Financial Services UK

Individual cryptocurrency coins on view on a black surface.

How Mishcon Helped Uncover £5.6B Money Laundering Plot

Law360 examines here how a suspicious activity report raised by Mishcon de Reya about a client's attempted transactions served as the catalyst for one of the biggest cryptocurrency seizures in British history.

FCA Oversight Spells Tougher AML Scrutiny For Law Firms

The Financial Conduct Authority's new powers to police lawyers and other professionals could place law firms under a heightened supervisory regime similar to that of banks and other high-risk financial institutions, experts say.

'Name And Shame' Test Case Ruling Could Embolden FCA

Financial services companies should be ready to engage with consumers when faced with enforcement action, in a lesson from a test case of the reasoning behind a Financial Conduct Authority decision to "name and shame" a company that could encourage bolder naming actions, lawyers said.

'A Rare Case': How Credit Suisse Missed Out In Greensill Trial

The failure by Credit Suisse to claw back any money from Softbank over a restructuring agreement involving Greensill Capital is a rare example of a creditor succeeding in proving its legal case — only for the court to hold back any remedy.

November 17, 2025
UK Life Insurers Show Resilience In 2025 Stress Tests

The Bank of England said Monday that it has found in a stress test that major life insurers can withstand large market shocks — but some are unprepared for risky outcomes from transferring responsibility for pension payouts through funded reinsurance.
November 17, 2025
Trafigura Accuses Gupta Of $600M Sham Nickel Trade At Trial

Trading company Trafigura told the High Court on Monday that Prateek Gupta and his companies defrauded it out of $600 million in a sham nickel trade, opening a long-awaited trial over Trafigura's purchase of purported nickel shipments that turned out to be "worthless."
November 17, 2025
Ex-McFaddens Client Can't Revive Late Loan Advice Claim

A former client of McFaddens LLP cannot revive her claim that the law firm gave her negligent advice over a missold loan, after a judge ruled Monday that her filing key details of the case late was "a serious and significant" breach.
November 17, 2025
CMS, Freshfields Steer £600M Aviva, Wolseley Pension Deal

Wolseley Group, the U.K.'s largest specialist merchant for plumbing, heating, cooling and infrastructure products, has offloaded pension liabilities worth £600 million ($790 million) to insurance giant Aviva in a deal guided by Freshfields and CMS, the insurer said Monday.
November 17, 2025
Fraudulent Insurance Claims Continue To Top £1B A Year

Fraudulent claims in the U.K. general insurance sector rose again in 2024, with those linked to motor cover driving much of the increase, the Association of British Insurers warned on Monday.
November 17, 2025
Hacker Ordered To Forfeit £4M In Crypto After Twitter Heist

A London court has ordered an aspiring web developer to pay back £4.1 million ($5.4 million) worth of cryptocurrency after he was convicted of hacking high-profile Twitter accounts and money laundering in the U.S.
November 17, 2025
SocGen To Launch An Additional €1B Share Buyback Program

Société Générale said Monday it will roll out a new €1 billion ($1.2 billion) share repurchase program, a move expected to lower its outstanding share capital.
November 14, 2025
Trafigura's $600M Fraud Trial To Test Metals-Trading Practices

Metals magnate Prateek Gupta will face trial in London on Nov. 17 over allegations that he and his companies perpetrated "systematic fraud" against Trafigura, with the trading company alleging that Gupta cheated it out of $600 million in a nickel fraud scheme.
November 14, 2025
Billionaire Used Spy To Extract Privileged Info From Solicitor

Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego used a private intelligence agent to dupe a law firm partner into divulging privileged and confidential information about a man Salinas claims defrauded him out of more than $415 million, a London court has found.
November 14, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen Freeths face a professional negligence claim from a Scottish car dealership, Rolls-Royce sue logistics giant Kuehne + Nagel, and a team of Oberon Investments Group investment managers sued by their former employer.
November 14, 2025
Finance Must Up Green Transition Role, Int'l Rulemakers Say

The world's financial systems "cannot remain abstract" and must reorient to meet climate and nature preservation goals, a platform of global policymakers warned Friday.
November 14, 2025
UK Compensation Program To Slash Annual Levy To £342M

The Financial Services Compensation Scheme said it is on track to slash £14 million ($18.4 million) from its levy on businesses in 2026 as it predicts that claims against pension providers will fall.
November 14, 2025
EU To Boost Cooperation Among Enforcers To Fight Tax Fraud

The European Union pledged on Friday to bolster its fight against massive tax fraud that costs approximately €89 billion ($103 billion) across the bloc each year by rolling out a plan to deepen cross-border cooperation.
November 14, 2025
BoE Weighs New Role For Capital Markets In Life Insurance

The Bank of England said Friday it is considering ways in which life insurance companies can package risk for private investors in a bid to further boost the rapidly growing industry.
November 14, 2025
Denmark Has Until Dec. 12 To Appeal £1.4B Cum-Ex Defeat

Denmark has 28 days to try to revive its £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) case over a tax fraud allegedly orchestrated by convicted hedge fund trader Sanjay Shah, a judge said Friday as he gave full reasons for refusing permission to appeal.
November 14, 2025
Foot Anstey-Led Biz Adviser FRP Buys Consultancy For £6.6M

Advisory Group FRP said Friday that it has bought real estate consultancy Arc & Co. for £6.6 million ($8.7 million) in cash and shares as it continues to broaden the range of services it offers.
November 13, 2025
Trump To Pardon UK Billionaire Lewis For Insider Trading

President Donald Trump has agreed to pardon 88-year-old British billionaire Joseph Lewis, who was sentenced to three years of probation for feeding nonpublic stock tips to his girlfriend and private-jet pilots.
November 13, 2025
ECJ Rules VAT Exemption Can't Hinge On Missing Documents

European Union member states cannot deny value-added tax exemptions solely due to improperly filed paperwork if companies can still prove that they sold cross-border goods within the bloc, the EU's top court ruled Thursday.
November 13, 2025
Investor Loses Claim Over £4M Lost In Redevelopment Failure

A London court struck out on Thursday an investor's claim that he lost his £4 million ($5 million) investment in a central London property redevelopment because of the managers' flawed business plan, finding him barred from claiming damages as a shareholder in the project.
November 13, 2025
VTB Says OFSI Destroyed Its £188M UK Unit Recovery

Russia's VTB Bank argued at a London court Thursday that the U.K.'s sanctions authority had wrongly attempted to block it from recovering anything from the administration of its British subsidiary, arguing that it should have been given a chance to make its case.
November 13, 2025
Broker Says Asset Manager Owes Unpaid Finder's Fees

Investment broker Musst Holdings Ltd. said Thursday that an asset manager owed it unpaid finder's fees for $85 million in investments Musst had facilitated.
November 13, 2025
FCA Warns CFD Firms Over Unfair Consumer Practices

The Financial Conduct Authority on Thursday warned some providers of a type of financial bet called contracts for difference are failing to provide "fair value" for U.K. consumers.
November 13, 2025
A&O Shearman Settles £93M Negligence Claim Against BNY

A&O Shearman has settled its case that alleged that Bank of New York Mellon caused Nationwide Building Society to face a £93 million ($122 million) tax bill by bungling the issuance of notes, the parties confirmed on Thursday.
November 13, 2025
BoE, Singapore, Thailand Explore Safer Forex Settlements

The central banks of the U.K., Singapore and Thailand said Thursday that they have started to test new ways to exchange foreign currencies safely and instantly.
November 13, 2025
Osborne Clarke-Led Finance Biz In Buyout Talks With Rival

Financial services company Team is discussing a potential all-share takeover of U.K. rival WH Ireland Group PLC, the companies confirmed on Thursday.

Editor's Picks

5 Questions For Spencer West Partner Karl Foster

The Financial Conduct Authority's approach to enforcement and consumer protection has come up against government economic growth priorities and resistance from the sector to its proposals to "name and shame" companies early on during regulatory probes.
UK Draft Pay Fraud Rules Open Tricky Legal Liabilities

The government's new draft legislation, which will give banks longer to investigate suspicions of fraud before they send payments instructed by customers, will create a wave of new legal liabilities and lead to regulatory hurdles, according to lawyers.
FCA Fires Warning Shot Over City's Consumer Duty Failings

The Financial Conduct Authority has sent out a fresh warning to financial services companies highlighting how some of them are failing to comply with its Consumer Duty regime. But experts have told Law360 that the expectations are unclear.

Expert Analysis

FCA Proposals Reduce Consumer Duty Compliance Burden

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent proposals to streamline the consumer duty regime represent a pragmatic response to industry concerns, with a move toward sector-specific supervision and potentially narrowing its scope for wholesale and cross-border business, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
How New Companies House ID Rules Affect Businesses

Lawyers at Shepherd & Wedderburn discuss the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act’s new mandatory identity verification requirements for all company directors and persons with significant control, set to go live next week, which aim to curb fraud by improving the reliability of information held by Companies House.
What EU Securitization Proposals Signal For Risk Transfers

If implemented, recent amendments to the European Union securitization framework are expected to have an unambiguously positive effect on significant risk transfer markets, providing greater consistency and necessary flexibility, say lawyers at McDermott.
Role Of UK Investment Act Is Evolving In M&A Deals

With merger and acquisition activity likely to increase in light of the government’s new defense industrial strategy, the role of the National Security and Investment Act will come into sharper focus, and its recent annual report confirms that scrutiny is intensifying, say lawyers at Kingsley Napley.
What To Know About EU's Reimposition Of Sanctions On Iran

Lawyers at Steptoe discuss the European Union’s recent reimposition of trade and financial sanctions against Iran, which will introduce legal and operational constraints that affect EU companies' commercial activities in the region.
FCA Crypto Proposals Herald Tougher Oversight For Firms

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent proposals to extend regulation to crypto-asset activities will bring parity, but implementation of the operational resilience requirements and enhanced financial crime controls will present compliance challenges, says Michelle Kirschner at Gibson Dunn.
EU Investment Reporting Rules Letup Signals Pragmatic Shift

While investment companies remain subject to far-reaching disclosure obligations under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, new guidance from the European Commission on reporting passive limited partner commitments represents a drastic simplification and burden reduction, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.
SFO's 2-Year Transformation Signals Crackdown On Fraud

Two years after Nick Ephgrave’s appointment as director of the Serious Fraud Office, the introduction of new corporate criminal offenses and strengthened investigative methods sends a clear message to corporations that the agency is delivering on its promise to be bolder and more proactive about tackling fraud, say lawyers at BCL Solicitors.
How EU And UK Consumer Loan Protections Are Shifting

As market evolution and digitalization motivate both the European Union and the U.K. to revamp consumer protections around lending, the potential for divergence between these rules will pose new challenges for cross-border consumer credit lenders, say lawyers at Skadden.
EBA Guidance Shakes Up EU Securitization Market Practices

Although the European Banking Authority’s recent questioning of the common use of conditional sale agreements to season assets when setting up securitizations has come as an unwelcome surprise, competent regulators are expected to follow the EBA guidance, even though as a Q&A response it is not legally binding, say lawyers at Debevoise.
Landmark VAT Ruling Should Shift HMRC Reply On Guidance

The recent decision in Hotelbeds Ltd. v. Revenue and Customs Commissioners on the recovery of input tax, confirming that HMRC is bound to comply with its own guidance, will make the agency rethink its usual response to allegations that the policy was not law, say lawyers at Kennedys.
Evolving General Partner Stakes Market Brings Opportunities

The rapid increase in investment in general partner stakes by private capital managers indicates its advantages over both strategic sales and initial public offerings, including the ability to retain greater operational control over the business and to avoid the scrutiny that accompanies a listing, says Nicholas Page at Macfarlanes.
How UK Proposal On Late Payments Could Affect SMEs

The U.K. government’s ongoing late payments consultation would claw back much-needed leverage for small and midsize enterprises negotiating with large organizations, should the reforms be implemented as proposed, say lawyers at Shoosmiths.
Waldorf Ruling Signals Recalibration For Restructuring Plans

The recent High Court landmark judgment refusing to sanction Waldorf Production PLC's restructuring plan underscores a change in the way courts assess whether such plans are fair, indicating not their demise but a pivotal moment in their evolution, say lawyers at Simpson Thacher.
Key Points From UK And Japan's Antitrust Cooperation Pact

The memorandum of cooperation recently signed between the U.K. and Japan to promote collaboration in competition law enforcement is a meaningful step that offers cross-border businesses an improved foundation for earlier alignment and better risk management, say lawyers at Steptoe.