Financial Services UK

  • August 12, 2024

    Goodwin Adds Secondaries Partner From Dechert In London

    Goodwin Procter LLP has tapped private investment funds partner Thiha Tun to work in its London office from Dechert LLP.

  • August 05, 2024

    FRC Tightens Accounting Guidance, Extends It To Listed Firms

    Britain's accounting watchdog on Monday proposed tighter guidance for directors to assess whether a company is a "going concern" and broadened its application to the largest listed companies, after some high-profile corporate failures.

  • August 05, 2024

    Gov't Warned Over Tapping Pensions For Economic Growth

    The Labour government must remember that the "primary role" of pensions is to support retirees in later life amid growing efforts to use the trillion-pound sector to drive economic growth, Royal London has warned.

  • August 05, 2024

    Ukraine War Shifts Contours Of Russian Litigation Landscape

    The war in Ukraine and global sanctions have caused the number of Russian litigants using England's commercial courts to tumble dramatically, and lawyers expect that the consequences of the invasion will continue to influence the disputes landscape.

  • August 05, 2024

    Unauthorized Mortgage Broker Must Pay £4M To FCA

    A court has ordered two unauthorized investment firms that misled vulnerable people into handing over their homes to hand over £4 million ($5.1 million) to the Financial Conduct Authority, the regulator said Monday

  • August 05, 2024

    SocGen Sells 2 Banking Units To Swiss Bank For €900M

    Societe Generale said Monday that it has agreed to sell two of its private banking subsidiaries in the U.K. and Switzerland to a Swiss bank for €900 million ($990 million), as well as all its business in Madagascar, in a move to streamline its business.

  • August 12, 2024

    Paul Hastings Hires Finance Pro From Weil In London

    Paul Hastings LLP has recruited a structured finance partner and two other lawyers from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP in London, the latest to move from its U.S. rival, as the firm boosts its services for clients in asset-backed finance transactions.

  • August 02, 2024

    S. Korea Loses Bid To Set Aside $48.5M Hedge Fund Award

    A London court has upheld a $48.5 million arbitral award favoring hedge fund Elliott Associates LP against South Korea in a dispute over a government bribery scandal that allegedly underpinned the $8 billion merger of two Samsung affiliates in 2015.

  • August 02, 2024

    Self-Styled 'Business Guru' Faces Investor's £5.6M Fraud Case

    An investor has hit a self-styled business guru with a £5.6 million ($7.2 million) fraud claim, accusing the entrepreneur of running a Ponzi scheme and of duping him into funding a loan for a luxury hotel development that was never lent.

  • August 02, 2024

    Property Investor Denies Hiding Info From Franchise Buyers

    A real estate investment scheme's former owner has hit back at a £6.4 million ($8.1 million) counterclaim by the management consultancy that acquired it, saying in London court documents that he did not conceal any important information and that he had not breached any agreement.

  • August 02, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Sullivan, Dechert, Kirkland

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, BNP Parabis SA acquires an investment management subsidiary for €5.1 billion, Cleveland accounting firm CBIZ merges with competitor Marcum for $2.3 billion, and Arcosa Inc. inks a deal with a family-owned construction materials business for $1.2 billion.

  • August 02, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen insurance broker Marsh sue the collapsed Greensill Bank, the former chair of the Islamic Students Association of Britain pursue a defamation case against the Jewish Chronicle, Berkshire Hathaway and Lloyd's face action from a shipping company, and alleged fraudster Ronald Bauer hit a loan company with a claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • August 02, 2024

    SFO Claws Back Funds From Convicted Property Developer

    Britain's white-collar crime prosecutor said Friday it has seized £86,000 ($110,000) from a former commercial property developer who was convicted of fraud more than a decade ago after it discovered that he had acquired a luxury car.

  • August 02, 2024

    Top UK Court To Hear HMRC Car Park Tax Dispute With NHS

    HM Revenue and Customs has been granted permission by Britain's highest court to challenge a ruling that a National Health Service trust qualified for value-added tax exemption for hospital car parking, a decision that could affect appeals brought by NHS entities.

  • August 02, 2024

    FCA Charges Unauthorized Mortgage Broker With Fraud

    An unauthorized mortgage broker has been charged with fraud for allegedly arranging mortgage applications based on false information, the Financial Conduct Authority said Friday.

  • August 02, 2024

    FCA To Allow Flexible Use Of Unclaimed Investment Assets

    The Financial Conduct Authority said Friday it has changed its rules to enable companies such as banks and insurers to release dormant investment assets and client money into a scheme to find their owners or support U.K. growth through good causes.

  • August 02, 2024

    Ex-F1 Boss Sues HSBC For £5.5M For Wrongly Selling Bonds

    Former Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan has sued HSBC for £5.5 million ($7 million) for losses suffered as the result of the bank's allegedly false and negligent advice over a bond in which he invested tens of millions of pounds.

  • August 02, 2024

    BNP Paribas To Buy Axa's Investment Manager For €5.1B

    BNP Paribas SA has said it will buy an investment management subsidiary from French insurer Axa SA for €5.1 billion ($5.5 billion) to create a combined platform with €1.5 trillion of assets under management.

  • August 01, 2024

    World's First AI Act Takes Effect In EU

    The world's first comprehensive regulation of the tools known as artificial intelligence came into force Thursday, introducing restrictions on the development and use of the technology across all member states.

  • August 01, 2024

    Barclays Wins £13.7M Freezing Order Action Against Directors

    Barclays Bank PLC has proven that two businessmen breached freezing orders on £13.7 million ($17.5 million) of assets, after a London court on Thursday ruled it was beyond reasonable doubt the men allowed the assets to move offshore.

  • August 01, 2024

    Investor Wins $180M Claim Over Plane Leases Against VietJet

    A global private investment company's unit has won its $180 million claim against a Vietnamese budget airline it alleged was a "delinquent debtor," after a London judge said that the air carrier had waged a campaign to stop the planes being returned to their owner.

  • August 01, 2024

    City Firms To Invest Up To £20B Of Pension Funds In UK Biz

    Phoenix Group and Schroders have announced plans to invest as much as £20 billion ($25.7 billion) of pension money into private markets over the next decade in line with wider industry commitments to direct retirement savings capital toward the British economy.

  • August 01, 2024

    EU Watchdog Warns Of Risk From Global Crypto-Asset Firms

    Europe's financial markets watchdog has warned national regulators to address the risk that global crypto groups may seek authorization in the European Union to obtain clients unlawfully and expose them to non-EU-regulated services.

  • August 01, 2024

    Tragedy And A Hustle: 5 Takeaways From The 'Tuna Bonds' Ruling

    A London judge took the opportunity as he delivered a ruling that Mozambique was defrauded in a controversial maritime project to raise questions about the role played by international banks and the lack of financial standards in the multibillion-dollar "tuna bonds" scandal.

  • August 01, 2024

    UK Capital Gains Tax Liabilities Decline, HMRC Says

    Capital gains tax liability in the U.K. declined in the 2022-2023 tax year, HM Revenue & Customs said in a news release Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Shifting From Technical To Clear Insurance Contract Wordings

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    Recent developments on insurance policies, including the Financial Conduct Authority's new consumer duty, represent a major shift for insurers and highlight the importance of drafting policies that actively improve understanding, rather than shift the onus onto the end user, say Tamsin Hyland and Jonathan Charwat at RPC.

  • A Case For The Green Investment Regime Under The ECT

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    The EU and U.K.'s potential plans to exit the Energy Charter Treaty, which has been criticized as protecting fossil fuel investments to the detriment of energy transition, ignore the significant strides taken to modernize the treaty and its ability to promote investment in cleaner energy forms, say Amy Frey and Simon Maynard at King & Spalding.

  • Considerations For Fund Managers Seeking Retail Investment

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    With recent legal developments, including a revised Long Term Investment Funds Regulation effective in 2024, supporting the market trend of retailization, there are several practical considerations for alternative fund managers embarking on a European fundraise for retail capital, say Zac Mellor-Clark and Kate Downey at Fried Frank.

  • FDI Considerations For UK Venture Capital Transactions

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    With the U.K. National Security and Investment Act highlighting foreign direct investment matters for venture capital transactions, investors dealing with companies connected to the U.K. should be alive to how the act's requirements can affect deal timelines, structures and terms, say lawyers at Covington.

  • How Employers Can Support Neurodiversity In The Workplace

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    A recent run of cases emphasize employers' duties to make reasonable adjustments for neurodiverse employees under the Equalities Act, illustrating the importance of investing in staff education and listening to neurodivergent workers to improve recruitment, retention and productivity in the workplace, say Anna Henderson and Tim Leaver at Herbert Smith.

  • What The Anti-Coercion Instrument Will Bring To The EU

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    Vassilis Akritidis and Jean-Baptiste Blancardi at Crowell & Moring discuss why the European Union recently adopted a report on the anti-coercion instrument to reform its trade legislation, how the instrument will be used to respond to unfair economic pressure from third countries, and how businesses can impact the EU's decision making.

  • Why FCA Crypto Rules Need To Align With UK Gov't Aims

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    There is a critical need for cryptocurrency regulations that protect consumers while supporting the government's aim to make the U.K. a crypto hub, but the Financial Conduct Authority’s recently effective rules on financial promotion of crypto-assets bring an unintended risk that legitimate firms will be driven out of the market, says Laura Navarathnam at the Crypto Council for Innovation.

  • CMA Report On AI May Lead to Greater Competition Control

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    The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority’s recent report on artificial intelligence foundation models is a sign that developers could face increased merger control and antitrust enforcement, and businesses should be mindful of these views to ensure that their models do not come under investigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • UK Mozambique Ruling Will Have Int'l Ramifications

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    The recent U.K. Supreme Court judgment in Mozambique v. Privinvest considered for the first time stay proceedings under the Arbitration Act, offering guidance on whether claims are a "matter" within the scope of an arbitration clause, which could become a point of reference for foreign courts in the future, say lawyers at Herbert Smith.

  • Recent Trends In European ESG-Related Shareholder Activism

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    New ESG reporting standards in the European Union, as well as recent climate change, board diversity and human rights cases, illustrate how shareholder activism may become more prominent in years to come as regulation and investor engagement continues to strengthen, say lawyers at Debevoise.

  • Audit Regulator Review Has Tips On Climate Metric Reporting

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    The U.K. Financial Reporting Council’s recent review of climate-related metrics and targets in listed companies’ annual reports is an extremely useful guide for issuers considering the quality of their disclosure reporting, with a number of key areas identified as central to further improvement, say lawyers at Bryan Cave.

  • What Russia Case Reveals About UK Sanctions Enforcement

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    The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation recently issued its first enforcement action under the U.K.'s expanded Russia sanctions against a relatively small company for a moderately severe breach — a decision that highlights several questions about the watchdog’s purpose and methods, say Maia Cohen-Lask and Tasha Benkhadra at Corker Binning.

  • Breaking Down The UK's Draft Updates To Prospectus Regime

    While there still may be changes, the U.K.'s near-final draft statutory instrument to update and in some parts replace the current on-shored EU prospectus regime is likely to represent a significant overhaul of the existing regime and may make U.K. capital markets a more attractive venue for listings for issuers, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Italy's Bank-Profits Tax Plan May Become Model For Eurozone

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    If Italy's recently proposed 40% bank-profits tax helps keep its populist coalition government in power, notwithstanding the European Central Bank's legal challenges, the passage could spark a windfall tax trend across the eurozone and even in the U.K., says Cris Cicala at Stinson.

  • Bitcoin Case Highlights Advanced Age Of UK's IP Law

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    An appellate court's recent decision in a case involving the copyright of bitcoin's file format emphasizes the role of copyright protection in software, and also the challenges of applying decades-old laws to new technologies, say Marianna Foerg and Ben Bell at Potter Clarkson.

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