Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Financial Services UK
-
March 11, 2024
Insolvency Service Makes Progress on Gender Pay, Diversity
Discrepancies in salaries between men and women at the Insolvency Service narrowed further by five percentage points in 2023, the bankruptcy administrator has revealed in its latest gender pay gap report, with women now making up more than half of its workforce.
-
March 18, 2024
Taylor Wessing Hires Investment Funds Pro From Reed Smith
Taylor Wessing LLP has hired Shervin Shameli from Reed Smith LLP as partner in its London office to bolster its investment business.
-
March 11, 2024
Global Standards-Setter Sets Deposit Insurance Review
The International Association of Deposit Insurers said Monday that it will focus its 2024 efforts on updating the rules for deposit insurance, including studying how it works, collecting more data on it and helping members improve their systems.
-
March 11, 2024
Danish Prosecutors Open Tax Fraud Trial Against Sanjay Shah
Prosecutors in Denmark opened the criminal trial on Monday of a British hedge fund trader accused of masterminding a £1.44 billion ($1.85 billion) tax fraud scheme.
-
March 11, 2024
FCA Ends Eight-Year Probe Into Former Mobile App Co. Execs
The Financial Conduct Authority has ended its civil court proceedings against two former executives of Globo, nine years after the mobile software developer fell into administration amid allegations of accounting fraud.
-
March 11, 2024
FCA Allows Crypto Exchange-Traded Notes For Professionals
The Financial Conduct Authority said on Monday that it will allow exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange to list crypto-backed investment products, but only for professional investors.
-
March 11, 2024
Dentons Defeats SRA Over AML Checks On PEP Client
A London tribunal confirmed on Monday that it has dismissed the Solicitors Regulation Authority's action against the U.K. arm of Dentons over the firm's handling of anti-money laundering checks on a politically exposed former client.
-
March 11, 2024
FCA Fines British Steel Pensions Firm, Bans Advisers
The finance watchdog said Monday that it has hit a financial advice company with a fine and banned two former employees after discovering failures by the business when it put through £90 million ($115 million) of retirement savings transfers for members of the British Steel Pension Scheme.
-
March 08, 2024
FCA To Boost Fight Against Nonfinancial Misconduct
The Financial Conduct Authority said Friday it would ramp up its fight against bullying and sexual harassment in the financial services sector in light of a damning parliamentary report condemning efforts to tackle sexism in the financial services sector.
-
March 08, 2024
NFT Platform Beats Rival's 'HyperNFT' TM
An NFT platform has convinced U.K. intellectual property officials to scrap a rival's trademark for "HyperNFT," finding that consumers were likely to believe that they belonged to the same company.
-
March 08, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Barclays initiate legal proceedings against top Russian private bank JSC Alfa-Bank; Lex Greensill, founder of the collapsed Greensill Capital, suing the U.K.'s Department for Business and Trade; Wikipedia's parent company hit with a libel claim; and a sports journalism teacher filing a data protection claim against Manchester United FC. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
-
March 08, 2024
Slaughter And May Guides PE Firm's £432M Wealth Firm Buy
Pollen Street Capital said Friday that its subsidiary has agreed to fully buy out Mattioli Woods, a wealth management company, for approximately £432 million ($556 million), as the U.K. private equity investor looks to capture a slice of the lucrative sector.
-
March 08, 2024
Azeri Tycoon Can't Shift Freeze On £50M UK Property Empire
A High Court Judge refused Friday to lift a freeze on a £50 million ($64 million) London property empire belonging to an Azeri tycoon and politician allegedly purchased with illicit cash while U.K. law enforcers plan their next move.
-
March 08, 2024
Gov't Sets Out 'Social Factors' Guide For Pension Investment
The pensions watchdog has urged retirement fund managers to weigh social factors, such as labor rights and the safety of workers, as part of their investment considerations.
-
March 08, 2024
'Aggressive' Cold-Calling Firm Shut For Targeting Pensioners
A company that used "aggressive techniques" when selling unnecessary home service and maintenance plans to vulnerable pensioners has been wound up for targeting and misleading elderly customers.
-
March 08, 2024
'Non-Dom' Tax Reforms Should Keep UK Lawyers Busy
The government's decision to reform its 200-year-old "non-dom" tax regime to raise £2.7 billion ($3.4 billion) a year presents a short-term boom for tax lawyers expecting a rush of calls from existing and future clients looking for guidance on a new set of rules.
-
March 07, 2024
Efforts To Tackle Sexism In City Moving At 'Snail's Pace'
A group of senior MPs called on Friday for an end to the "era of impunity" in the country's financial sector, saying that efforts to tackle sexism in the City are moving at a "snail's pace" and ignoring the benefits of diversity.
-
March 07, 2024
Dentons Says It Was Not Required To Refuse PEP Client
The U.K. arm of Dentons argued at tribunal Thursday that it had done enough to establish how an ex-client had earned his wealth, saying it was not required to refuse service because his home country had a higher risk of corruption and money laundering.
-
March 07, 2024
UK Launches Case To Disqualify Lex Greensill As A Director
The U.K. government said Thursday that it is seeking to disqualify Lex Greensill, the founder of collapsed finance company Greensill Capital, from running another company for 15 years.
-
March 07, 2024
Visa, Mastercard Fail To Ax Retailers' Swipe Fees Class Action
An English appeals court Thursday said the U.K.'s antitrust tribunal was entitled to have approved a proposed class action against Visa and Mastercard over allegedly unfairly imposing interchange rules on retailers, finding it had a "broad margin of discretion" over case management decisions.
-
March 07, 2024
Irish Central Bank Plans Modernized Consumer Protection
The Central Bank of Ireland opened a consultation on Thursday on plans to modernize the Consumer Protection Code and clarify the obligations financial companies face for managing such risks as climate change.
-
March 07, 2024
Libor Convictions Like Post Office Scandal, Lawmakers Say
The prosecution of traders over rigging of benchmark interest rates was a "miscarriage of justice" similar to the Post Office scandal, two politicians said on Thursday, a week before two former bankers challenge their convictions in a landmark appeal.
-
March 07, 2024
Slaughter & May Advises Nationwide's £2.9B Virgin Money Bid
Nationwide Building Society said Thursday that it plans to buy Virgin Money UK in a £2.9 billion ($3.7 billion) cash deal that would create the second-largest mortgage and savings provider in Britain.
-
March 06, 2024
FCA Did Not Unfairly Fire Staffer Amid Harassment Probe
The U.K.'s financial watchdog did not unfairly sack a supervisor based on his race after an internal investigation held that he had harassed another employee, a London appeals tribunal has ruled.
-
March 06, 2024
PE Firm Continues Shedding Stake In Ads Biz For £47M
An investment company backed by private equity firm Apax Partners said Wednesday that it has diluted its stake in online classifieds group Baltic Classifieds Group PLC and raised £47.3 million ($60.2 million) in the process.
Expert Analysis
-
How Changes To 'Acting In Concert' Will Affect UK Takeovers
The recent changes made to the rules by the U.K. Takeover Panel on who is presumed to be acting in concert will be of most interest to parties proposing to make a bid for a U.K. listed company, and give welcome clarity as to how the U.K. takeover regime operates, say attorneys at Herbert Smith.
-
Crypto And The Potential For Insider Dealing Offense
Recent cases have raised concerns about crypto providing new opportunities for insider dealing, and while it isn't more vulnerable to schemes than any other security, the lack of regulation and the newness of the technology exasperate its susceptibility to insider trading and potential criminal offense, say Adam Craggs and Alice Kemp at RPC.
-
UK Ruling Guides On Appropriation Of Financial Collateral
While a London court’s recent ruling in ABT Auto Investments v. Aapico sets out practical guidelines for enforcement of security over financial collateral by appropriation — particularly amid a breakdown of relations with the collateral provider — a recently proposed bill could mean the future of this method is in question, say Bruce Johnston and Paul Denham at Morgan Lewis.
-
How Lenders And Borrowers Can Prepare For Libor's End
While the end of Libor in just over three months isn't expected to greatly affect the syndicated loan market, borrowers and lenders should check their agreements for fallback provisions and references to Libor in order to implement the applicable benchmark replacement, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.
-
Key Points In Draft EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation
The draft implementing regulation on EU foreign subsidy control provides eagerly awaited guidance on the submission of mandatory notifications, but there are still many open questions, say Paul van den Berg and Merit Olthoff at Freshfields.
-
Sanctions Enforcement Around The G-7: View From The US
The recent creation of the G-7 Enforcement Coordination Mechanism, to be chaired by the U.S. in its first year, signals that companies should prepare for increased enforcement of Russia sanctions and better coordination of such efforts among member nations, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.
-
Danske Bank Deal Offers Corporate Compensation Warning
The recent Danske Bank settlement opens doors for aggressive prosecution of fraud committed against U.S. banks that maintain correspondent relationships and instructs companies to implement compensation systems restricting executive bonuses in response to misconduct, say Michael Volkov and Alexander Cotoia at The Volkov Law Group.
-
Why UK Bitcoin Ruling Is Important To The Digital Asset World
The recent U.K. Court of Appeal decision in Tulip Trading v. Van der Laan, as the first to consider the scope of fiduciary duty in cryptocurrency software development, is a significant ruling with wide-ranging implications for the international crypto community, say Ellen Keenan-O'Malley and Mark Lubbock at EIP.
-
Key Aspects Of UK Proposal On 'Buy Now, Pay Later' Lending
HM Treasury is consulting on draft legislation that will bring "buy now, pay later" within the Financial Conduct Authority's regulatory perimeter, and firms will need to consider whether the proposed temporary permissions regime gives sufficient time to get to grips with the requirements, say James Black and Virginia Montgomery at Hogan Lovells.
-
What EU Cookie Consent Report Means For Website Owners
The European Data Protection Board’s recent report on website cookie banner practices provides a useful overview of what authorities consider to be problematic, and with more enforcement actions to be expected this year, website owners may use it to review their own policies, say Thibaut D'Hulst and Defne Örnek at Van Bael & Bellis.
-
Volatile Energy Prices Complicate Int'l Arbitration Damages
In the turbulent global energy market, international arbitration is a crucial tool for resolving cross-border disputes — but determining how, if at all, to account for recent energy price spikes when quantifying damages presents many challenges for tribunals, say attorneys at White & Case.
-
Navigating Adjudication And Insolvency After St. Philips Case
The U.K. Technology and Construction Court's recent judgment in J A Ball v. St. Philips Homes contains useful guidance on the enforcement of adjudicators' decisions by companies in administration and insolvent companies generally, say Michael Sadler and Gavin Hoccom at Browne Jacobson.
-
5 Crypto Considerations For UK Policymakers
A recent consultation paper from the U.K.'s HM Treasury about digital asset regulation has been touted as a cause for celebration, and while the wheels have been put into motion, there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to correctly regulating the U.K.'s cryptocurrency industry, says Oliver Linch at Bittrex Global.
-
Crypto-Asset Consultation Sets Out Direction Of Travel For UK
HM Treasury's phased approach in its recently published consultation on extending the U.K.'s future financial services regulatory regime for crypto-assets, although in many ways differing from parallel developments in the EU, is likely to be conducive to thoughtful policymaking, say attorneys at Cleary.
-
A Breakdown Of The SRA's Proposed New Fining Powers
Thanks to the Solicitors Regulation Authority's pending new fining framework, which includes guidance on unsuitable fines and a fixed penalties scheme for low-level breaches, firms can expect to see more disciplinary findings leading to an SRA fine rather than referral to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, say Graham Reid and Shanice Holder at RPC.