Financial Services UK

Top Commercial Dispute Cases To Watch In The Rest Of 2025

Litigators will be eagerly awaiting the first "dieselgate" trial in what will be the largest ever group action in England and Wales when the courts return after the summer recess, as well as keeping an eye out for the outcome of a £36 billion ($49 billion) claim against BHP. Here, Law360 looks at those and other big cases to watch out for the rest of 2025.

Concept picture of pound notes with a calculator and pen.

FCA's New Redress Powers Spark Some Legal Concerns

Government plans to reform the Financial Ombudsman Service will give the Financial Conduct Authority new powers to introduce wide-ranging consumer redress programs at its discretion, leading lawyers to warn that the regulator could become too susceptible to public pressure.

Close-up of aeroplane jet-engine on a runway

Top Commercial Dispute Rulings Of 2025: Midyear Report

England's courts have dealt in the first half of 2025 with a multibillion-dollar legal dispute with insurers over planes stuck in Russia, slashed the exposure faced by banks over motor finance claims and set out how the proceeds from a landmark class action against Mastercard should be distributed.

The Top Corporate Crime Cases To Watch In The Rest Of 2025

The crackdown by the Serious Fraud Office on dirty money could dominate the attention of white collar lawyers in the second half of 2025 as the agency pursues two cases that could define the circumstances in which it can seize suspected criminal money.

September 16, 2025
Merrill Lynch Proves Tribunal Claim Barred By Settlement

Merrill Lynch has persuaded a tribunal to toss a former employee's discrimination claim under a settlement he inked when he exited the company, proving that he did not sign the agreement under duress.
September 16, 2025
Insurer Can't Duck $6M Bond Payout Over Ghana Power Plant

A London court ordered a Ghanaian insurance company on Tuesday to pay a subsidiary of Greek industrial conglomerate Metlen almost $6.3 million for wrongly refusing to pay up under a bond the insurer claimed was obtained by fraud.
September 16, 2025
Pension Pot Withdrawals Surged Nearly 36%, FCA Says

Savers in Britain withdrew £70.9 million ($96.8 million) from their pension pots in the financial year that ended in March, data published by the Financial Conduct Authority on Tuesday shows, amid suggested concern over government plans to amend tax rules linked to retirement pots.
September 16, 2025
Let Banks Skip Basel Capital Rules, Trade Body Urges BoE

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe has said that the Bank of England's regulatory arm should allow U.K. finance firms to temporarily opt out of some changes to Basel capital requirements to avoid uncertainty about compliance and risks to competitiveness.
September 16, 2025
Conister Bank To Work With Fintech Biz On Overdraft Product

Conister Bank said Tuesday that it will work with financial technology company Fiinu to introduce an overdraft product in the U.K. using open banking rules.
September 16, 2025
State Pension Could Breach Tax Threshold In 2027

British pensioners will be forced to pay income tax on state pension benefits from 2027 unless minimum earnings thresholds are lifted, experts said Tuesday in response to new data.
September 15, 2025
Only 41% Of Boomers Say They're Ready For Retirement

Only 41% of the more than 3 million working people ages 60 to 69 in the U.K. feel prepared for retirement, Just Group said Monday.
September 15, 2025
Former Estate Agent Can't Stop Bank Getting Dickens Mansion

A former estate agent cannot prevent a bank from taking possession of her central London mansion that was once home to Charles Dickens after a judge found on Monday that an appeal would have no prospect of success.
September 15, 2025
Aegon To Extend Pensions App To More Than A Million Savers

Financial services firm Aegon said Monday it wants its Mylo app for tracking pension balances and information to be available to more than a million people, saying it understands the "emotional challenges" people face with their finances.
September 15, 2025
Kingsley Napley Bags Private Client Pro To Head Tax Desk

Kingsley Napley LLP said Monday that it has hired Paul Davidoff to head its international tax desk as the firm deals with a surge in work connected with tax and trusts amid an exodus of high-net-worth individuals from Britain.
September 15, 2025
Employers Expect Budget Reform On Pension Salary Sacrifice

Nine out of 10 U.K. employers expect the government to ditch tax breaks on pension salary-sacrifice arrangements when it unveils its autumn Budget, a survey has found.
September 15, 2025
Watchdog Launches Program To Improve Audit Sector

Britain's accounting watchdog launched a program on Monday that it said would bring together projects that are designed to drive improvements in the audit sector.
September 15, 2025
Banker Sues Saudi Magnate Over £14M Shares Transfer

A Tunisian-Swiss investment banker has sued a Saudi tycoon for 53 million Saudi riyals ($14 million), alleging that the Arabian mogul unlawfully transferred shares he held as a nominee for the financier to one of his own businesses.
September 12, 2025
Another Investor Settles In $2.1B Danish Tax Fraud Case

A U.S. investor and two of his alleged pension plans have settled claims by Denmark's tax agency accusing them of participating in a $2.1 billion scheme that fraudulently claimed refunds on tax withheld from stock dividends, with a New York federal court dismissing the allegations.
September 12, 2025
Businessman Can Sue Fund In UK To Stop Luxembourg Claim

A London court ruled Friday that a businessman can sue a Luxembourg investment fund in England over allegations that he was partly responsible for the fund underselling a company by as much as £80 million ($108 million).
September 12, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen former Master Chef presenter Gregg Wallace sue the BBC, Elon Musk's xAI take legal action against a staff engineer, and fashion mogul Kevin-Gerald Stanford file a fresh claim against Lion Capital-owned Klotho and EY amid a long-running All Saints share acquisition dispute.
September 12, 2025
Ex-AIG IT Pro's Claim Struck Out Over Courtroom Misconduct

A former AIG software developer on Friday had his whistleblowing claims against the insurer struck out after accusing a judge of perverting the course of justice, eating a meal during a hearing and calling a London tribunal a "circus."
September 12, 2025
Third Point Completes Deal To List Reinsurance Biz On LSE

Third Point Investors Ltd. said Friday that it has completed a reverse takeover of Malibu Life Reinsurance SPC under which the hedge fund will become a London-listed reinsurance company, despite opposition from a large group of shareholders.
September 12, 2025
Squire Patton Leads £23M Welcome Break Pension Deal

British motorway service station operator Welcome Break Group Ltd. has finalized a £23 million ($31.2 million) full-scheme buy-in of its pension plan with Just Group, the financial services company said Friday.
September 12, 2025
Sabadell Tells Shareholders To Reject €17.4B BBVA Takeover

Spanish lender Banco Sabadell told its shareholders on Friday to reject a €17.4 billion ($20.4 billion) hostile takeover from rival BBVA as it said that the deal is full of risk and uncertainty and undervalues the group.
September 11, 2025
Metro Bank Settles £24M Claim Over Coin-Counting Software

Metro Bank has settled a copyright infringement and licensing spat with software company Arkeyo, which had accused the bank of sharing source code for its coin-counting machines without permission.
September 11, 2025
FCA Official Outlines Risk-Based Approach To Financial Crime

Fighting financial crime isn't a barrier to growth but a prerequisite for economic investment, a senior official at the Financial Conduct Authority said on Thursday, as he outlined plans to take a "risk-based" approach to cracking down on fraud.
September 11, 2025
Pensions Managers Urged To Boost Standards For Savers

Pensions administrators must invest more to modernize their data systems and trustees should play a stronger role in raising standards to help the sector make improvements, the retirement savings watchdog warned on Thursday.
September 11, 2025
BlackRock, Pictet Back Swiss Marketplace's $1.3B IPO

Online marketplace owner SMG said on Thursday that it expects to raise up to approximately 1.04 billion Swiss francs ($1.3 billion) in its initial public offering scheduled to take place on the SIX Swiss Exchange on Sept. 19.
September 11, 2025
Social Mobility Data Needed To Tackle Pensions Skill Shortage

Recording social mobility data in the financial services sector would broaden talent pools across various companies and address the predicted skills shortage over the next decade, a pensions trade body has said.

Editor's Picks

5 Questions For Spencer West Partner Karl Foster

The Financial Conduct Authority's approach to enforcement and consumer protection has come up against government economic growth priorities and resistance from the sector to its proposals to "name and shame" companies early on during regulatory probes.
UK Draft Pay Fraud Rules Open Tricky Legal Liabilities

The government's new draft legislation, which will give banks longer to investigate suspicions of fraud before they send payments instructed by customers, will create a wave of new legal liabilities and lead to regulatory hurdles, according to lawyers.
FCA Fires Warning Shot Over City's Consumer Duty Failings

The Financial Conduct Authority has sent out a fresh warning to financial services companies highlighting how some of them are failing to comply with its Consumer Duty regime. But experts have told Law360 that the expectations are unclear.

Expert Analysis

How AI May Have Made A Difference In Monzo Bank Breaches

Artificial intelligence tools have the capabilities needed to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated threats, and such tools might have helped prevent the anti-money laundering failures that led to the recent £21.1 million fine against Monzo Bank, says Alexander Vilardo at Howard Kennedy.
Charting A Course For The UK's Transition From Paper Shares

The recent report from the U.K.'s Digitisation Taskforce, recommending modernization of how shares in U.K.-listed companies are held, makes it clear that while moving from paper shares to an intermediated system is a positive step, the transition will not be without complications, say lawyers at HSF Kramer.
Return-To-Office Policy Considerations For UK Employers

As the Financial Conduct Authority reviews its hybrid working policy and other organizations increasingly require employees to return to the office, employers should weigh the costs and benefits of these decisions while considering the nuances of work-from-home rights in the U.K., say lawyers at Shoosmiths.
Catching Up On Simplified EU Sustainability Disclosure Rules

A recent proposal to streamline implementation of the EU’s Taxonomy Regulation contains measures that would reduce companies’ sustainable investment reporting and compliance requirements, and better support the EU’s climate and environmental goals, say lawyers at Proskauer.
Fraud Law Puts Fund Managers Under Compliance Spotlight

The new failure to prevent fraud offense, effective Sept. 1, may not represent a material departure from most managers’ duties to exercise due care in preventing loss to the assets they manage, but the prospect of criminal liability should sharpen their compliance focus, says Andrew Henderson at Goodwin Procter.
CMA Pricing Guide Signals Shift In UK Consumer Protection

The Competition and Markets Authority’s recent draft price transparency guide, as part of a wider reform introduced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, represents a significant change in U.K. consumer protection by targeting unfair trading practices and strengthening enforcement mechanisms, says Felicity Forward at Shoosmiths.
8 Compliance Team Strategies To Support Business Agility

Amid new regulatory requirements across the globe, compliance functions must design thoughtful guardrails that help business leaders achieve their commercial objectives lawfully — from repurposing existing tools to using technology thoughtfully — instead of defaulting to cumbersome protocols that hinder legitimate business, says Theodore Edelman at GCE Advisors.
What To Note From FCA, Gov't Financial Growth Proposals

Recent Financial Conduct Authority and government proposals for financial services reform are positive developments for firms, signaling a drive to push forward growth and a willingness to be flexible in areas of regulation that the industry has long raised as barriers, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
What Gov't Report Tells Lawyers About Continuing AML Risks

The U.K. government’s recent national money laundering risk assessment maintains conveyancing, company service work and misuse of client accounts as key threats, underscoring that law firms should expect renewed scrutiny and higher expectations in these high-risk areas, says Harriet Holmes at Thirdfort.
Petrofac Ruling Shifts Focus To Fairness In Restructurings

The recent Court of Appeal overturning of Petrofac's restructuring plans demonstrates a change of direction that will allow previously ignored out-of-the-money creditors a share in the benefits, and means companies must review the fair treatment of different creditor classes, say lawyers at King & Spalding.
Europe's New Defense Push Creates Investment Prospects

Recent increases in European defense expenditure and governments' desire to innovate are creating a compelling environment for investment and merger and acquisition activity, especially for small and midsize enterprises at the forefront of emerging technologies, say lawyers at Skadden.
Key Considerations For Issuers In FCA Prospectus Reform

The Financial Conduct Authority’s forthcoming reform of the U.K. prospectus regime should be attractive to both debt and equity issuers because it limits the circumstances in which a costly prospectus is required, making it easier and cheaper for listed companies to raise capital, say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.
How Top Court Ruling Limits Scope Of Motor Finance Claims

The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in a landmark case concerning car finance commissions clarifies when and how a dealership’s fiduciary duties arise, considerably narrowing that path for mass consumer litigation and highlighting how an upcoming Financial Conduct Authority redress scheme will seek to balance consumer, lender and market interests, say lawyers at Cadwalader.
FCA Misconduct Guide Will Expand Firms' Duty To Investigate

The Financial Conduct Authority's recent proposals on workplace nonfinancial misconduct will place a greater onus on compliance and investigations teams, clarifying that the question to ascertain is whether the behavior is justifiable and proportionate, say lawyers at Ashurst.
Lessons From Landmark UK Supreme Court Libor Ruling

The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent quashing of former traders Hayes and Palombo’s interest rate rigging convictions on the ground of jury misdirection raises concerns about failings in the criminal appeal process, and whether encouraging institutions to accept regulatory settlements can create conditions for miscarriages of justice, says Ellen Gallagher at Vardags.