BDO Fined £1.3M Over 'Significant' Breaches In NMCN Audit

By Alex Davidson

The audit watchdog said Thursday that it has fined BDO LLP £1.33 million ($1.78 million) and an audit partner almost £50,000 for serious breaches of rules in their audit of the 2019 annual financial statements of construction group NMCN.

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FCA Flags Weak Sanctions Controls At Financial Firms

By Alex Davidson

The Financial Conduct Authority warned regulated financial businesses Thursday they must do more to prevent financial and trade sanctions breaches after it found some weak systems and controls in a review.

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MFS Boss Can Sell £1.6M Cars Amid £1.3B Fraud Case

By William Janes

The owner of a now-collapsed mortgage lender accused of systematically plundering £1.3 billion ($1.75 billion) has been granted permission to sell cars including a Ferrari and several Rolls-Royces, according to a court order.

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HSBC Defeats Most Claims In First Citizens' Poaching Suit

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge has dismissed the bulk of First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s suit against HSBC alleging the latter induced a mass resignation and misappropriated trade secrets, saying the court still didn't have any jurisdiction over some defendants and that an amended complaint had not cured issues with a previously dismissed complaint.

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Brief

Ex-UBS Wealth Manager Sues Over Dismissal

By Max Austin

A former London-based wealth manager at UBS has sued the Swiss bank for unfair dismissal and discrimination.

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KC Accused Of Dodging £2M Tax Bill Believed Plan Was Legal

By Ronan Barnard

A senior tax barrister accused of cheating HM Revenue and Customs out of nearly £2 million ($2.7 million) genuinely believed he was using a legal tax strategy, his defense counsel told jurors at his criminal trial in London on Thursday. 

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Half Of Large Pension Funds Pick Running On Over Buyout

By Martin Croucher

Half of the U.K.'s largest pension funds with assets of more than £1 billion are considering running on rather than striking an insurance deal, a broker said on Thursday.

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UK Pension Providers Urged To Improve Cyber Defenses

By Joel Poultney

The growing threat posed by cybercriminals must be met with urgency by Britain's pension plans to ensure the sector is resilient and alive to wide-ranging legal and financial risks, the Pensions Management Institute said Thursday.

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Brief

Local Gov't Pension Scheme Employer Rates Down 22%

By Irene Madongo

U.K. employer contribution rates for the public sector retirement savings plan have dropped by around 22%, amid an improvement in financing levels, an industry body has said.

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Reflecting On The UK Senior Managers Regime 10 Years On

While the ongoing changes to the senior managers and certification regime to streamline processes and remove certain restrictions are welcome, the scheme has worked well overall since its 2016 inauguration, and firms’ compliance and risk management-thinking have shown a marked improvement, say lawyers at Faegre Drinker.

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Series

Studying Foreign Languages Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Studying Italian and Japanese has shown me that learning a new language can benefit a legal career in several ways, including by demonstrating the importance of approaching problems from a fresh perspective and the value of practicing patience with colleagues and clients, says Anna King at Genworth Financial.

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