, says Kathryn Westmore at the Royal United Services Institute.