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Insurance UK
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August 02, 2024
FCA To Allow Flexible Use Of Unclaimed Investment Assets
The Financial Conduct Authority said Friday it has changed its rules to enable companies such as banks and insurers to release dormant investment assets and client money into a scheme to find their owners or support U.K. growth through good causes.
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August 02, 2024
HCR Law-Led Howden Hits Right Note With Allianz Music Buy
Howden Group Holdings Ltd. has agreed to buy the musical insurance book of Allianz UK as the U.K. broker looks to broaden its global business.
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August 02, 2024
Broker Sails Away With Marine Insurer From Zurich UK
A subsidiary of Ardonagh Group Ltd. has bought boat insurance specialist Navigators & General from Zurich UK, as it looks to broaden its horizons in the maritime insurance sector.
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August 02, 2024
CMS Guides Legal & General On £1.1B Essity Pension Deal
Legal & General has covered £1.1 billion ($1.4 billion) of pension liabilities for the U.K. business of Essity, a maker of hygiene and health products, in a move to secure the benefits of 5,900 retirees and 3,600 deferred members of the workplace savings plan.
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August 02, 2024
BNP Paribas To Buy Axa's Investment Manager For €5.1B
BNP Paribas SA has said it will buy an investment management subsidiary from French insurer Axa SA for €5.1 billion ($5.5 billion) to create a combined platform with €1.5 trillion of assets under management.
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August 01, 2024
City Firms To Invest Up To £20B Of Pension Funds In UK Biz
Phoenix Group and Schroders have announced plans to invest as much as £20 billion ($25.7 billion) of pension money into private markets over the next decade in line with wider industry commitments to direct retirement savings capital toward the British economy.
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August 01, 2024
EU Watchdog Warns Of Risk From Global Crypto-Asset Firms
Europe's financial markets watchdog has warned national regulators to address the risk that global crypto groups may seek authorization in the European Union to obtain clients unlawfully and expose them to non-EU-regulated services.
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August 01, 2024
Natural Catastrophe Losses In 2024 Hit $62B, Munich Re Says
Total global insured losses caused by natural catastrophes reached $62 billion in the first half of 2024, Munich Re has reported, a figure that significantly surpasses the 10-year average of $37 billion for half-year data.
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August 01, 2024
Early Pension Dips Raise Long-Term Concerns, Insurer Says
Pensions insurer Just Group has said official government statistics showing that seven in 10 people taking flexible payments from their pensions are younger than 65, raising questions about the sustainability of retirement savings in later life.
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August 01, 2024
Accounting Standards Setter Eyes Better Climate Reporting
A global accounting standards setter has proposed "new illustrative examples" to improve how companies report climate change-related uncertainty and other factors in their financial statements.
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August 07, 2024
RPC Recruits New Insurance Partner From Womble Bond
Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP has hired Christian Charlesworth as an insurance partner from Womble Bond Dickinson (UK) LLP to join its office in the southwestern English city of Bristol.
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July 31, 2024
SFO Eyes Potential £237M Legal Bill For ENRC Misconduct
The Serious Fraud Office has registered a potential £237.7 million ($305 million) payment to ENRC for damages over findings that its officers encouraged a former partner at Dechert LLP to divulge confidential information about alleged corruption at the Kazakh miner.
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July 31, 2024
Crashes Top $15B Aviation Insurance Claims, Allianz Says
Plane crashes and collisions accounted for almost two thirds of the aviation insurance claims valued at $15 billion in the last five years, according to a report by German insurer Allianz SE published Wednesday.
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July 31, 2024
Budget Cuts 'Jeopardize' Pension Portals, Aegon Warns
The Labour government's decision to cut £50 million ($64 million) from its communication and marketing budget for the next two years could jeopardize the successful rollout of the long-delayed pensions portal program, provider Aegon has warned.
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July 31, 2024
Gov't Plans Backstop Legislation To Tackle Audit Backlog
The new Labour government said Wednesday it is preparing legislation to introduce a statutory backstop as the U.K. faces a growing backlog of audits of local authorities.
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July 31, 2024
FCA Maintains Restrictions On London Stone Securities
The Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday that it will continue to restrict London Stone Securities, preventing the wealth manager from conducting any regulated activities because of serious concerns that it is not delivering good results for clients.
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July 31, 2024
Aussie Bank ANZ Acquires Suncorp Unit For $3.2B
Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said Wednesday that it has acquired Suncorp Bank for approximately 4.9 billion Australian dollars ($3.2 billion), two years after it signed the deal.
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July 31, 2024
Pension Plans Do Minimum ESG Compliance, Watchdog Says
Too many retirement savings plans attain only minimum compliance with environmental, social and governance standards, The Pensions Regulator has said, and urged them to improve their approach.
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July 30, 2024
Eversheds-Led Greggs Lands £100M Pension Deal With Aviva
Aviva PLC has insured the retirement savings plans of more than 600 members of British bakery and café chain Greggs PLC in a buy-in transaction of £100 million ($128.4 million), with the deal guided by Eversheds Sutherland.
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August 06, 2024
HSF Hires Former CMS Insurance Head In Madrid
Herbert Smith Freehills LLP has hired an experienced insurance expert to join its team in the Spanish capital, as the firm looks to bolster its practice with added expertise in the sector.
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July 30, 2024
Regulator Highlights Quality Gaps Among Top Auditors
The Financial Reporting Council said Tuesday that there is a widening gap between BDO LLP and Forvis Mazars LLP and the better performance of the Big Four accounting firms for high-quality audits of major U.K. companies.
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July 30, 2024
Pension Tax Reform Could Unlock £100B For UK Growth
Changing how pensions are taxed in the U.K. could potentially unlock more than £100 billion ($128 billion) for domestic investment over the next five years, according to a recent analysis by a pensions consultancy.
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July 30, 2024
Pensioner Welfare Cuts Create 'Cliff Edge,' LCP Says
The Labour government's decision to cut annual winter fuel payments worth up to £300 ($385) for retirees not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will create an unwelcome "cliff edge" for savers, a consultancy has said.
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July 30, 2024
Pension Firms Meeting Equity Investment Goals, Insurers Say
Pension firms that signed up to an agreement to allocate a minimum of 5% of defined contribution funds to unlisted equities by 2030 have laid "strong foundations" in line with the target, British insurers said Tuesday.
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July 29, 2024
ECJ Nixes Swedish Dividends Tax On Foreign Pension Funds
Sweden can't collect a withholding tax on dividends distributed by Swedish companies to public pension funds abroad while exempting its own public funds because that is inconsistent with European Union law requiring the free movement of capital, the European Court of Justice said Monday.
Expert Analysis
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Trustees Should Take Caution After UK Pension Tap Plan
The U.K. government's recent plan to boost technology startups by tapping into pension sector funds may risk the hard-earned savings of members, so trustees need to be mindful of the proposals in light of their fiduciary duties, say Beth Brown and Riccardo Bruno at Arc Pensions.
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Factors Driving Increased Litigation Against European Cos.
European government regulation and enforcement, economic inflation and litigation funding are driving an increase in litigation, especially class actions, against corporations in Europe, a trend that seems to be here to stay, says Henning Schaloske at Clyde & Co.
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Pension Trustee Case Could Lead To Fossil Fuels Divestment
While the recent Court of Appeal case McGaughey v. Universities Superannuation Scheme attempts to link fossil fuel investment by trustees to significant risk of financial detriment, it is concerning that two out of 470,000 scheme members could be permitted to bring a claim without ensuring that other members are represented, says Anna Metadjer at Kingsley Napley.
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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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Ensuring Construction Project Insurance Cover Is Adequate
There are a number of ways for practitioners to secure appropriate insurance for a construction project, and it is as important to consider who is covered under the policy as it is the specific terms and obligations, say lawyers at Gowling.
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Rebuttal
2nd Circ. Reinsurance Ruling Correctly Applied English Law
Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article's argument, the Second Circuit correctly applied English law when it decided in Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. Equitas that concurrent reinsurance certificates required the reinsurer to cover loss in accordance with the law of the policy's governing jurisdiction, say Peter Chaffetz and Andrew Poplinger at Chaffetz Lindsey.
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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.
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What Firms Need To Know About The FCA Consumer Duty
The Financial Conduct Authority's new consumer duty, in force from July 31, presents an opportunity for manufacturers and distributors of financial services to understand the importance of fair value for consumers, and the regulator will be taking a close interest in this, say Julie Patient, Mark Aengenheister and Virginia Montgomery at Hogan Lovells.
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Greenwashing Suits May Implicate D&O Policies
As consumers, regulators, and state and local governments seek to use litigation to hold companies responsible for alleged greenwashing, businesses facing such claims have a number of approaches available for seeking insurance coverage under directors and officers policies, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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2nd Circ. Reinsurance Ruling Misconstrues English Law
The Second Circuit's finding in Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. Equitas Insurance, that London-based reinsurer Equitas owed coverage for losses outside the policy period, stems from that court's misinterpretation of English law on reinsurance policy construction, says Christopher Foster at Holman Fenwick.
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4 Emerging Risks For US Insurance Markets
Both insureds and insurers in the U.S. must be aware of significant inbound exposures — including the issues arising from opioids, climate change and artificial intelligence — that could lead to continued volatility in insurance markets, say Aidan McCormack and Wes Reichart at DLA Piper.
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How The New UK Digital Markets Bill Will Affect CMA's Powers
The highly anticipated U.K. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill sets out far-reaching changes in terms of merger control and conduct requirements, but some are skeptical of the Competition and Markets Authority’s enhanced powers and potential for divergence in treatment between firms, say Ben Chivers, Stephen Whitfield and Nigel Seay at Travers Smith.
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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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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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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.