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Financial Services UK
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February 23, 2024
Allianz To Launch €1B Buyback, Boost 2023 Dividend
Allianz SE has announced a new share buyback program worth up to €1 billion ($1.1 billion), alongside plans to raise its dividend as it looks to increase its returns to shareholders.
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February 23, 2024
Swiss Watchdog Launches New Unregulated Fund Category
The financial watchdog of Switzerland said on Friday that the Bern government will launch a new category of investment fund which will be exempt from regulation, in a bid to make the country more attractive for the sector.
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February 23, 2024
Pensions Regulator To Rejig Oversight Of Workplace Schemes
The Pensions Regulator has said it will create three new regulatory functions as part of a strategic overhaul it said would meet the demands of a changing marketplace of fewer, but larger schemes.
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February 23, 2024
Compensation Scheme To Cover £38M Pensions Transfer Cost
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has said that it has put up £38 million ($48 million) so that clients of a failed pension provider would not take a hit when transferring their long-term savings elsewhere.
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February 23, 2024
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.
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February 23, 2024
Standard Chartered To Return $1B To Shareholders
Standard Chartered PLC said on Friday it will return up to $1 billion to its shareholders with a new share repurchase plan after the multinational lender announced a rise in profits for the 2023 calendar year.
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February 22, 2024
Spain Allowed To Reclaim Illegal Aid Given To Ship Buyers
Spain can reclaim the financial benefits given to beneficiaries of a tax scheme that gave illegal state aid to purchasers of ships built in Spanish shipyards, the European Union's General Court has ruled.
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February 22, 2024
Upcoming Election Hampering Net-Zero Progress, MPs say
A looming general election is hindering attempts by policymakers to introduce or consult on green policies, while risking Britain's broader transition to an environment-friendly economy, a cross-party group of MPs said Friday.
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February 22, 2024
NatWest Settles £60M VAT Fraud Case Ahead Of Retrial
NatWest Markets PLC and liquidators for several defunct trading companies have settled a £60 million ($75.9 million) dispute over whether the bank is liable for a huge value-added tax fraud scheme ahead of a retrial.
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February 22, 2024
Transneft Ordered To Halt Bid To Block $14B Conspiracy Claim
The world's largest oil pipeline company has been ordered by a London court to pause its legal action trying to force an imprisoned Russian oligarch to drop his $13.8 billion claim alleging his business empire was unlawfully seized in a sprawling Russian state conspiracy.
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February 22, 2024
Fired Fund Exec Gets Deposit Order Axed In Harassment Feud
A tribunal was too quick to impose a deposit order and decide that a compliance chief is unlikely to succeed in his £2 million ($2.53 million) claim that an investment fund unfairly axed him after a member of its legal and compliance departments accused him of sexual harassment, an appeals judge has ruled.
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February 22, 2024
UK Audit Sector's Stewardship Code Gains Support
Britain's audit regulator said there are now 273 companies signed up to the Stewardship Code, ahead of its review this year following corporate governance rule changes.
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February 22, 2024
Gang Jailed For 'Industrial Scale' Money Laundering Operation
Four members of a gang that sent £26 million ($33 million) in dirty money to Dubai by depositing illegal cash at banks have been jailed for a combined 22 years, the U.K.'s tax authority said Thursday.
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February 22, 2024
A&O Hires 5-Person Structured Finance Team From Milbank
Allen & Overy LLP has recruited a team of five structured finance specialists from Milbank LLP in London as the clock ticks down to its imminent merger with Shearman & Sterling LLP.
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February 22, 2024
Going Broke Is Top Concern For Retirement Clients
More than 70% of financial advisers report their retirement clients fear they will outlast their money, according to research published Thursday by insurer Aegon UK.
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February 22, 2024
I'm Victim Of Morgan Stanley's Abuse, Ex-Frasers CEO Says
Former Frasers chief executive Mike Ashley told a London court on Thursday that he was "a victim of Morgan Stanley's abuse" as he claims that the bank was motivated by "snobbery" when it hit the retail group with a margin call of almost $1 billion.
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February 22, 2024
Lloyds Bank To Return £2B To Investors As Profit Soars
British lender Lloyds Banking Group PLC said on Thursday that it will reward shareholders with a £2 billion ($2.5 billion) buyback program, following a growth in profits of 57%.
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February 22, 2024
Lloyds Sets Aside £450M For FCA Car Finance Probe
Lloyds Banking Group said Thursday that it has set aside £450 million ($570 million) for potential legal expenses and compensation costs from a Financial Conduct Authority investigation into its past car-financing practices.
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February 22, 2024
Argentina Must Pay Upfront In €1.3B Payment Challenge
Argentina must make an upfront payment if it wants to challenge a ruling forcing it to pay out €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) to bondholders for wrongly adjusting the way it calculates yields for government securities, an appeals court ruled Thursday.
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February 22, 2024
Zurich To Reward Shareholders With $5B After Record Profit
Swiss insurance heavyweight Zurich said on Thursday that it will return a total of $5 billion to shareholders after recording a record $7.4 billion operating profit for 2023.
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February 21, 2024
NY Judges Question Lehman's Bid To Undo CDS Trial Loss
A panel of New York appeals court judges on Wednesday appeared reluctant to undo a bench trial loss Lehman Bros.' bankrupt European unit suffered last year in a suit attempting to clawback nearly half a billion dollars from Assured Guaranty over alleged losses on credit default swaps tied to the 2008 financial crisis.
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February 21, 2024
Morgan Stanley Accused Of 'Snobbery' Over $1B Margin Call
Frasers Group told a London court Wednesday that Morgan Stanley hit it with an almost $1 billion margin call to force the British retailer off its books out of "snobbery" because it viewed Frasers' CEO as "an upstart."
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February 21, 2024
Money Laundering Checks No Evidence Of Crime, Court Hears
A British-Chinese woman accused of laundering bitcoin converted from a £5 billion ($6.32 billion) investment fraud made several online searches about money laundering after being stopped by customs officials, a London jury heard on Wednesday.
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February 21, 2024
Ex-Linklaters Atty Owes Saudi Royal $25M Over Missing Fund
A former Linklaters LLP partner must pay at least $25 million after failing to return an investment fund to a Saudi princess, a London judge ruled Wednesday — but the final bill could reach nearly $40 million.
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February 21, 2024
Pitmans Can't Strike Out Negligent Pension Advice Claim
Pitmans Solicitors, BDB Pitmans' predecessor, has failed to strike out allegations that it gave former clients negligent advice on a pension scheme, after a London court found Wednesday that it is "clearly in the interests of justice" that the case proceed against it.
Expert Analysis
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EU Beneficial Owners' Privacy Ruling Conflicts With UK Law
A recent decision by the Court of Justice of the EU to strike down a requirement for registers of corporates’ beneficial owners to be available to the public is an example of EU-U.K. divergence, with the EU valuing privacy over transparency and the U.K. making the opposite calculation, says John Binns at BCL.
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How Overseas Property Verification Poses Risks To Attorneys
The recently launched register of overseas entities, requiring verification of foreign owners hoping to purchase U.K. property, could expose attorneys to criminal prosecution, professional negligence claims and reputational damage if they do not complete these checks to the required standard, which nevertheless remains murky, says Harriet Holmes at Thirdfort.
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Lessons That May Be Learned From The Demise Of Made.com
With Made.com going into administration, companies that may face similar challenges should take on board that the earlier adequate preemptive planning is considered, the more financial and legal options there will be to avoid last minute firefighting and to focus instead on strengthening the business, says Eleni Michaela at Faegre Drinker.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.