Financial Services UK

  • April 02, 2024

    Small UK Cos. 'Freed' From VAT Payments By Threshold Rise

    Some 28,000 businesses have been "freed" from paying value-added tax as the registration threshold rose from £85,000 ($106,000) to £90,000 in revenue, HM Treasury has said.

  • April 02, 2024

    Insurers Say Pension Models Could Undercut Auto-Enrollment

    Government plans to introduce new pension pot models risk undermining the success of automatic enrollment and could have a negative impact on retirement saver outcomes, the Association of British Insurers has warned.

  • April 02, 2024

    UBS To Launch $2B Buyback After Credit Suisse Deal Closes

    UBS said Tuesday that it will launch a share buyback program to return up to $2 billion to shareholders as the Swiss lender prepares to kickstart its capital returns after its takeover of Credit Suisse AG is finalized in June.

  • April 01, 2024

    Autonomy Paid Whistleblower $750K Over Firing, Jury Told

    Autonomy's former U.S. chief financial officer testified Monday in the California criminal fraud trial of ex-CEO Michael Lynch that he was fired after blowing the whistle to British regulators about accounting irregularities, and revealed that Autonomy later paid him $750,000 to resolve his wrongful termination claims.

  • March 28, 2024

    Feds Say Ex-OneCoin Atty Should Serve 'Substantial' Time

    Manhattan federal prosecutors have requested a "substantial" amount of prison time for a Bulgarian woman who worked on the legal team at the fraudulent OneCoin cryptocurrency exchange, but said the sentence should fall below the guidelines range of 10 years.

  • March 28, 2024

    Ex-Plastics Co. Manager Found Guilty Of Insider Dealing

    A former manager at a plastics company was found guilty of insider dealing on Thursday by a London jury, but his friend was acquitted of similar charges in connection with the £261 million ($329 million) purchase of a rival company.

  • March 28, 2024

    Insurers Must Face £13B Russia-Stranded Planes Suits In UK

    Major insurers including Allianz, AXA and Liberty Mutual will have to face £13 billion ($16.4 billion) worth of claims over planes stranded in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine as a London judge on Thursday ruled against attempts to move the claims to Moscow.

  • March 28, 2024

    Developer Says Law Firm Flubbed FOS Appeal

    A property developer is suing its former lawyers for just over £700,000 ($883,500) for negligence after the firm allegedly failed to file a complaint against a now-infamous turnaround unit of the Royal Bank of Scotland when its investments turned sour in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

  • March 28, 2024

    Traders' Loss Raises High Bar For Bankers To Clear Names

    The failure of two former traders to overturn their rate-rigging convictions could mark the end of the road for others convicted in connection with the scandal because of the reluctance of the English courts to topple precedent, lawyers say.

  • March 28, 2024

    EU Watchdogs To Relax On OTC Derivative Clearing Breaches

    The European Union's securities regulator has said it expects national regulators not to prioritize supervisory action against banks or insurers that fail to clear some over-the-counter derivatives with foreign pension schemes, ahead of legal exemption.

  • March 28, 2024

    NCA Logs 5% Decline In Suspicious Activity Reports Last Year

    The National Crime Agency reported Thursday a 5% decline in reports about potential criminal activities such as suspected money laundering and terrorist financing to its intelligence unit received during the financial year that ended March 2023.

  • March 28, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen investors target fraudsters who ran a fake film tax scheme, Barclays Bank sue privately owned Russian bank PJSC Sovcombank, easyGroup bring a trademark infringement claim against online casino TGI Entertainment for its "easybet" word sign, and a bioethanol fuel company hit high-profile individuals connected to the collapsed Elysian Fuels scheme. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • March 28, 2024

    UK Signs Accounting Standards Deal With Australia

    Britain's audit watchdog said Thursday it has secured a deal on accounting standards with Australian authorities to make it easier for auditors to work between both countries.

  • March 28, 2024

    Investors Told To Show Standing For £1.4B StanChart Claim

    A London judge on Thursday ordered part of a group of investors suing Standard Chartered PLC for £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion) — for allegedly downplaying how much it had breached U.S. sanctions — to prove they are entitled to bring the claim. 

  • March 28, 2024

    Crowe Denies £5M Negligence Claim Over Audits Of Wine Co.

    A London-based accounting firm has hit back against a £5 million ($6.3 million) negligence claim by the liquidators of a failed wine investment company, saying it acted with the "care and skill" of a "reasonably competent" auditor.

  • March 28, 2024

    Struggling Lender Amigo Raises Cash, Eyes Reverse Takeover

    Amigo Holdings PLC said on Thursday that it has raised cash and is looking for a reverse takeover target so that it can continue operating as a listed company, amid the planned liquidation of its troubled subprime lending arm.

  • March 28, 2024

    Abrdn Property Plans Wind-Down After Merger Rejected

    Abrdn Property Income Trust Ltd. has said it is planning a managed wind-down after its shareholders voted against an all-share merger with Custodian Property Income REIT PLC that valued it at £237 million ($299 million).

  • March 28, 2024

    UK To Nullify NDAs That Stop People Reporting Crimes

    Non-disclosure agreements that prevent victims from reporting potential crimes are to become unenforceable, the government said Thursday as it announced plans to "clarify" the law governing the controversial contracts.

  • March 27, 2024

    No New Trial For Hedge Fund Boss In Forex Rigging Case

    A New York federal judge on Friday refused to acquit or call for a new trial for a U.K.-based hedge fund chief convicted of illegally manipulating a currency exchange rate, rejecting his argument that his alleged conduct lacked sufficient ties to the United States.

  • March 27, 2024

    Evidence On Ex-Mozambique Official Stays In $2B Fraud Suit

    A former Mozambique finance minister can't keep evidence from his phone out of a case alleging his involvement in a $2 billion scheme to siphon government-backed project funds from that country after a federal judge in Brooklyn on Wednesday backed the phone's seizure and search.

  • March 27, 2024

    Wedlake Bell Can't Get Early Exit From Trust Negligence Case

    A London court dismissed a law firm's attempt to escape a damages claim for its admitted negligent management of a trust, finding Wednesday that the law is "in a state of development" about the scope of a solicitor's duty in that situation.

  • March 27, 2024

    StanChart Urges Court To Toss Part Of £1.4B Sanctions Suit

    Standard Chartered PLC urged a London judge Wednesday to block part of a group of investors' £1.4 billion ($1.77 billion) claim against it alleging that the bank had downplayed how much it breached U.S. sanctions against Iran by hundreds of billions of dollars, alleging some of the investors had not shown they had standing.

  • March 27, 2024

    BoE Finds Increasing Fear Of Financial Risk From AI

    The Bank of England said on Wednesday the proportion of banks, insurers and other firms that find artificial intelligence one of the greatest risks to the finance system has doubled in six months.

  • March 27, 2024

    Finance Pros Avoid Prison For £3M Mortgage Fraud

    A banned independent financial adviser and an accountant were handed suspended sentences on Wednesday for forging documents to help their clients make fraudulent mortgage applications worth £3 million ($3.8 million).

  • March 27, 2024

    BoE Says Action On LDI Has Boosted Financial Stability

    The U.K.'s financial stability watchdog said Wednesday that measures introduced in the wake of the pension fund crisis 18 months ago have bolstered resilience to further shocks.

Expert Analysis

  • Accountability Is Key To Preventing Miscarriages Of Justice

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    The wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson and other recent cases show that in order to avoid future miscarriages of justice, there needs to be a fundamental reevaluation of how investigators, prosecutors and the Criminal Cases Review Commission operate, prioritizing stronger penalties and increased funding, say Thomas Walford at Expert Evidence International and policy analyst Gerald Frost.

  • 4 Compliance Considerations Under FCA Consumer Duty

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    Following the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's recent introduction of the new consumer duty regime, firms will need to be mindful of data protection implications when managing their compliance with the duty and data protection legislation, say lawyers at Bird & Bird.

  • What Could Come Of CFPB, EU Consumer Finance Collab

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    A recent joint statement from the European Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau focused on how technology is affecting consumers of financial services, potentially recognizing that legal protections are lacking because tech regulations lag behind its development, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • 6 Key Factors For Successful Cross-Border Dispute Mediation

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    The European landscape of cross-border disputes diverges markedly from the U.S. experience and presents unique challenges, including the amalgamation of diverse cultures and legal systems, but there are several practical steps that practitioners can take to effectively navigate the process, says Peter Kamminga at JAMS.

  • Operational Resilience Considerations In Financial Services

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    A recent letter from the Financial Conduct Authority reminds CEOs of U.K. wholesale banks of their role in the safety and soundness of markets, but all firms can draw lessons and consider their own operational resilience for longer-term security and commercial benefit, says Richard Tall at Faegre Drinker.

  • UK Tech Cases Warn Of Liability Clause Drafting Pitfalls

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    The recent U.K. High Court cases Drax Energy Solutions v. Wipro and EE v. Virgin Mobile Telecoms indicate a more literal judicial approach to construing limitations of liability, even when this significantly limits a claimant's recoverable damages, highlighting the importance of carefully drafted liability provisions, say Helen Armstrong and Tania Williams at RPC.

  • How The UK Investment Screening Regime Is Taking Shape

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    A recent order imposing remedies on an acquisition by EDF Energy highlights emerging trends in the U.K. government's national security reviews of transactions under the U.K. National Security and Investment Act, and shows how the U.K. remedy landscape compares to the U.S. regime, say lawyers at Arnold & Porter.

  • Consultations Underpin Mandatory Fraud Victim Repayment

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    The U.K. Payment Systems Regulator’s recent consultations on authorized push payment fraud reinforce its June policy expectation, which said that unless there is evidence of gross negligence and the consumer standard of caution has not been followed, providers must reimburse fraud victims, say lawyers at Hogan Lovells.

  • Swiss Privacy Law Reforms Present Divergences From GDPR

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    The differences between Switzerland’s recently reformed Federal Act on Data Protection and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, particularly around data breach reporting and the liability of company officers, will need to be carefully managed by multinationals that may have competing obligations under different laws, say Kim Roberts and Vanessa Alarcon Duvanel at King & Spalding.

  • New Legislation May Not Be Needed For Recovery Of Crypto

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    The recent seizure of cryptocurrency under a civil recovery order raises the issue of whether extended powers under the forthcoming Economic Crime Bill are necessary, with the ability to seize crypto-related items that may be the subject of a search order more likely to be of assistance, says Nicola McKinney at Quillon Law.

  • Opinion

    Russia Ruling Should Lead UK To Review Sanctions Policy

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    The High Court's recent dismissal of the first-ever court challenge to Russian sanctions in Shvidler v. Secretary of State sets a demanding standard for overturning designation decisions, highlighting the need for an independent review of the Russia sanctions regime, says Helen Taylor at Spotlight on Corruption.

  • German Competition Law May Herald New Enforcement Trend

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    The recent amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition is expected to significantly expand the powers of the German Federal Cartel Office, and could signal a global trend toward greater direct intervention by national competition authorities and political interference in competition law, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.

  • New Financial Services Act Leaves Few Firms Untouched

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    The recently published Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, which replaces retained EU law with U.K. legislation, is one of the most significant pieces of post-Brexit regulation, with key practical implications for actors such as investment firms and crypto-asset and payment service providers, say Tim Cant, Emma Tran and Bisola Williams at Ashurst.

  • FCA 'De-Banking' Clampdown May Need Gov't Backing

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    The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s recent clampdown on unfair bank account closures will give customers greater transparency, but with terms usually skewed in the bank’s favor, it is a policy matter for the government to enact further protections for businesses and consumers, say Stephen Rosen and Jean-Martin Louw at Collyer Bristow.

  • UK Securitization Reform Opts For Modest Approach, For Now

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    Recently published consultation papers from the U.K. Prudential Regulation and Financial Conduct Authorities on new securitization rules mainly restate retained EU law, but there are some targeted adjustments being proposed and further divergence is to be expected, say Alix Prentice and Assia Damianova at Cadwalader.

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