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Financial Services UK
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May 29, 2024
FCA Warns Firms To Prepare Better For Disrupted Operations
The Financial Conduct Authority has warned businesses that some are taking the wrong approach to maintaining operation of important services during a crisis, such as after a cyberattack.
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May 29, 2024
Three EU Countries Urge Tax Reform To Boost Investment
Three smaller European Union countries, Austria, Croatia and Slovenia, are backing tax reforms in the 27-country bloc to support investment in capital markets, including exemptions from capital gains tax for long-term retail investment products, according to a joint declaration.
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May 29, 2024
Pensions Provider Sells Biz Before Entering Administration
A provider of self-invested personal pensions has sold its retirement savings business before it entered administration when its directors expressed concerns over its financial liabilities caused by some of the investments it had allowed.
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May 28, 2024
Autonomy Founder Says HP 'Panicked,' Tried To Unwind Deal
Autonomy founder Michael Lynch testified Tuesday in a California federal criminal trial over claims he conned HP into overpaying for his company that HP's board "panicked" after news of the acquisition leaked and HP's stock dropped 20%, that HP fired its CEO and that it attempted to back out of the deal.
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May 28, 2024
RBS, Lloyds Bank, Others Ink $1.9M Libor Settlement
A group of plaintiffs in the yearslong suit alleging several big banks manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, have reached a $1.9 million settlement with the Royal Banks of Scotland, Lloyds Bank and others, bringing the total settlement recovery amount to more than $780 million.
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May 28, 2024
Property Firm Fined £12K For Anti-Money Laundering Failures
The Solicitors Regulation Authority fined a London property solicitors £12,777 ($16,300) after the firm carried out transactions for partners and their family members without appropriate anti-money laundering policies.
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May 28, 2024
Labour Party Rules Out Any Additional Tax Rises
The Labour Party on Tuesday ruled out introducing any more tax rises in addition to measures it has already announced in the event it wins the July 4 general election.
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May 28, 2024
Aviva Completes £130M Pension Deal With Telereal
A property investment company has offloaded £130 million ($166 million) of its pension liabilities to Aviva PLC, the insurer said Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
EU Investment Firms Told To Upgrade Marketing Reports
The European Union's financial markets regulator has said that investment firms should improve their marketing disclosures to investors, calling on national watchdogs to act against rule-breakers.
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May 28, 2024
Pension Deals Market Working For Small Providers, Aon Says
The deal market for small pension schemes looking to offload their liabilities to insurers is working despite fears that such plans are being crowded out of the market, Aon said Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
Israeli Aquaculture Firm Sued Over $21M Unpaid Settlement
An asset management firm based in the Cayman Islands is seeking more than $21 million from an Israeli aquaculture company over an allegedly unpaid settlement agreement intended to resolve earlier arbitration proceedings.
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May 28, 2024
NatWest Unaware Of Former Trader's Asperger's Diagnosis
A former NatWest trader has lost his bid to revive his disability discrimination claim against the high street lender's investment banking arm as an appeals tribunal upheld findings that it did not know about his Asperger's syndrome diagnosis when he unsuccessfully applied to rejoin the company.
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May 28, 2024
White & Case Guides ABN Amro On €672M German Bank Buy
Dutch lender ABN Amro said Tuesday that it plans to a buy German private bank for €672 million ($730 million) in a move to become one of the largest providers of banking services to wealthy clients in Germany.
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May 24, 2024
The UK Laws That Will Pass Or Fail As Election Looms
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's decision to call an early general election to be held on July 4 has left several pieces of legislation hanging in the balance during the so-called "wash-up" period before Parliament is formally dissolved, while others have been pushed through.
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May 24, 2024
Labour Gov't Could Force Big Tech Into Fraud Repayments
A potential new Labour government means a turning point in tackling financial fraud if it should force big tech companies like Meta and Google to join banks in having to reimburse customers duped into sending fraudsters money, according to lawyers.
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May 24, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen an IT engineer seek permission to search a landfill hiding a hard drive supposedly storing millions of pounds in bitcoin, Glencore take on legal action by American Century Investments, gold payment app Glint bring a breach of duty claim against FRP Advisory, and an ongoing dispute between a solicitor and the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 24, 2024
Banking 'Selfie' Fraudster Gets 3 Years In Prison
A fraudster was handed a three-year prison sentence for making fake applications to obtain loans and pensions potentially losing banks around £178,000 ($227,000), the Crown Prosecution Service announced Friday.
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May 24, 2024
FCA Bans Two Advisers Accused Of Misleading Clients
The Financial Conduct Authority has banned two advisers from working in financial services for "recklessly" exposing pension holders to high-risk investments, the regulator said Friday.
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May 24, 2024
Woman Imprisoned For Laundering From $5B Bitcoin Fraud
A British-Chinese woman was imprisoned for more than six years on Friday at a London court for laundering bitcoin converted from an alleged £5 billion ($6.3 billion) investment fraud.
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May 24, 2024
Addleshaw Guides Coventry's £780M Co-op Bank Deal
Coventry Building Society has formalized plans to buy the Co-operative Bank for £780 million ($990 million), the lenders said in a joint statement Friday, a move they claim will create an institution better equipped to challenge larger high street names.
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May 23, 2024
NY Top Court Revives FanDuel Investors Suit
New York's top appeals court on Thursday revived a suit brought by FanDuel investors who claim they were deprived of profits from a merger, disagreeing with a lower court's interpretation of Scottish law.
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May 23, 2024
White & Case Adds Former A&O Tax Pro In Luxembourg
White & Case LLP announced it has added a tax partner to its Luxembourg office from A&O Shearman who specializes in international and Luxembourg corporate tax law.
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May 23, 2024
Marketer Denies Owing Investors For Flawed Property Scheme
An investment marketer has denied owing care home investors £2.3 million ($2.9 million) after they sank money into a flawed property scheme, claiming it never said the investments were safe.
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May 23, 2024
FSB Spots Weaknesses In Short-Term Funding Markets
The Financial Stability Board said vulnerabilities used in short-term markets for financing companies need to be addressed because of the risk to the wider financial system in times of crisis such as COVID-19.
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May 23, 2024
Investec Sets Aside £30M For FCA Motor Finance Review
Investec PLC has put aside £30 million ($38 million) as the banking group faces the Financial Conduct Authority's industry-wide motor finance review, according to the company's report for financial year 2024 published Thursday.
Expert Analysis
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Unpacking The Law Commission's Digital Assets Consultation
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.
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Unpacking The FCA's Approach To AML Compliance Failures
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.
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New Russia Sanctions Reveal Int'l Enforcement Capabilities
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.
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What COVID Payout Ruling Means For Lockdown Loss Claims
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.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
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.
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EEA Equivalence Statement Is Welcomed By Fund Managers
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.
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In Int'l Arbitration Agreements, Be Clear About Governing Law
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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Crypto As A Coin Of The Corporate Realm: The Pros And Cons
The broadened range of crypto-assets opens up new possibilities for employers looking to recruit, incentivize and retain employees through the use of crypto, but certain risks must be addressed, say Dan Sharman and Sunny Mangatt at Shoosmiths.
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Comparing UK And EU's View On 3rd-Party Service Providers
The U.K. is taking welcome steps to address the lack of direct oversight over critical third-party service providers, and although less onerous than that of the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act, the U.K. regime's proportionate approach is designed to make providers more robust and reliable, say lawyers at Shearman.
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Key Points Of BoE Response To Digital Pound Consultation
Lawyers at Hogan Lovells analyze the recent Bank of England and U.K. government response to a consultation on the launch of a digital pound, finding that the phased approach to evaluating the issues makes sense given the significant potential impact on the U.K. economy.
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Goldman Prosecution Delivers A Clear Sign Of FCA Strength
The recent successful prosecution of a former Goldman Sachs analyst for insider dealing and fraud is a reminder to regulated individuals that economic crime will never be tolerated, and that the Financial Conduct Authority is willing to bare its teeth in the exercise of its prosecutorial remit, says Doug Cherry at Fladgate.
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The Good, The Bad And The New Of The UK Sanctions Regime
Almost six years after the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act was introduced, the U.K. government has published a strategy paper that outlines its focus points and unveils potential changes to the regime, such as a new humanitarian exception for financial sanctions, highlighting the rapid transformation of the U.K. sanctions landscape, says Josef Rybacki at WilmerHale.
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A Look At Environment Agency's New Economic Crime Unit
Sophie Wood at Kingsley Napley explains how the Environment Agency’s newly established Economic Crime Unit will pursue criminal money flows from environmental offenses, and discusses the unit’s civil powers, including the ability to administer account freezing and forfeiture orders, says Sophie Wood at Kingsley Napley.
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Opinion
UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.
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4 Legal Privilege Lessons From Dechert Disclosure Ruling
The Court of Appeal's recent decision in Al Sadeq v. Dechert LLP, finding that evidence may have been incorrectly withheld, provides welcome clarification of the scope of legal professional privilege, including the application of the iniquity exception, says Tim Knight at Travers Smith.