Financial Services UK

  • December 06, 2024

    Allianz Exec Avoids Prison For $7B Investor Fraud

    A New York federal judge on Friday declined to sentence a former portfolio manager for Allianz SE's U.S. unit to any time in prison for lying to investors about the riskiness of a group of private investment funds that lost over $7 billion when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

  • December 06, 2024

    Barclays Investors Get Initial OK For $19M Overissuance Deal

    A New York federal judge Friday granted the first green light to a $19.5 million settlement for a class of investors who bought Barclays PLC securities and then claimed the banking giant misled them about its internal controls before selling more than $17.6 billion in securities over its maximum registered amount.

  • December 06, 2024

    UK Authorities Say Banker's Rights Safe In US Extradition

    U.K. and U.S. authorities urged a pair of London judges on Friday to deny an Austrian banker's bid to overturn a decision allowing his extradition on money laundering charges linked to his alleged role in a massive Brazilian corruption scandal, saying prosecutors would abide by extradition treaties.

  • December 06, 2024

    Car-Leasing Execs Deny Fraud Charges In £88 million Case

    Two directors of a failed car leasing group denied fraud charges in a London court Friday in the face of a prosecution brought by the Serious Fraud Office, which says that their allegedly fraudulent statements attracted £88 million ($112 million) from investors.

  • December 06, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen Burberry file a copyright claim against discount store B&M, the former owner of Charlton Athletic file a debt claim against the football club, and British Airways and the U.K. government face a class action brought by flight passengers taken hostage at the start of the First Gulf War. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • December 06, 2024

    BonelliErede Adds 2 Private Equity Partners From Chiomenti

    BonelliErede has hired two experienced private-equity specialists as partners, as the Italian law firm looks to capture a greater slice of the growing market both domestically and abroad.

  • December 06, 2024

    SRA Seeks To Be Joined As Creditor After Axiom Collapse

    The English solicitors' watchdog asked a London court on Friday to allow it to be added to the list of creditors to Axiom Ince Ltd., the law firm that collapsed after its managing partner allegedly misappropriated £65 million ($83 million) of client money.

  • December 06, 2024

    Businessman Owing £80M Gets Prison For Obstructing SFO

    A London court sentenced a businessman already serving time for fraud to an additional 13 months in prison Friday for obstructing investigators trying to claw back some of the £80 million ($102 million) he owes for stealing from a software company.

  • December 06, 2024

    UK Asset Managers Get More Time For Sustainability Reports

    The Financial Conduct Authority proposed Friday to allow asset managers using a sustainability label an extra four months to produce the first required annual product-level sustainability report.

  • December 06, 2024

    New Tool Rolled Out To Help Firms Meet Consumer Duty Rules

    A nonprofit organization has rolled out a free tool designed to help financial services companies measure how well they are complying with the Financial Conduct Authority's Consumer Duty rules.

  • December 06, 2024

    FCA Bosses To Face Treasury Panel After Bruising Month

    The Financial Conduct Authority's top brass will be quizzed by an influential panel of lawmakers on Tuesday, hard on the heels of a series of setbacks that saw the regulator rowing back on controversial reforms and called "incompetent" in a parliamentary review.

  • December 06, 2024

    Direct Line Tentatively Accepts Aviva's Higher £3.6B Offer

    Direct Line said Friday it has accepted an improved £3.6 billion ($4.6 billion) cash-and-shares takeover offer from Aviva but cautioned that the deal is not final until its British insurance rival makes a firm offer by a deadline of Dec. 25.

  • December 05, 2024

    Ex-Goldman Manager Wins Paternity Leave Sex Bias Claim

    An employment tribunal has ruled that Goldman Sachs discriminated against a former compliance manager, finding that the investment bank decided to make him redundant while he was on paternity leave.

  • December 05, 2024

    PIC Insurance Co. Must Hand Control To Founder's Estate

    The top appeals court for U.K. overseas territories upheld Thursday a finding that an Antiguan insurance company's board of directors was wrong to refuse to hand majority control of the business to its founder's estate.

  • December 05, 2024

    HMRC Wins Freezing Order Over Alleged £171M Tax Fraud

    A court imposed a freezing order against three British businesses on Thursday after the U.K. tax authority accused them of orchestrating a £171 million ($218 million) National Insurance fraud.

  • December 05, 2024

    Gold Trader Denies Knowing Of £200M Laundering Scheme

    The former director of a gold trading business has denied any knowledge of a £200 million ($255 million) money laundering scheme as he testified at a criminal trial on Thursday that the business needed informal arrangements to get access to ready cash.

  • December 05, 2024

    EU Fund Managers Seek More Flexible Securitization Rules

    European fund managers called Thursday for the securitization regime under review to switch to less specific rules, arguing that investors in such products are sophisticated and already regulated.

  • December 05, 2024

    Pension Funding Is 'Largely Stable,' Lifeboat Fund Says

    The net funding position of defined benefit pension schemes in Britain has remained "largely stable" over the last year, the Pension Protection Fund said in a report Thursday.

  • December 05, 2024

    FSB Names Insurers To Apply Resolution Standards

    A global standard setter published on Thursday a first list of insurers required to apply its standards in preparing for failure, aiming to reassure markets.

  • December 05, 2024

    Senior MPs Join Call For Women's State Pension Redress

    Senior figures from seven opposition parties in the House of Commons warned on Thursday that "time is running out" for women affected by historical failings in their state pension plans and urged the government to act on calls for immediate redress.

  • December 05, 2024

    Solaris Says Binance Can't Use AML Gaps To Exit €144M Deal

    Online banking group Solaris has rejected Binance's defense to its €144 million ($152 million) claim over a collapsed cryptocurrency debit card scheme, arguing that any alleged breaches of anti-money laundering rules did not entitle the global exchange operator to end the deal.

  • December 05, 2024

    Lloyds Bank, Aviva Join Gov't Group To Aid Financial Access

    The U.K. government said Thursday that a new financial inclusion committee has been set up to tackle the barriers that millions of vulnerable people face in getting access to banking, affordable credit and opportunities to save.

  • December 04, 2024

    Cerberus Liable For €358M Payment To Sabadell, Judge Rules

    One of Spain's largest banks won €358.5 million ($376.5 million) from Cerberus when a London judge ruled Wednesday that the private equity giant wrongly interpreted investment agreements linked to the bank's Spanish real estate portfolios.

  • December 04, 2024

    Mastercard Settlement Spat Will Test Class Action Regime

    The U.K.'s collective action regime will face a new test after the financial backer of a claim against Mastercard over credit card fees criticized a proposed £200 million ($254 million) settlement that would end nine years of hard-fought litigation.

  • December 04, 2024

    PrivatBank Ex-Owner Can't Ease Freeze To Sell Stranded Jets

    A London court on Wednesday refused to allow an ex-owner of PrivatBank to sell aircraft stranded in Ukraine after Russia's invasion, concluding the sale may risk breaching a freezing order in a $4.2 billion fraud case.

Expert Analysis

  • Cross Market Drill Highlights Operational Resilience Priorities

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    The U.K.’s recent cross-market major infrastructure failure simulation exercise, demonstrates that operational resilience of the financial sector is high on the regulatory agenda, and the findings should ensure that the sector develops collective capabilities to deliver improvements, say lawyers at Taylor Wessing.

  • What Partners Should Know About Net Asset Value Loans

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    The increasing popularity and evolution of net asset value facilities means they continue as an important financing tool to generate liquidity for funds’ portfolios, so general partners looking to capitalize on this expanding market should be mindful of their limited partners' concerns to maximize their value, says Anthony Lombardi at Dechert.

  • What The Future Of AI In Financial Services Looks Like

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    Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the global financial services industry, with a hybrid model likely to evolve where AI handles routine tasks and humans focus on strategy and decision-making, so financial institutions should work with regulators to establish ethical standards and meet regulatory expectations without stifling innovation, say lawyers at Womble Bond.

  • FCA Survey Results Reveal Rise In Nonfinancial Misconduct

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    After a Financial Conduct Authority survey recently reported a significant rise in nonfinancial misconduct, there are a number of preventive steps firms should take to create a healthy workplace environment and mitigate the risk of increased regulatory scrutiny, say lawyers at WilmerHale.

  • When Investigating An Adversary, Be Wary Of Forged Records

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    Warnings against the use of investigators who tout their ability to find an adversary’s private documents generally emphasize the risk of illegal activity and attorney discipline, but a string of recent cases shows an additional danger — investigators might be fabricating records altogether, says Brian Asher at Asher Research.

  • What UK Security Act Report Indicates For Future Gov't Policy

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    Following the recent publication of the National Security and Investment Act report on the scrutiny of proposed investments, it will be interesting to see how the act’s powers fit into a government policy that plans to cut regulatory obstacles, while maintaining a hard line on national security, say lawyers at Katten Muchin.

  • Examining UK And EU Approaches To Sanctions Enforcement

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    In light of the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent £28.9 million fine of Starling Bank for its lax sanctions screening processes, businesses should understand both the U.K.’s and the European Union’s enforcement approaches, the larger sanctions landscape and the importance of cooperation, says Angelika Hellweger at Rahman Ravelli.

  • Factors Driving EU Competition Policy For The Next 5 Years

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    Teresa Ribera Rodríguez’s recent nomination as the new European Union commissioner for competition prompts questions about policy and enforcement, with goals to enhance competition in business, implement stronger and faster enforcement, and promote and fund decarbonization likely in her sights during a five-year term, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • What UK Procurement Act Delay Will Mean For Stakeholders

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    The Procurement Act 2023’s delay until February 2025 has sparked debate among contracting authorities and suppliers, and the Labour Party’s preference for a broader reform package demonstrates the challenges involved in implementing legislative changes where there is a change in government, say lawyers at Shoosmiths.

  • How Energy Scheme Is Affecting Large Co. Fund Investment

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    The latest phase of the Department of Energy and Climate Change's Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme implicates funds with investments in large companies by establishing significant and complex changes to the reporting cycle for mandatory assessments, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.

  • How Companies House Enforcement Powers Are Growing

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    Companies House's recently increased ability to assess what material is submitted to the U.K. register of companies, and to proportionately enforce where violations have occurred, may require some degree of cultural shift within many companies, say lawyers at Greenberg Traurig.

  • How New Sanctions Office Will Affect UK Trade Landscape

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    The recent launch of the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation will help to create a more comprehensive civil enforcement terrain, but the potential for multiple investigations means businesses should reassess their systems to ensure they do not inadvertently incur civil liability, says Julia Pearce at Robertson Pugh.

  • FCA Savings Update Focuses On Good Customer Outcomes

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    The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent cash savings update emphasizes its expectations of firms to deliver fair value to consumers by documenting the rationale for actions at each stage, considering customer communications and demonstrating that potential harms are acted upon, say Matt Handfield, Charlotte Rendle and Caroline Hunter-Yeats at Simmons & Simmons.

  • 5 Takeaways From UK Justices' Arbitration Jurisdiction Ruling

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    The U.K. Supreme Court's recent judgment in UniCredit Bank v. RusChemAlliance, upholding an injunction against a lawsuit that attempted to shift arbitration away from a contractually designated venue, provides helpful guidance on when such injunctions may be available, say attorneys at Fladgate.

  • FCA's Broad Proposals Aim To Protect Customer Funds

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    The Financial Conduct Authority’s proposed changes to payments firms’ safeguarding requirements, with enhanced recordkeeping and fund segregation, seek to bolster existing regulatory provisions, but by introducing a statutory trust concept to cover customers’ assets, represent a set of onerous rules, says Matt Hancock at Greenberg Traurig.

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