Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Financial Services UK
-
April 15, 2024
Skat Kicks Off £1.4B London Trial Against British Trader
A British trader was accused Monday of being the "mastermind" behind a fraudulent trading scheme that cost the Danish tax authority £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion) at the start of a year-long High Court trial.
-
April 15, 2024
European Banks Tell FCA To Prioritize Bond Data Rule Reform
A body representing large European banks has "strongly recommended" that the Financial Conduct Authority make any reforms to underlying rules causing high costs of data in bond markets without delay.
-
April 15, 2024
Home Insurers Paid Record £573M In Weather-Linked Claims
Devastating storms that swept through the U.K. in 2023 drove up weather-related insurance claims by more than a third, hitting a record of almost £573 million ($715 million), the trade body for the sector said on Monday.
-
April 15, 2024
BNP Paribas Buys 9% Stake In Insurer Ageas For €730M
French banking giant BNP Paribas said Monday that its insurance subsidiary has agreed to acquire a 9% stake in Belgian multinational insurer Ageas for approximately €730 million ($777 million) from Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group.
-
April 15, 2024
WTW Plans £450M Private Equity Long-Term Asset Fund
Insurance firm WTW said on Monday it plans to launch a new long-term asset fund with £450 million ($560 million) to focus on private equity investments.
-
April 15, 2024
Pension Protection Fund Has 'Crucial' Future Role, LCP Says
The Pension Protection Fund could play a crucial role in the "endgame" for defined benefit pension schemes as a state-backed consolidator of smaller retirement plans, a consultancy has said.
-
April 15, 2024
Avoiding Legal Pitfalls In M&A Deferred Pricing Deals
One of the worst markets for M&A dealmaking in a decade has spawned innovative pricing models such as deferred consideration arrangements for buyers and sellers to come to terms, but lawyers warn that these agreements have to be watertight to protect against future litigation.
-
April 12, 2024
Credit Suisse, Lloyds, Others Ink $3.5M Libor Deal
Plaintiffs in the yearslong suit alleging various big banks manipulated the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, have reached a $3.45 million settlement with Credit Suisse AG, Lloyds Bank and others, bringing the total settlement recovery amount to more than $780 million.
-
April 12, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen footwear brand Dr. Martens hit online retailer Temu with a passing off claim, Welsh soccer club Swansea sue its former head coach Russell Martin, Russian diamond tycoon Dmitry Tsvetkov file a claim against his former business Equix Group Ltd., and U.S. bank Omega Financial Corporation hit African oil and gas company Tende Energy with a claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
-
April 12, 2024
Denmark's £1.4B Tax Fraud Trial Heads For 'Uncharted Waters'
Denmark will open its £1.4 billion ($1.7 billion) dividend fraud case in London on Monday, beginning a yearlong trial that will have wide implications for other disputes arising out of the cum-ex trading scandal that has swept Europe.
-
April 12, 2024
Over 800 Directors Banned For COVID Loan Fraud In 1 Yr
A total of 831 company directors were banned in the last 12 months for defrauding the COVID loan support scheme for businesses following investigations by the Insolvency Service, the government agency said Friday.
-
April 12, 2024
FCA Warns Motor Financing Firms To Hold Enough Capital
Britain's financial watchdog warned lenders Friday to keep enough cash at all times for their motor financing business as the regulator continues to look into a recent increase in customer complaints.
-
April 12, 2024
Pension Body Warns Of 'Burdensome' New Reporting Rules
A U.K. pension industry body has called for new reporting regulations on the sector to be toned down, warning that the additional red tape could deter smaller schemes from taking steps to improve their investment strategies.
-
April 12, 2024
SocGen To Sell Moroccan Units To Investment Firm For €745M
Societe Generale SA said on Friday that it has agreed to sell its Moroccan banking and insurance businesses to private investor Saham Group SA for €745 million ($794 million) as part of its long-term ambition to streamline the company.
-
April 12, 2024
Clyde & Co. Must Face Ex-Client's Pared-Back Negligence Suit
Clyde & Co. LLP must face part of a construction magnate's negligence claim over a failed legal case concerning a soured investment, after a London judge tossed part of the case on Friday but ruled that one aspect of it had a real prospect of success.
-
April 11, 2024
Autonomy Became Less Transparent Before Sale, Jury Told
An ex-market analyst testifying Thursday in a California criminal trial over claims that former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch duped HP into buying the British company for $11.7 billion told jurors that the company became less forthcoming about some of its accounting a couple of years before the sale.
-
April 11, 2024
BlackRock Can't Deduct Interest On $4B, London Court Finds
Financial services firm BlackRock cannot deduct interest on $4 billion in loans it used for the 2009 purchase of Barclays Global Investors because avoiding taxes was the main reason for the way it structured the transaction, a London appeals court ruled Thursday.
-
April 11, 2024
Ex-Sidley Partner Says CPS Did Not Disclose Prosecution Info
A former Sidley Austin LLP partner, a former senior KPMG LLP official and a banking adviser have hit back at the Crown Prosecution Service in the men's £66 million ($82.8 million) claim over a failed tax fraud prosecution, arguing that their prosecutor hid important information from them.
-
April 11, 2024
Squire Patton Advises Broadstone Buy Of Credit Risk Co.
Broadstone said on Thursday it had acquired credit risk company Vestigo Partners Ltd., in a deal steered by Squire Patton Boggs and Harrison Clark Rickerbys.
-
April 11, 2024
Sanctions Targets Eye EU-UK Split As Appeals Stack Up
A court ruling on Wednesday, which upended the first round of European Union sanctions imposed on two Russian tycoons, contrasts with the approach taken by the English courts, where legal challenges to the restrictive measures have been repeatedly rebuffed.
-
April 11, 2024
Pension Schemes Moving Toward Net Zero, Watchdog Says
Britain's pensions watchdog said in a review published Thursday that retirement savings schemes have moved closer to achieving net-zero emissions standards in their portfolios by updating investment strategies and boosting allocations to low-carbon funds.
-
April 11, 2024
SocGen To Sell Equipment Finance Unit To Rival For €1.1B
French banking giant Societe Generale SA said Thursday that it has agreed to sell its professional equipment financing business to rival BPCE for €1.1 billion ($1.2 billion) to streamline the business and bolster its equity capital.
-
April 11, 2024
Squire Patton Steers £130M Mitsubishi Pension Deal
Insurer Just Group said Thursday it has signed off on a £130 million ($163 million) buy-in transaction for a scheme sponsored by Mitsubishi Chemical UK Ltd. in a deal guided by Squire Patton Boggs LLP.
-
April 11, 2024
FCA Finds Failings By Administrator Of Woodford Funds
The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday it has found that Link Fund Solutions failed to act with "due skill, care and diligence" when it was the authorized manager of the failed £3.7 billion ($4.6 billion) flagship fund managed by Neil Woodford.
-
April 10, 2024
No Merit To Autonomy Whistleblower Claims, Auditor Says
A Deloitte partner testifying in a California criminal trial over claims that former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch and finance director Stephen Chamberlain duped HP into buying the British tech company for $11.7 billion said Wednesday that auditors concluded that whistleblower allegations by a finance department executive were meritless.
Expert Analysis
-
Swiss Privacy Law Reforms Present Divergences From GDPR
The differences between Switzerland’s recently reformed Federal Act on Data Protection and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, particularly around data breach reporting and the liability of company officers, will need to be carefully managed by multinationals that may have competing obligations under different laws, say Kim Roberts and Vanessa Alarcon Duvanel at King & Spalding.
-
New Legislation May Not Be Needed For Recovery Of Crypto
The recent seizure of cryptocurrency under a civil recovery order raises the issue of whether extended powers under the forthcoming Economic Crime Bill are necessary, with the ability to seize crypto-related items that may be the subject of a search order more likely to be of assistance, says Nicola McKinney at Quillon Law.
-
Opinion
Russia Ruling Should Lead UK To Review Sanctions Policy
The High Court's recent dismissal of the first-ever court challenge to Russian sanctions in Shvidler v. Secretary of State sets a demanding standard for overturning designation decisions, highlighting the need for an independent review of the Russia sanctions regime, says Helen Taylor at Spotlight on Corruption.
-
German Competition Law May Herald New Enforcement Trend
The recent amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition is expected to significantly expand the powers of the German Federal Cartel Office, and could signal a global trend toward greater direct intervention by national competition authorities and political interference in competition law, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
-
New Financial Services Act Leaves Few Firms Untouched
The recently published Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, which replaces retained EU law with U.K. legislation, is one of the most significant pieces of post-Brexit regulation, with key practical implications for actors such as investment firms and crypto-asset and payment service providers, say Tim Cant, Emma Tran and Bisola Williams at Ashurst.
-
FCA 'De-Banking' Clampdown May Need Gov't Backing
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s recent clampdown on unfair bank account closures will give customers greater transparency, but with terms usually skewed in the bank’s favor, it is a policy matter for the government to enact further protections for businesses and consumers, say Stephen Rosen and Jean-Martin Louw at Collyer Bristow.
-
UK Securitization Reform Opts For Modest Approach, For Now
Recently published consultation papers from the U.K. Prudential Regulation and Financial Conduct Authorities on new securitization rules mainly restate retained EU law, but there are some targeted adjustments being proposed and further divergence is to be expected, say Alix Prentice and Assia Damianova at Cadwalader.
-
Examining PayPal's Venture Into The Stablecoin Market
PayPal’s recent release of a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar may represent a groundbreaking innovation or could fail as others have before it, and policymakers in the U.K. and the EU will be watching the impact of this new crypto token with a keen eye, say Ben Lee and Dion Seymour at Andersen.
-
High Court Dechert Ruling Offers Litigation Privilege Lessons
While the recent High Court ruling in Al Sadeq v. Dechert LLP, which concerned torture conspiracy allegations against the firm, held that litigation privilege can be claimed by a nonparty to proceedings, the exact boundaries of privilege aren't always clear-cut and may necessitate analyzing the underlying principles, says Scott Speirs at Norton Rose.
-
FCA Consumer Duty May Pose Enforcement Challenges
The new U.K. Financial Conduct Authority consumer duty sets higher standards of customer protection and transparency for financial services firms, but given the myriad products available across the sector, policing the regulations is going to be a challenging task, says Alessio Ianiello at Keller Postman.
-
UK Insolvency Reform Review Shows Measures Are Working
The U.K. Insolvency Service's recently published review of legislative reforms to the corporate insolvency regime demonstrates that despite being underutilized, the measures have been shown to help viable companies survive, and with the current difficult economic environment, will likely be an important aspect of organizational restructuring going forward, says Kirsten Fulton-Fleming at Taylor Wessing.
-
More UK Collective Actions On The Horizon After Forex Ruling
A U.K. appeals court's recent decision in Forex case Evans v. Barclays is likely to significantly widen the scope of opt-out collective proceedings that can be brought, paving the way for more class actions by prospective claimants who have previously been unable to bring individual claims, say Robin Henry and Tamara Davis at Collyer Bristow.
-
FCA Listing Reform Proposals Aim To Modernize UK Markets
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's recent proposals to reform listing rules will enhance equities while retaining protections and high governance standards, and will also make the capital markets work more efficiently and competitively with other global markets, say lawyers at Greenberg Traurig.
-
Takeaways From ICO's Action In NatWest Privacy Dispute
The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office's latest intervention in the Nigel Farage NatWest Bank dispute highlights the importance of the legal responsibilities of all data processors in possession of sensitive information, and is a reminder that upholding bank customers' privacy rights is paramount, says James Kelliher at Keller Postman.
-
How The OECD Global Tax Proposal Could Affect M&A
Following agreement on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Pillar Two proposal to introduce a global minimum tax, domestic implementation is expected to have a significant impact on international M&A transactions, with financial modeling, deal structuring, risk allocation and joint venture arrangements likely to be affected, say lawyers at Freshfields.