Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Financial Services UK
-
February 21, 2024
FCA Targeting Failings In Consumer Duty Compliance
Some financial companies are lagging in their compliance with the Consumer Duty rules that came into effect in 2023, Britain's City watchdog said in a paper outlining areas requiring improvement.
-
February 21, 2024
Finance Firms Shuttered For £3M Loan Notes Fraud
Two financial firms have been wound up after misleading investors into putting at least £3 million ($3.8 million) into an unprotected bond scheme, according to the Insolvency Service.
-
February 21, 2024
Satoshi Associates Deny Wright's Claim To Be Bitcoin Creator
Two cryptocurrency specialists who had interactions with the pseudonymous inventor of bitcoin in the 2000s told a London court on Wednesday that they do not believe Craig Wright's claims to be the elusive Satoshi Nakamoto.
-
February 21, 2024
Financial Adviser Sues Law Firm For Ex-Director's Legal Fees
Financial services business Gallium has claimed a law firm failed to question why it paid £673,000 ($850,000) in legal fees for its ex-director "in his personal capacity" during a dispute with another shareholder.
-
February 21, 2024
Burges Salmon Leads Insurer's £11M Spar Pension Deal
Insurer Just Group said on Wednesday that it has completed an £11 million ($13.8 million) pension buy-in transaction with Spar (UK) Ltd., in a deal guided by Burges Salmon LLP.
-
February 21, 2024
SFO Launches £140M Property Fraud Probe With Raids
The Serious Fraud Office raided three homes and made four arrests on Wednesday in a criminal investigation into property manager Signature Group over a suspected £140 million ($177 million) investment fraud.
-
February 21, 2024
HSBC Sets Out $2B Share Buyback After 2023 Profit Gain
HSBC said on Wednesday that it will "shortly commence" a share buyback worth up to $2 billion as the British banking group looks to reward shareholders after posting record profits for the previous calendar year.
-
February 20, 2024
Banking Oligarch's Wife Loses Russian Sanctions Challenge
A Ukrainian-Russian tycoon's wife lost a bid on Tuesday to lift sanctions imposed on her after Russia invaded Ukraine, with a London court finding they strike a fair balance between the U.K.'s foreign policy objectives and her individual rights.
-
February 20, 2024
Ransomware Group LockBit Hit By Coordinated Crackdown
Two suspects linked to LockBit have been arrested and dozens of servers taken down as part of a global operation to disrupt the Russia-based ransomware group's activities, law enforcement agencies said Tuesday.
-
February 20, 2024
EU Drops 4 Jurisdictions From Tax Haven Blacklist
The European Union removed four jurisdictions Tuesday from its list of noncooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, the Council of the EU announced, saying the jurisdictions had either resolved their deficiencies or were waiting for a review of improvements made.
-
February 20, 2024
Addleshaw Goddard Hires ESG Expert From Clifford Chance
Addleshaw Goddard LLP has recruited an environmental, social and governance specialist from Clifford Chance LLP as a partner in its London office, bolstering the law firm's ability to advise on sustainability issues.
-
February 20, 2024
EU Negotiators Adopt Rules To Widen Market Data Access
The European Union adopted rules on Tuesday that give investors across the bloc equal access to updated share and bond prices, as well as trading data, in the final step before these changes enter legislation.
-
February 20, 2024
Liquidators, Claiming Fraud, Blast Tycoon's Bid To Keep $1B
Liquidators of U.K. companies that allege a diamond and jewelry tycoon swindled over $1 billion from banks have denied forming trumped-up fraud accusations to destroy his business, telling a London court the businessman has suffered as a "consequence of his own orchestration."
-
February 20, 2024
Pension Transfers Could Cost Savers £70K In Retirement
Pensioners-to-be in the U.K. could lose about £70,000 ($88,500) in retirement when transferring their pension pot due to a lack of understanding of key information such as financial charges, according to recent research.
-
February 20, 2024
Pension Numbers Shrink As Funding Grows, Watchdog Says
The number of defined benefit pension schemes in the U.K. has decreased by 2% since 2022, according to a report published Tuesday by The Pensions Regulator that shows that funding levels for retirement savings plans are continuing to improve.
-
February 20, 2024
Barclays Plans £1B Share Buyback In Boost For Shareholders
Barclays PLC said on Tuesday it will launch a new share buyback program worth up to £1 billion ($1.26 billion) in the first quarter of 2024 as the lender looks to return excess cash to shareholders.
-
February 20, 2024
Israeli Fintech Plans $175M Share Buyback, Dividend Payout
Plus500 said on Tuesday that it will roll out a new share buyback program worth up to $100 million, as it looks to reward investors despite a sharp drop in revenue.
-
February 20, 2024
Alleged Putin Ally To Face UK Sanctions Breach Trial In 2025
A former Russian politician and alleged ally of Vladimir Putin will face a criminal trial in London in 2025 over allegations he breached the U.K.'s Russian sanctions regime, a judge said Tuesday.
-
February 19, 2024
Insurers Detail Plans To Free £100B Amid Solvency Changes
Developing more consistent long-term decarbonization plans will help accelerate infrastructure investment of £100 billion ($126 billion) after the U.K. overhauls the capital adequacy rules for insurers, a report said on Monday.
-
February 19, 2024
No Room For Doubt Over Madagascan Aide Bribery, Jury Told
The way a former top aide of the Madagascan president asked about payments "removes any room for doubt" that she knew she was soliciting bribes to secure mining rights for a U.K. gem company, prosecutors told a jury Monday.
-
February 19, 2024
Lawyers For LC&F Chief Quit 'Ponzi Scheme' Trial Over Pay
Lawyers representing a former chief at London Capital & Finance walked out on the first day of a trial at a London court over the £237 million ($298 million) investment scandal, saying that one of the directors of the alleged Ponzi scheme was unable to pay him.
-
February 19, 2024
Bank Of Georgia Offers $303.6M For Armenian Lender
Bank of Georgia said Monday that it has agreed to buy an Armenian bank for around $303.6 million in a deal guided by Baker McKenzie and Travers Smith LLP as it seeks to grow beyond the national Georgian market.
-
February 19, 2024
AmTrust Hikes Counterclaim To £14M In Legal-Funding Fight
Insurer AmTrust has boosted its counterclaim against Novitas to £14.4 million ($18.1 million), alleging it paid out to the legal loans company under after-the-event litigation policies that were unenforceable and did not comply with regulations.
-
February 19, 2024
Santander Launches €1.5B Share Buyback After Profit Gains
Banco Santander SA said on Monday it will reward investors with a new program to repurchase shares of up to €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion).
-
February 19, 2024
ECB Imposes Stricter Bank Asset Rules For Climate Risk
The European Central Bank updated its guidance Monday on models used by banks to gauge risks to assets, adding new requirements on climate and environmental exposures.
Expert Analysis
-
High Court Ruling Clarifies Notice Under Swaps Agreement
The English High Court's recent decision in Macquarie v. Phelan Energy, the first judgment to consider the validity of a failure-to-pay notice under the 2002 International Swaps and Derivatives Association master agreement, gives important guidance to financial institutions and derivatives trading participants about the level of accuracy required in those notices, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
-
The FTX Fallout So Far And What May Come Next
While the downfall of FTX is likely to cause substantial losses and lead to extensive litigation, it will hopefully precipitate a renewed focus on regulating the crypto market in a responsible way that gives more protection to consumers, says Dan Wyatt at RPC.
-
A Look At The Swath Of Claims Amazon Faces Worldwide
The increasing number of claims against Amazon may well be a sign of the EU regulatory regime on the horizon for digital gatekeepers and the developing area of collective proceedings in the U.K., says David Greene at Edwin Coe.
-
Link Ruling Shows FCA's Wide Change-In-Control Powers
The Financial Conduct Authority's recent decision regarding the proposed acquisition of Link Fund Solutions is a reminder that the regulator has significant powers to attach conditions to its approvals and the advent of the Financial Services and Markets Bill could lead to the widening of those powers, say Charlotte Hill and Daniel Hirschfield at Taylor Wessing.
-
Understanding The EU's New Foreign Subsidies Regulation
The European Parliament’s newly adopted Foreign Subsidies Regulation extends already wide-ranging European Union state aid powers and adds new layers of deal conditionality, so companies will need to carefully consider how the regulation may affect their EU-bound activities, say Peter Camesasca and Sophie Bertin at Covington.
-
Hard Insurance Market Will Influence Legal Industry, Economy
As the cost of claims starts to outstrip the value of premiums, insurers are denying more claims and considering scaling back coverage, leading to an influx of legal work and potential holes in the market, says Bruce Hepburn at Mactavish.
-
Digital Nomads: Key Considerations For Global Businesses
As employers and employees embrace remote, location-independent work arrangements enabled by technology, they must be mindful of the employment law and tax consequences such arrangements may trigger, say Hannah Wilkins and Audrey Elliott at Eversheds Sutherland.
-
Navigating Newly Expanded English Jurisdictional Gateways
With a recent significant change, the English courts' territorial jurisdiction is now primarily controlled by the question of whether England is the proper place to bring the claim, so parties to cross-border disputes seeking to resist the jurisdiction of the English courts should focus their arguments on this battleground, say Antony Corsi and Gill Davy at Norton Rose.
-
New License Eases Sanctioned Clients' Legal Fee Payments
The general license recently issued by the U.K. Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation permitting the payment of legal fees owed by a sanctioned company or individual will potentially reduce the agency's backlog and is welcome news for both lawyers and OFSI staff, say Zulfi Meerza and Syed Rahman at Rahman Ravelli.
-
Preparation Is Key To Businesses Minimizing Cyber Breaches
A recently published report by the U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on organizational experiences of cybersecurity breaches highlights the importance of having breach response policies in place and being able to demonstrate that reasonable preventive and risk management steps were taken, says Lawson Caisley at White & Case.
-
Scope Of Brexit Freedoms Bill Unclear For Financial Services
The revocation provisions of the recently published Brexit Freedoms Bill do not apply to legislation affected by the Financial Services and Markets Bill, and the complex overlay between the two pieces of legislation may lead to uncertainty for the financial services industry, say Barney Reynolds and Thomas Donegan at Shearman.
-
UK Policyholders Can Expect Better COVID Claims Handling
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority recently outlined some best practices for COVID-19 business interruption claims handling, which, along with recent High Court of Justice decisions, will likely lead to faster claims handling and clearer insurer communication, say Gurpreet Sanghera and Charlie Edwards at Simkins.
-
EU Basel III Bank Reforms May Weaken Securities Market
Recent proposals from the Council of the European Union's review of Basel III bank capital regulatory reforms did not adopt substantive changes urged by the market for the securitization framework, and may have a dampening effect on the competitiveness of European securitizations, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.
-
What To Expect From EU's Data Governance Act
The European Commission's Data Governance Act, which will go into effect next September, marks a clear step forward for data regulation in the EU, but some confusion remains regarding which companies will be considered data intermediation services, say attorneys at Pierstone.
-
FCA Holds The Cards Where Redress Schemes Are Concerned
The recent U.K. High Court Amigo Loans decision shows the Financial Conduct Authority's willingness to engage with a proposed redress scheme or oppose it where necessary, and highlights the agency's unique power to allow business to continue in these cases, say Frances Coulson and Christopher Burt at Wedlake Bell.