Financial Services UK

  • August 16, 2024

    Specialist Lender OSB Announces New £50M Share Buyback

    OSB Group PLC said it will roll out a share repurchase program worth up to £50 million ($65 million) as the buy-to-let lender announced an increased pretax profit but warned of more competition in the "subdued" mortgage market.

  • August 16, 2024

    PwC Fined £15M For Failing To Flag LC&F Fraud Suspicion

    The Financial Conduct Authority said Friday it has fined PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP £15 million ($19.3 million) for failing to report to the regulator its belief that London Capital & Finance PLC might be involved in fraud.

  • August 16, 2024

    Revolut Valued At $45B After Secondary Equity Issue

    U.K. fintech Revolut said Friday it has secured a $45 billion valuation in a share sale by its employees to new and existing investors, cementing its status as Europe's most valuable private technology company.

  • August 16, 2024

    FCA Apologizes For Treatment of 'Voluntary Requirement'

    Britain's financial watchdog has apologized for an unnecessary extension of two years of publishing on its register a "voluntary requirement" for a company indicating failure to meet standards after the Complaints Commissioner upheld a claim.

  • August 15, 2024

    Union Group Calls For UK To Address Gender Pension Gap

    The Trades Union Congress has said retired women receive £7,000 ($9,000) a year less from their pensions than retired men, a gender gap, it warns, that is closing far too slowly.

  • August 15, 2024

    Gov't Urged To Unlock £16B LGPS Pensions For Investment

    The U.K. government could immediately unlock around £16 billion ($20.5 billion) of investment in U.K. infrastructure just by lifting thresholds on the asset class constraining the Local Government Pension Scheme, a report found.

  • August 15, 2024

    FCA Censures Audit Firm On Client Assets Report Breaches

    The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday it has censured auditor Macintyre Hudson LLP for failing to report breaches of the FCA's rules on treatment of client assets.

  • August 15, 2024

    London's Listing Regime Revamp Overshadows Junior Market

    The revamp by the City watchdog of the London Stock Exchange's rule book, which burnishes its appeal for corporate listings in competition with U.S. and European markets, has raised doubts on the future role of the junior market for growth companies and tech startups, lawyers say.

  • August 14, 2024

    Ukrainian Bank In $1.1B Russia Case Points To Nigeria Ruling

    A Ukrainian bank looking to enforce a $1.1 billion arbitral award against Russia has asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to consider a decision issued last week by the D.C. Circuit rejecting Nigeria's sovereign immunity defense in another litigation over an arbitral award.

  • August 14, 2024

    PwC Owes $11M For Tax Errors, Real Estate Group Says

    PwC should pay £8.9 million ($11.4 million) in damages to a real estate group for miscalculating its tax liabilities and mispricing its properties, which prompted several additional assessments and penalties, according to a claim in a London court.

  • August 14, 2024

    Adviser Denies Owing Bank £9.2M After Bad Property Loan

    A property adviser has denied overvaluing a building development and causing a U.K. bank to lend millions of pounds more than it should have, claiming it made a competent assessment within the same range as other independent valuers.

  • August 14, 2024

    World Bank Member Sues Lebanese Lender For Unpaid $234M

    A member of the World Bank Group is suing Lebanon's largest private lender for more than $234 million in loans and interest payments due over the past four years, as the Middle Eastern state has struggled with a major financial crisis that devalued its currency.

  • August 14, 2024

    Aegon Launches Digital Pension Comparison Service

    Financial firm Aegon UK PLC launched a digital pension transfer comparison service on Wednesday with The Pension Lab to enable savers to compare the costs of different plans.

  • August 14, 2024

    Pension Funding Surplus Rises To £475B Despite Rate Cut

    The funding surplus of British retirement savings plans rose to £475.5 billion ($611 billion) at the end of July, according to official figures released on Wednesday, even as experts warned of the need to hedge against fresh interest rate cuts.

  • August 14, 2024

    EU Watchdog Sets Priorities For Bank Resolution Rules

    The European Union banking watchdog has found banks need to prepare better for the process of orderly failure known as resolution, including by obtaining more accurate data for assessing their financial positions.

  • August 14, 2024

    FCA Fines, Bans Consultant For Leaving Clients Uninsured

    The financial regulator said Wednesday that it has banned an insurance consultant from working in financial services and hit him with a fine of just over £5,000 ($6,430) fine for using funds from clients to pay his business and personal debts.

  • August 14, 2024

    Cypriot Forex Firm Fined For Exploiting Customers

    Britain's financial watchdog said Wednesday that it has hit Cypriot trading firm Forex TB Ltd. with a £276,100 ($355,000) fine for failing to treat customers fairly and providing unauthorized investment advice.

  • August 13, 2024

    Travelers Defends DWFM Beckman Over Investment Advice

    The insurer of now-defunct DWFM Beckman LLP has hit back against claims that the firm negligently advised a real estate investor on an almost £20 million ($25.5 million) deal, denying that the firm advised her on the investment at all.

  • August 13, 2024

    Probe Unveils €500M Money-Laundering Group, Agency Says

    European and Brazilian authorities have searched multiple homes and frozen millions in assets during an operation investigating what is alleged to be an Italian mafia-run money-laundering network worth more than €500 million ($547.8 million), the European Union law enforcement agency Eurojust announced Tuesday.

  • August 13, 2024

    UK Charity Sector Pension Funding Reaches £50B

    The charity sector's pension schemes have seen funding reach £50 billion ($63.9 billion) in 2022, potentially leading to more pension buy-outs, according to a report published Tuesday by pensions consultancy Hymans Robertson LLP.

  • August 13, 2024

    PA Forced To Visit Boss' Home During Lockdown Wins £115K

    Two hedge fund bosses must pay a former personal assistant over £115,000 ($147,468) after an employment tribunal found the businessman had asked her to unnecessarily go against COVID-19 restrictions by working from their homes.

  • August 13, 2024

    Firm Ex-Director Gets 15-Year Sanction For Investment Scam

    A former director of an investment firm has had a ban on working as a company executive extended to 2033 after he was convicted of a Ponzi scheme fraud at an English court, the U.K.'s Insolvency Service has said.

  • August 13, 2024

    JPMorgan Trust Seeks Shareholder Nod For Equity Raise

    JPMorgan Global Growth & Income PLC said Tuesday that it is seeking approval from its shareholders to grant the investment trust the authority to issue up to 200 million of its shares in light of strong investor demand.

  • August 13, 2024

    UK Regulators Mull Digital Reporting Future Outside EU

    Britain's accounting watchdog on Tuesday proposed a number of potential reforms for the future of digital reporting in the U.K., amid recent legislative changes after the country's departure from the European Union.

  • August 13, 2024

    Linklaters-Led Fund Buys Blackstone JV Homes For £405M

    Britain's biggest private pension fund said on Tuesday that it has acquired 3,000 shared-ownership homes from a joint venture that is majority-owned by Blackstone Inc. for £405 million ($518 million).

Expert Analysis

  • Emerging Trends From A Busy Climate Litigation Year

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    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.

  • Regulating Digital Platforms: What's Changing In EU And UK

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    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.

  • How Boards Can Mitigate Privacy, Cybersecurity And AI Risks

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    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.

  • The Outlook For UK Restructuring Plans At Home And Abroad

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    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.

  • Foreign Assets Ruling Suggests New Tax Avoidance Approach

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    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.

  • Lessons To Be Learned From 2023's Bank Failures

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    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.

  • An Overview Of European Private Investments in Public Equity

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    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.

  • Cos. Must Monitor Sanctions Regime As Law Remains Unclear

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    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.

  • Unpacking The UK's Proposals To Regulate Crypto-Assets

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    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.

  • The Top 7 Global ESG Litigation Trends In 2023

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    To date, ESG litigation across the world can largely be divided into seven forms, but these patterns will continue developing, including a rise in cases against private and state actors, a more complex regulatory environment affecting multinational companies, and an increase in nongovernmental organization activity, say Sophie Lamb and Aleksandra Dulska at Latham.

  • UK Takeover Code Changes: Key Points For Bidders, Targets

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    Newly effective amendments to Rule 21 of the U.K. Takeover Code, which remove legal and administrative constraints on a target operating its business in the ordinary way during an offer, will add clarity for targets and bidders, and are likely to be welcomed by both, say lawyers at Davis Polk.

  • Russia Ruling Shows UK's Robust Jurisdiction Approach

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    An English High Court's recent decision to grant an anti-suit injunction in the Russia-related dispute Renaissance Securities v. Chlodwig Enterprises clearly illustrates that obtaining an injunction will likely be more straightforward when the seat is in England compared to when it is abroad, say lawyers at Linklaters.

  • How New Loan Origination Regime Will Affect Fund Managers

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    Although the recent publication of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive II represents more of an evolution than a revolution, the leverage limitations applicable to loan-originating funds are likely to present practical challenges for European credit fund managers, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • How EU Sustainability Directive Will Improve Co. Reporting

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    The need for organizations to make nonfinancial disclosures under the recently adopted EU Sustainability Reporting Standards will significantly change workforce and human rights reporting, and with the objective of fostering transparency, should bring about an increased focus on risks, policies and action plans, say Philip Spyropoulos and Thomas Player at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • PPI Ruling Spells Trouble For Financial Services Firms

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    The Supreme Court's recent decision in Canada Square v. Potter, which found that the claimant's missold payment protection insurance claim was not time-barred, is bad news for affected financial services firms, as there is now certainty over the law on the postponement of limitation periods, rendering hidden commission claims viable, say Ian Skinner and Chris Webber at Squire Patton.

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