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Financial Services UK
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May 03, 2024
Frasers Group Drops €50M Case Against Morgan Stanley
Retail giant Frasers Group PLC has withdrawn its €50 million ($54 million) legal claim in London against Morgan Stanley over a margin call of almost $1 billion on Hugo Boss stock options, the bank said Friday.
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May 03, 2024
Reed Smith Steers £136M Pension Deal For Savings Plan
Insurer Just Group has taken on £136.3 million ($171.2 million) in liabilities from a retirement savings plan, advisers said, in a transaction steered by Reed Smith LLP.
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May 03, 2024
Financial Adviser Convicted In Axiom Legal Fund Fraud Case
A former financial adviser was convicted on Friday of siphoning £5.8 million ($7.3 million) from an investment fund using secret commission payments as part of a legal financing fraud.
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May 02, 2024
Whistleblower Claims Would 'Destroy' Autonomy, GC Was Told
Autonomy's former U.S. general counsel testified Thursday in the criminal fraud trial of former CEO Michael Lynch that the company's chief operating officer didn't want a whistleblower's claims to get into court, telling him that while the "law" was on their side, "the facts look bad" and would "destroy Autonomy."
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May 02, 2024
HMRC Asked To Investigate Firm On Dodging Sanctions
HM Revenue & Customs should investigate a German-owned garage door manufacturer for violating sanctions by importing products from Belarus into the U.K., but instead authorities brushed off the case and now the company might receive a license, a U.K. lawmaker said.
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May 02, 2024
Mastercard Appeals Jurisdiction Ruling In £10B Class Action
Mastercard argued to a London appellate court Thursday that a £10 billion ($12.5 billion) class action over its swipe fees should be governed by the law of the jurisdiction covering the bank that processed the payment, rather than the jurisdiction of the customers who suffered the loss.
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May 02, 2024
BofA Beats Whistleblower Claim Without Settlement Defense
An employment judge has ruled a whistleblower working for Bank of America did not breach the terms of a settlement when he brought fresh litigation against the bank — but still dismissed his claims for filing them too late.
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May 02, 2024
Financial Watchdog Boss Summoned Over Plan To ID Targets
The head of the Financial Conduct Authority has been summoned to explain to lawmakers why he has not responded to their request to pause the watchdog's controversial plan to name the firms it probes amid mounting criticism that doing so could harm those later found innocent.
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May 02, 2024
Europol Helps Bust 12 Fraudulent Call Centers
Police have raided 12 call centers in several countries for making thousands of investment scam calls and other telephone fraud, Europol said Thursday, as the agency revealed the cost to victims could have been more than €10 million ($10.7 million.
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May 02, 2024
ING Kicks Off €2.5B Share Buyback With Q1 Results
Dutch multinational bank ING said Thursday that it will buy back up to €2.5 billion ($2.7 billion) of its shares to streamline its capital-to-stock ratio, as it announced strong financial results for the first quarter of the year.
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May 02, 2024
UK Unveils Post-Brexit Rules For Overseas Investment
The government has published a roadmap that sets out rules to make it easier for investment funds in the European Union to offer products to investors in the U.K., replacing transitional arrangements put in place after Brexit.
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May 01, 2024
Autonomy CEO's Atty Says Judge 'One-Sided' Against Client
A Steptoe LLP partner representing former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch in his criminal fraud jury trial accused the judge overseeing the case of making comments to the jury that are "one-sided" in a way that prejudices the defense.
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May 01, 2024
FCA Opposes Paying Ex-Julius Baer Manager's Legal Costs
The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority urged a London appellate court Wednesday to overturn a tribunal's decision to make it pay part of a former Julius Baer employee's legal costs, saying the tribunal unfairly ruled that the FCA had unreasonably not called witnesses who were overseas.
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May 01, 2024
BBVA Makes €12B Offer For TSB Parent Sabadell
Banking giant BBVA on Wednesday said it has proposed to buy Banco de Sabadell for approximately €12 billion ($12.8 billion) in an all-share deal to create one of Europe's largest financial bodies with more than €1 trillion in assets.
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May 01, 2024
UK Banks Received Over £9B In Interest On BoE Reserves
The Treasury Committee published new data Wednesday showing that Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander made more than £9 billion ($11.2 billion) in interest on Bank of England reserves from 2022 to 2023.
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May 01, 2024
Pension Scam Group's Future Hit By Lack Of Volunteers
A voluntary body that works against pensions scams said on Wednesday that it is considering winding up its operations and is concerned that a fall in volunteer numbers might jeopardize its effectiveness.
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May 01, 2024
FCA's Investigation Regime May Tarnish Unnamed Individuals
Financial Conduct Authority proposals to name companies early in investigations will damage the careers of many individuals involved, according to lawyers, with some unnamed employees coming under suspicion that puts them at risk of losing their jobs.
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May 01, 2024
Pension Body Warns On Gov't Equity Investment Plan
U.K. government plans to impose public disclosures on pension funds would increase the burden on the industry and harm savers by encouraging investment in low-return businesses, according to an industry paper published Wednesday.
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April 30, 2024
Ex-Autonomy VP Says CEO Lynch Told Him To Lie To Investors
A former Autonomy business development executive testified Tuesday that CEO Mike Lynch directed him to lie to a hedge fund investor about prepaid royalty deals that boosted the company's upfront revenue numbers, saying at Lynch's criminal fraud trial that it was hard to say no to the "big boss."
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April 30, 2024
German Banker Gets 3 Years For €93M Cum-Ex Tax Evasion
A German court on Tuesday sentenced a former bank board member to three years and two months in prison for his part in a €93.4 million ($100 million) so-called cum-ex dividend tax fraud.
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May 07, 2024
Kingsley Napley Hires M&A Pro From Deloitte
Kingsley Napley LLP has hired a partner from Deloitte LLP as it seeks to expand its corporate practice and its focus on mergers and acquisitions despite the slowdown in the U.K. deals market.
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April 30, 2024
Garrigues-Led BBVA Eyes Deal For Rival Spanish Bank
Spanish banking giant BBVA confirmed Tuesday it is eyeing a merger with Banco de Sabadell SA for an undisclosed amount.
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April 30, 2024
EU Banking Watchdog Warns Of New Payment Scams
The European Union's banking watchdog has warned of the emergence of new forms of payment scams facing consumers and proposed new measures to "future proof" the bloc's anti-fraud rules in an opinion published Tuesday.
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April 30, 2024
Insurers Warn Of 'Irreparable Damage' From FCA's New Rules
An association of insurers in the U.K. warned the country's financial regulator Tuesday that its new proposal to name the firms it probes and publish information about investigations at an earlier stage will cause more harm than good.
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April 30, 2024
Payment Co. Hits Back Over Failed Domain Name Deal
Several payments companies and their bosses have hit back at claims by a Nuvei Group subsidiary, denying that they broke a promise to use the company's payments technology as part of a deal to use a website domain.
Expert Analysis
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Key Points From Ireland's New Accountability Framework
The recently introduced Individual Accountability Framework is a positive step for the financial services industry in Ireland, and in contributing to cultural and practical change will encourage positive behavior and good governance for the benefit of the industry and investors, say Aongus McCarthy and Niall Esler at Walkers Global.
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Technology And AI: 2024's Legal And Regulatory Landscape
Alexander Amato-Cravero at Herbert Smith discusses what businesses and their lawyers can expect in the year ahead in terms of regulation, policies and associated risks related to advancing technologies and artificial intelligence, including the need for increased internal governance and workforce engagement.
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US And UK Law Firms Continue Trend Of EU Expansion
A broad spectrum of U.S. and U.K. law firms are now seeking fresh opportunities in Europe's fastest growing and constantly evolving sectors by opening offices in strategic locations across the continent, says James Lavan at Buchanan Law.
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A Look At 2023's Landmark Insolvency Developments
The insolvency landscape in 2023 witnessed pivotal court decisions that will continue to shape the industry in 2024, with a focus on refining director and administrator duties and obligations, and addressing emerging challenges, says Kerri Wilson at Ontier.
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Pension Industry Should Monitor Evolving ESG Issues In 2024
ESG thinking in the pensions industry has substantially evolved from focusing on climate change and net-zero to including nature and social considerations, and formalizing governance processes — illustrating that, in 2024, continually monitoring ESG issues sits squarely within trustee fiduciary duties, says Liz Ramsaran at DWF.
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What 2024 Has In Store For White Collar Crime Enforcement
Changes in Serious Fraud Office leadership and corporate crime laws in the U.K. signal a chance to kickstart enforcement in 2024, and companies need to stay alive to risks within their business, preparing in particular for the new offense of failure to prevent fraud, say lawyers at Latham.
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Emerging Trends From A Busy Climate Litigation Year
Although many environmental cases brought in the U.K. were unsuccessful in 2023, they arguably clarified several relevant issues, such as climate rights, director and trustee obligations, and the extent to which claimants can hold the government accountable, illustrating what 2024 may have in store for climate litigation, say Simon Bishop and Patrick Kenny at Hausfeld.
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Regulating Digital Platforms: What's Changing In EU And UK
Lawyers at Mayer Brown assess the status of recently enacted EU and U.K. antitrust regulation governing gatekeeper platforms, noting that the effects are already being felt, and that companies will need to avoid anti-competitive self-preferencing and ensure a higher degree of interoperability than has been required to date.
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How Boards Can Mitigate Privacy, Cybersecurity And AI Risks
In 2023, data privacy, cybersecurity and AI persist as prominent C-suite concerns as regulators stepped up enforcement, and organizations must develop a plan for handling these risks, in particular those with a global footprint, say lawyers at Latham.
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The Outlook For UK Restructuring Plans At Home And Abroad
The U.K. continues to be a center for large-cap, cross-border restructurings, though its competitive edge over the EU in this regard may narrow, while small and medium-sized enterprises are already likely to avoid costly formal processes by reaching out to their secured lenders for restructuring solutions, say Paul Keddie and Timothy Bromley-White at Macfarlanes.
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Foreign Assets Ruling Suggests New Tax Avoidance Approach
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in His Majesty's Revenue & Customs v. Fisher, which found that the scope of the transfer of foreign assets is narrow, highlights that the days of rampant tax avoidance have been left behind, and that the need for wide-ranging and uncertain tax legislation is lessening, says James Austen at Collyer Bristow.
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Lessons To Be Learned From 2023's Bank Failures
This year’s banking collapses, coupled with interest rate rises, inflation and geopolitical instability have highlighted the need for more robust governance, and banks and regulators have learned that they must adequately monitor and control liquidity risk to protect against another financial crisis, say Juliette Mills and Alix Prentice at Cadwalader.
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An Overview Of European Private Investments in Public Equity
Although still fairly rare, private investments in public equity may continue to be an attractive option for some European issuers seeking to secure equity financing, and advisers planning such an investment should consider the various local options, requirements and norms, say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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Cos. Must Monitor Sanctions Regime As Law Remains Unclear
While recent U.K. government guidance and an English High Court's decision in Litasco v. Der Mond Oil, finding that a company is sanctioned when a designated individual is exercising control over it, both address sanctions control issues, disarray in the law remains, highlighting that practitioners should keep reviewing their exposure to the sanctions regime, say lawyers at K&L Gates.
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Unpacking The UK's Proposals To Regulate Crypto-Assets
Recent proposals for crypto-asset regulation in the U.K. demonstrate support for crypto's potential, but there is concern around the authorization process for organizations undertaking crypto-asset activities, and new regulations will require a more detailed assessment of firms' compliance not previously addressed, say Jessica Lee and Menelaos Karampetsos at Brown Rudnick.