Financial Services UK

FCA Oversight Spells Tougher AML Scrutiny For Law Firms

The Financial Conduct Authority's new powers to police lawyers and other professionals could place law firms under a heightened supervisory regime similar to that of banks and other high-risk financial institutions, experts say.

'Name And Shame' Test Case Ruling Could Embolden FCA

Financial services companies should be ready to engage with consumers when faced with enforcement action, in a lesson from a test case of the reasoning behind a Financial Conduct Authority decision to "name and shame" a company that could encourage bolder naming actions, lawyers said.

'A Rare Case': How Credit Suisse Missed Out In Greensill Trial

The failure by Credit Suisse to claw back any money from Softbank over a restructuring agreement involving Greensill Capital is a rare example of a creditor succeeding in proving its legal case — only for the court to hold back any remedy.

FCA's Tokenization Plan May Heighten Financial Crime Risk

The Financial Conduct Authority's planned tokenization regime to help asset managers trade investment funds as digital assets could expose investors to financial criminals lurking in crypto-markets, with the regulator's "targeted support" rules multiplying the risk, lawyers have warned.

November 13, 2025
ECJ Rules VAT Exemption Can't Hinge On Missing Documents

European Union member states cannot deny value-added tax exemptions solely due to improperly filed paperwork if companies can still prove that they sold cross-border goods within the bloc, the EU's top court ruled Thursday.
November 13, 2025
Investor Loses Claim Over £4M Lost In Redevelopment Failure

A London court struck out on Thursday an investor's claim that he lost his £4 million ($5 million) investment in a central London property redevelopment because of the managers' flawed business plan, finding him barred from claiming damages as a shareholder in the project.
November 13, 2025
VTB Says OFSI Destroyed Its £188M UK Unit Recovery

Russia's VTB Bank argued at a London court Thursday that the U.K.'s sanctions authority had wrongly attempted to block it from recovering anything from the administration of its British subsidiary, arguing that it should have been given a chance to make its case.
November 13, 2025
Broker Says Asset Manager Owes Unpaid Finder's Fees

Investment broker Musst Holdings Ltd. said Thursday that an asset manager owed it unpaid finder's fees for $85 million in investments Musst had facilitated.
November 13, 2025
FCA Warns CFD Firms Over Unfair Consumer Practices

The Financial Conduct Authority on Thursday warned some providers of a type of financial bet called contracts for difference are failing to provide "fair value" for U.K. consumers.
November 13, 2025
A&O Shearman Settles £93M Negligence Claim Against BNY

A&O Shearman has settled its case that alleged that Bank of New York Mellon caused Nationwide Building Society to face a £93 million ($122 million) tax bill by bungling the issuance of notes, the parties confirmed on Thursday.
November 13, 2025
BoE, Singapore, Thailand Explore Safer Forex Settlements

The central banks of the U.K., Singapore and Thailand said Thursday that they have started to test new ways to exchange foreign currencies safely and instantly.
November 13, 2025
Osborne Clarke-Led Finance Biz In Buyout Talks With Rival

Financial services company Team is discussing a potential all-share takeover of U.K. rival WH Ireland Group PLC, the companies confirmed on Thursday.
November 12, 2025
UK Banker Bonus Changes Could Boost Treasury Coffers

The U.K.'s relaxation of bonus rules for bankers may result in a tax windfall for HM Treasury along with what financial advisers expect to be a rise in the use of certain investment planning strategies, particularly those used to fund startups.
November 12, 2025
HMRC Hikes Business Fees For Supervising AML Compliance

The U.K. tax authority disclosed Wednesday that it will be increasing the fees it charges businesses to cover the cost of supervising them for compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations.
November 12, 2025
Tech Exec Denies Lying About CEO's Links To Russia

A former executive at a technology company has denied spreading defamatory lies about its chief executive's alleged ties to Russian intelligence, telling a London court that his remarks were both true and in the public interest.
November 12, 2025
FCA To Work With Singapore To Drive AI Innovation

The Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday that it has struck up a partnership with its Singaporean counterpart to support safe innovation in artificial intelligence as it moves to strengthen its international footprint.
November 12, 2025
Credit Suisse Blamed For 'Comedy Of Errors' Over Margin Call

An investment firm told a London court on Wednesday that Credit Suisse's English broker-dealer entity committed "a comedy of errors" in misunderstanding how it calculated margin requirements, triggering what the firm claims was a wrongful share sale that cost it $99 million.
November 12, 2025
FRC Issues Standard To Improve UK Sustainability Reporting

The Financial Reporting Council released Wednesday the U.K. version of a global standard for verifying the sustainability information that companies publish alongside their accounts as it seeks to ensure that investors are better informed.
November 12, 2025
De Brauw-Led ABN Amro To Buy Blackstone Bank For €960M

Dutch lender ABN Amro said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire local rival NIBC Bank from private equity heavyweight Blackstone Inc. for approximately €960 million ($1.1 billion) to cement its top position in the Netherlands mortgages market.
November 11, 2025
Ibori's Bid To Overturn £101M Confiscation Order Narrowed

A former Nigerian governor convicted of money laundering in London can only partially challenge a £101.5 million ($134 million) confiscation order, as an appellate judge said Tuesday that his attempt to adjourn the proceedings "smacks very much of ambush."
November 11, 2025
Burges Salmon Faces Negligence Case Over Fund Setup Fight

An investment banker has sued Burges Salmon for negligence in a London court, accusing the firm of leading him into a "hopeless" legal battle over claims he was excluded from the creation of an investment strategy.
November 11, 2025
Solicitor Denies Intentionally Misleading Mortgage Lender

A former employee of a now-defunct law firm denied allegations brought by the profession's regulator on Tuesday that she knowingly misled a mortgage lender in a conveyancing matter, admitting she made some mistakes but denying they were intentional or dishonest.
November 11, 2025
Briton Denies SEC's $148K 'Pump And Dump' Fraud Case

A U.K. citizen has denied that he helped two businessmen carry out a pump-and-dump fraud with U.S. companies, hitting back at a bid by the American financial markets regulator to claw back the proceeds of the alleged scheme.
November 11, 2025
Companies Ignoring Financial Crime Risks, FCA Says

Companies ranging from wealth managers to payment services providers are ignoring financial crime risks such as money laundering and anti-bribery, the Financial Conduct Authority said Tuesday in a review of business practices.
November 11, 2025
'Architect' Of £5B Chinese Bitcoin Fraud Jailed For 11 Years

A London judge sentenced a Chinese woman to more than 11 years in prison on Tuesday for buying bitcoin now worth more than £5 billion ($6.6 billion) using money siphoned off from tens of thousands of investors.
November 11, 2025
FRC Guides Asset Managers On Easier Stewardship Reporting

Britain's accounting watchdog released guidance on Tuesday for asset managers and others on compliance with the updated Stewardship Code, which will reduce the reporting burden.
November 10, 2025
Ex-Rosenblatt Firm Argues VC Co. Can't Dodge £6M Legal Bill

Winros Partnership, formerly known as Rosenblatt Solicitors, told a London court Monday that a venture capital firm can't escape paying £6 million ($7.9 million) in legal costs, arguing that a judge was wrong to find its bill invalid.
November 10, 2025
Chinese Woman Fled To UK To Avoid Arrest Over Crypto Scam

A Chinese fugitive convicted in the U.K. in the largest money laundering investigations in history used a network of associates to flee China's police before settling down using a false identity in England, prosecutors told a London judge on Monday.
November 10, 2025
Ex-PrivatBank Owners To Pay $3B For Fraud Case Loss

A London court ordered the former owners of PrivatBank on Monday to pay the Ukrainian lender almost $3 billion in compensation for orchestrating an elaborate money-siphoning scheme involving sham loans linked to fictitious commodity trades.

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

FCA Proposals Reduce Consumer Duty Compliance Burden

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent proposals to streamline the consumer duty regime represent a pragmatic response to industry concerns, with a move toward sector-specific supervision and potentially narrowing its scope for wholesale and cross-border business, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
How New Companies House ID Rules Affect Businesses

Lawyers at Shepherd & Wedderburn discuss the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act’s new mandatory identity verification requirements for all company directors and persons with significant control, set to go live next week, which aim to curb fraud by improving the reliability of information held by Companies House.
What EU Securitization Proposals Signal For Risk Transfers

If implemented, recent amendments to the European Union securitization framework are expected to have an unambiguously positive effect on significant risk transfer markets, providing greater consistency and necessary flexibility, say lawyers at McDermott.
Role Of UK Investment Act Is Evolving In M&A Deals

With merger and acquisition activity likely to increase in light of the government’s new defense industrial strategy, the role of the National Security and Investment Act will come into sharper focus, and its recent annual report confirms that scrutiny is intensifying, say lawyers at Kingsley Napley.
What To Know About EU's Reimposition Of Sanctions On Iran

Lawyers at Steptoe discuss the European Union’s recent reimposition of trade and financial sanctions against Iran, which will introduce legal and operational constraints that affect EU companies' commercial activities in the region.
FCA Crypto Proposals Herald Tougher Oversight For Firms

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent proposals to extend regulation to crypto-asset activities will bring parity, but implementation of the operational resilience requirements and enhanced financial crime controls will present compliance challenges, says Michelle Kirschner at Gibson Dunn.
EU Investment Reporting Rules Letup Signals Pragmatic Shift

While investment companies remain subject to far-reaching disclosure obligations under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, new guidance from the European Commission on reporting passive limited partner commitments represents a drastic simplification and burden reduction, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.
SFO's 2-Year Transformation Signals Crackdown On Fraud

Two years after Nick Ephgrave’s appointment as director of the Serious Fraud Office, the introduction of new corporate criminal offenses and strengthened investigative methods sends a clear message to corporations that the agency is delivering on its promise to be bolder and more proactive about tackling fraud, say lawyers at BCL Solicitors.
How EU And UK Consumer Loan Protections Are Shifting

As market evolution and digitalization motivate both the European Union and the U.K. to revamp consumer protections around lending, the potential for divergence between these rules will pose new challenges for cross-border consumer credit lenders, say lawyers at Skadden.
EBA Guidance Shakes Up EU Securitization Market Practices

Although the European Banking Authority’s recent questioning of the common use of conditional sale agreements to season assets when setting up securitizations has come as an unwelcome surprise, competent regulators are expected to follow the EBA guidance, even though as a Q&A response it is not legally binding, say lawyers at Debevoise.
Landmark VAT Ruling Should Shift HMRC Reply On Guidance

The recent decision in Hotelbeds Ltd. v. Revenue and Customs Commissioners on the recovery of input tax, confirming that HMRC is bound to comply with its own guidance, will make the agency rethink its usual response to allegations that the policy was not law, say lawyers at Kennedys.
Evolving General Partner Stakes Market Brings Opportunities

The rapid increase in investment in general partner stakes by private capital managers indicates its advantages over both strategic sales and initial public offerings, including the ability to retain greater operational control over the business and to avoid the scrutiny that accompanies a listing, says Nicholas Page at Macfarlanes.
How UK Proposal On Late Payments Could Affect SMEs

The U.K. government’s ongoing late payments consultation would claw back much-needed leverage for small and midsize enterprises negotiating with large organizations, should the reforms be implemented as proposed, say lawyers at Shoosmiths.
Waldorf Ruling Signals Recalibration For Restructuring Plans

The recent High Court landmark judgment refusing to sanction Waldorf Production PLC's restructuring plan underscores a change in the way courts assess whether such plans are fair, indicating not their demise but a pivotal moment in their evolution, say lawyers at Simpson Thacher.
Key Points From UK And Japan's Antitrust Cooperation Pact

The memorandum of cooperation recently signed between the U.K. and Japan to promote collaboration in competition law enforcement is a meaningful step that offers cross-border businesses an improved foundation for earlier alignment and better risk management, say lawyers at Steptoe.