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Financial Services UK
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June 13, 2024
Payment Services Firm Launches £20M Share Buyback
PayPoint PLC said Thursday it will start an up to £20 million ($25.6 million) share repurchase program, part of a planned three-year buyback scheme aimed at rewarding shareholders.
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June 13, 2024
Labour Prioritizes Wealth Creation In Election Manifesto
Keir Starmer said on Thursday that his Labour Party would kick-start a future of "national renewal" if it wins the general election, with economic growth and wealth creation driving a manifesto that lacked any surprise headline pledges.
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June 12, 2024
Rimon Hires 5 Partners, Expands Global Transactions Team
A team of five partners focusing on transactional, finance and corporate matters has joined Rimon PC across several countries to represent investors, asset managers, credit funds and other clients.
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June 12, 2024
Ex-Serco Chair Says Contract Fraud 'Came Out Of The Blue'
Serco's former chair said at a London trial Wednesday that the scandal of its overbilling for government contracts left a "cloud" hanging over the outsourcing multinational, as the company clashes with investors seeking to recover their losses from the resulting plunge of its stock price.
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June 19, 2024
King & Spalding Hires 5 Finance Pros From Cadwalader In UK
King & Spalding LLP has boosted its partnership ranks in London with the hire of five finance lawyers from rival U.S. law firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP.
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June 12, 2024
Eurojust Dismantles €113M Fraudulent Investment Scheme
Police have taken down a €113 million ($122.2 million) pyramid fraud scheme based around crypto mining in an operation spanning several European countries, the Eurojust European law enforcement agency said on Wednesday.
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June 12, 2024
BHS Ruling A 'Coup For Liquidators' Over Director Duties
A landmark ruling that found two directors liable for the collapse of a U.K. retailer and ordered them to repay a chunk of the losses highlights the limited reliance that directors can place on professional advice and a lack of experience to avoid responsibility.
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June 12, 2024
EU Agrees To Bolster Retail Investor Protection
European Union negotiators agreed Wednesday on changes to rules on retail investor protection across the bloc, which would help get savings flowing into the economy.
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June 12, 2024
Gowling, Eversheds Steer £125M Med. Nonprofit Pension Deal
Pension insurance company Rothesay said it has completed a £125 million ($160 million) full scheme buy-in with a plan sponsored by The nonprofit Medical Protection Society Ltd., in a deal steered by Gowling WLG and Eversheds Sutherland.
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June 12, 2024
Argentina Loses Appeal Over €1.3B Payment In Bonds Dispute
Argentina cannot avoid paying out €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) to bondholders for wrongly adjusting the way it calculates yields for government securities as a London appeals court rejected on Wednesday its construction of a contractual dispute.
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June 12, 2024
Rule Changes Proposed To Revive EU Securitizations
A European body for financial institutions has warned that regulation is suffocating the securitization market as it proposed a five-point plan to revive it as part of the Capital Markets Union to get investments flowing across member states.
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June 12, 2024
Google's GPay TM Gets Declined In Europe
Google lost its appeal on Wednesday after seeking to revive its "GPay" trademark for electronic payment services as a European court ruled that a Bulgarian rival had already cornered the digital market with "ePay."
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June 12, 2024
Marsh Unit Buys $66B UK Pensions Provider Cardano
A unit of U.S. professional services giant Marsh McLennan has bought $66 billion U.K. pensions provider Cardano, in a deal guided by Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.
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June 11, 2024
UniCredit Overturns $69M Plane Payment Sanctions Ruling
UniCredit was entitled to withhold $69.3 million in payments to lessors for Russian planes because of sanctions, a London appellate court ruled Tuesday, partly overturning findings that it was not reasonable for the bank's U.K. branch to believe it could not make the payments.
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June 11, 2024
Deutsche Bank Trader Fights For Compensation 'Assurances'
Deutsche Bank executives gave "assurances" about compensation that the lender must now abide by, a former trader told the High Court in London on Tuesday as she sued for breach of contract.
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June 11, 2024
Serco Denies Directors Knew Of Fraud In Securities Trial
Serco Group PLC denied investors are entitled to compensation over a fraud that caused the outsourcing giant's share price to nosedive, arguing on the second day of a London trial Tuesday that none of its directors had known about the alleged wrongdoing.
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June 11, 2024
Klarna Gets 2nd Shot To Trim Startup's 'Klar' TM
Buy-now, pay-later giant Klarna has won another chance at restricting a German data analytics' "Klar" mark, after a European appeals board ruled the officials had not properly taken the fintech's reputation into account.
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June 11, 2024
Widow Who Signed Docs 'Without Reading' Still Owes $64M
A London appellate court has ruled that a former Hong Kong resident can't escape a personal guarantee to pay 500 million Hong Kong dollars ($64 million) to cover bonds issued by her husband's company, in part because she entered the contract for business purposes.
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June 11, 2024
Travers Smith Recruits Funds Partner From Blackstone
Travers Smith LLP said Tuesday that it had hired a retailization specialist from Blackstone Inc.'s credit and insurance arm as a partner, fortifying its ability to advise fund managers on products previously only available to financial institutions.
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June 11, 2024
Tory Tax Cut Plans Raise Questions On Funding Gaps
The prime minister unveiled plans for £17.2 billion ($21.8 billion) in tax cuts at the launch of the Conservative Party's election manifesto on Tuesday, but a headline cut of two percentage points in the payroll tax was put off for three years — and funding plans left some experts unconvinced.
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June 11, 2024
French Tax Law Challenged On Free Movement Grounds
The European Court of Justice is examining a French law regarding undeclared assets held outside the country to determine whether it is in line with the European Union's law respecting free movement of capital, the EU's official journal said.
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June 11, 2024
Shakespeare Martineau Adds Finance Pro From Blake Morgan
Shakespeare Martineau LLP has hired a finance and banking specialist as a partner at the firm's new offices on the south coast of England, where he will work with new and existing clients across a range of sectors.
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June 11, 2024
FCA Eyes Consumer Impact Of New Legal Cooperation Rules
The Financial Conduct Authority has set out how it is working with the Financial Ombudsman Service and other bodies under a new duty of legal cooperation required by the Consumer Duty and changing payments regulations.
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June 11, 2024
LC&F Administrators Attack Ex-Boss' Credibility In Ponzi Case
The administrators of London Capital & Finance PLC have criticized the company's former head as a "thoroughly unreliable witness" as they closed their case that he and others operated the business as a £237 million ($302 million) Ponzi scheme.
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June 11, 2024
Sunak Pledges Further Tax Cuts In Election Manifesto
Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that his Conservative Party would establish a tax system that "rewards work" by slashing a range of levies if it wins the general election, including another cut in the national payroll tax by 2027.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
FCA Greenwashing Rules Need To Be Stronger To Be Effective
The Financial Conduct Authority's forthcoming anti-greenwashing measures, aimed at ensuring the veracity of regulated entities’ statements about sustainability credentials, need external scrutiny and an effective definition of "corporate social responsibility" to give them bite, says Jingchen Zhao at Nottingham Trent University.
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EU Ruling Exposes Sovereignty Fissures In Int'l Arbitration
The European Court of Justice's recent ruling that the U.K. had breached EU law by allowing an arbitral award to proceed underscores the diminished influence of EU jurisprudence in the U.K., hinting at the EU courts' increasingly nominal sway in international arbitration within jurisdictions that prize legal autonomy, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray’s Inn.
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Companies House False Filings Raise Issues Of Integrity
A recent spate of unauthorized company filings with Companies House raises specific concerns for secured lenders, but also highlights the potential for false filings to be used to facilitate fraudulent schemes, says Daniel Sullivan at Charles Russell.
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UK Courts Continue To Struggle With Crypto-Asset Cases
Although the common law has proved capable of applying established principles to crypto-assets, recent cases highlight persistent challenges in identifying defendants, locating assets and determining jurisdiction, suggesting that any meaningful development will likely come from legislative or regulatory change, say Emily Saunderson and Sam Mitchell at Quadrant Chambers.
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Comparing The UK And EU Approaches To AI Regulation
While there are significant points of convergence between the recently published U.K. approach to artificial intelligence regulation and the EU AI Act, there is also notable divergence between them, and it appears that the U.K. will remain a less regulatory environment for AI in the foreseeable future, say lawyers at Steptoe.
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Lessons On Using 3rd-Party Disclosure Orders In Fraud Cases
The expansion of the gateway for service out of jurisdiction regarding third-party information orders has proven to be an effective tool against fraud since it was introduced in 2022, and recent case law offers practical tips on what applicants should be aware of when submitting such orders, says Rosie Wild at Cooke Young.
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A Look At The Latest EU Alternative Investment Regulation
Recent amendments to the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive governing a range of alternative investment funds reflect a growing regulatory focus on nonbanking financial institutions, which expand credit to support economic growth but carry a commensurate risk, say Juliette Mills and Alix Prentice at Cadwalader.
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Unpacking The Law Commission's Digital Assets Consultation
The Law Commission recently published a consultation on recognizing a third personal property category to accommodate the development of digital assets, highlighting difficulties with current models of property rights and the potential consequences of considering digital assets as personal property, say Andrew Tsang and Tom Bacon at BCLP.
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Unpacking The FCA's Approach To AML Compliance Failures
In light of the upward trend of skilled-person reviews by the Financial Conduct Authority, including the latest investigation into Lloyds' anti-money laundering controls, financial firms should familiarize themselves with the mechanisms of FCA supervision and enforcement investigations, says Kathryn Westmore at RUSI.
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New Russia Sanctions Reveal Int'l Enforcement Capabilities
Significant new U.K., U.S. and EU sanctions imposed on Russia notably target Europe-based individuals and entities accused of sanctions evasion, and with an apparent political will to enhance capabilities, the rhetoric is translating into international enforcement activity, say lawyers at Cadwalader.
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What COVID Payout Ruling Means For Lockdown Loss Claims
While the High Court's recent COVID-19 payout decision in Gatwick v. Liberty Mutual, holding that pandemic-related regulations trigger prevention of access clauses, will likely lead to insurers accepting more business interruption claims, there are still evidentiary challenges and issues regarding policy limits and furlough, say Josianne El Antoury and Greg Lascelles at Covington.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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EEA Equivalence Statement Is Welcomed By Fund Managers
The recent statement confirming European Economic Area equivalence to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities for U.K. overseas funds regime purposes removes many managers’ concerns in the wake of Brexit, giving a clear pathway out of temporary marketing permissions and easing the transition from one regime to another, says Catherine Weeks at Simmons & Simmons.
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In Int'l Arbitration Agreements, Be Clear About Governing Law
A trilogy of recent cases in the English High Court and Court of Appeal highlight the importance of parties agreeing to explicit choice of law language at the outset of an arbitration agreement in order to avoid costly legal skirmishes down the road, say lawyers at Faegre Drinker.
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Crypto As A Coin Of The Corporate Realm: The Pros And Cons
The broadened range of crypto-assets opens up new possibilities for employers looking to recruit, incentivize and retain employees through the use of crypto, but certain risks must be addressed, say Dan Sharman and Sunny Mangatt at Shoosmiths.