Financial Services UK

  • April 08, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy Exec Says Boss's Invoice Ask Caused Concern

    A former Autonomy finance employee took the stand Monday in the criminal fraud trial of ex-CEO Michael Lynch and finance director Stephen Chamberlain, telling a California federal jury that he was "not comfortable" with one of Chamberlain's invoice requests and was sacked after raising concerns about accounting irregularities.

  • April 08, 2024

    Canada's High Court Enforces Award In Greek Defense Suit

    The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed the enforcement of an arbitral award in a dispute over a contract between aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Inc. and Greece's Ministry of National Defence, saying a Canadian bank had to refuse payment to the beneficiary of a letter of credit because of fraud.

  • April 08, 2024

    £54M Claimed From Failed Financial Services Last Year

    The U.K.'s lifeboat scheme said Monday it has recovered £54 million ($68 million) in the financial year ended March 31 from the estates of failed financial services companies.

  • April 15, 2024

    Kirkland Hires Leveraged Finance Pro From Allen & Overy

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP has recruited a debt finance specialist from Allen & Overy LLP as it continues to rebuild in the United Kingdom after undergoing a string of departures to rival U.S. law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in late 2023.

  • April 08, 2024

    Attwells Denies Breaking Promise In £1.2M Loan Dispute

    Attwells Solicitors LLP has denied promising that it was acting on behalf of a man who, the law firm says, was probably fraudulently posing as the owner of two properties in a move to borrow £775,000 ($980,000) from a finance company.

  • April 08, 2024

    Gowling, Osborne Clarke Steer £60M Tech Co. Pension Deal

    Insurer Just Group said Monday it has completed a £60 million ($75.7 million) buy-in of a pension scheme sponsored by technology companies Epson (UK) Ltd. and Epson Europe BV, in a deal guided by Gowling WLG and Osborne Clarke.

  • April 08, 2024

    Pension Schemes Considering Alternatives For End Goal

    Pension plans need to carefully weigh a range of options for their end game strategies, a professional services firm said, as retirement savings scheme funding continues to hover around near record levels.

  • April 08, 2024

    Grant Thornton Fined For Audit Compliance Breaches

    The Financial Reporting Council said Monday it has fined accounting firm Grant Thornton £40,000 ($50,500) for failing to comply with audit regulations in its work on a local authority's pension fund.

  • April 15, 2024

    Hill Dickinson Hires 2 Teams From Irwin Mitchell

    Hill Dickinson LLP has recruited two groups of real estate specialists from Irwin Mitchell LLP for its new office in Birmingham after a corporate team made a similar move earlier in the year.

  • April 05, 2024

    High Court Limits Use Of Confidential Info In $3.7B Asset Fight

    Relatives of a dead Russian oligarch and an investment company accused of international fraud on Friday partially succeeded in obtaining an order to prevent the alleged misuse of their confidential information.

  • April 05, 2024

    UK Urges Delay In Claiming Pensions Until Rules Change

    The U.K. tax authority has warned people to delay claiming their pensions until after Saturday, when the lifetime allowance is abolished, while the government clarifies technical changes to the legislation.

  • April 05, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen the BBC sued by former Georgian defense minister David Kezerashvili, Russian businessman Ildar Sharipov file a defamation claim against the publisher of the Liverpool Echo newspaper, MEX Group Worldwide sue Barclays and NatWest, and a climbing gear company hit retailer Next with a claim of copyright infringement. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • April 05, 2024

    6 Questions For Paul Hastings' Stuart Alford KC

    Paul Hastings LLP's new partner, Stuart Alford KC, is a former senior official at the Serious Fraud Office and has worked at two heavyweight U.S. firms, Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins. Here, he talks to Law360 about his career and about white-collar crime.

  • April 05, 2024

    18 Crime Gangs Specialize In VAT Fraud, Europol Says

    Eighteen major criminal gangs in the European Union specialize in value-added tax fraud, having end-to-end control over the entire criminal process, the EU's law enforcement agency said Friday.

  • April 05, 2024

    Allens-Guided Experian To Acquire Peer Illion For $540M

    Experian PLC has agreed to buy Australasian rival credit analyst illion for up to $820 million Australian dollars ($540 million), as the Ireland-based global financial data specialist moves to bolster its presence in the region's growing credit reporting market.

  • April 05, 2024

    Retired Rabbi To Return £2.3M To Charities After NCA Probe

    A retired rabbi will return £2.35 million ($3 million) to two charities after he kept the money rather than distribute it for its intended legitimate causes, the National Crime Agency said on Friday.

  • April 05, 2024

    UK Pension Schemes Maintain Near-Record Surpluses

    The aggregate surplus of the U.K.'s defined benefit pension sector remained at near-record levels of around £151 billion ($190.8 billion) in March, a consultancy has said.

  • April 19, 2024

    Fieldfisher Expands Pensions Practice With 4 PwC Hires

    European law firm Fieldfisher LLP has announced it is bolstering its U.K. pensions practice by hiring a partner, two directors and an associate from PwC UK.

  • April 04, 2024

    UK Billionaire Lewis Avoids Prison For Insider Trading

    A New York federal judge on Thursday sentenced British billionaire Joe Lewis to three years of probation for feeding his girlfriend and private-jet pilots nonpublic stock tips about his private equity firm's portfolio companies, saying a prison term would put the 87-year-old at "serious risk" of death.

  • April 04, 2024

    Mayer Brown Adds Former KPMG Tax Specialist In London

    Mayer Brown has added a former KPMG tax professional to its London office to advise clients on asset management and fund matters in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, the firm announced.

  • April 04, 2024

    Investors Hit Agent For £2.3M Over Failed Care Home Scheme

    Care home investors have sued an investment agent for £2.3 million ($2.9 million) in a London court over claims they promoted a "fundamentally flawed" property development scheme as a safe and reliable investment.

  • April 04, 2024

    Law Firm Defeats Adviser's Unfair Redundancy Claim

    A Scottish law firm didn't unfairly cull one of its financial advisers during a redundancy process because bosses scored candidates with a reasonable checklist, an employment tribunal has ruled. 

  • April 04, 2024

    Insurer Wants Greater Flexibility On State Pension Age

    The U.K. government should explore giving Britons more choice over when they can start claiming their state pension amid concerns over increases to the official retirement age, insurer Aegon said Thursday.

  • April 04, 2024

    Pillsbury's New UK White Collar Chief Eyes Success In London

    Former Serious Fraud Office "powerhouse" Audrey Koh is in the building, and Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman says it now has the tools to launch its white-collar and corporate investigations practice in London. Here, Koh and managing partner Matthew Oresman survey the legal landscape.

  • April 04, 2024

    FCA To Claw Back £1.6M From Fund Manager For Investors

    The Financial Conduct Authority said on Thursday that it has won court approval to take £1.6 million ($2 million) from fund manager Argento Wealth and its only director, who promoted two allegedly unlawful investment schemes.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Approach Different Data Types In E-Disclosure Matters

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    The High Court's recent decision in Terre Neuve v. Yewdale highlights the importance of practitioners adequately approaching e-disclosure obligations, including understanding their data landscapes and the nuances of different data types, say Fiona Campbell at Fieldfisher and Alejandro Gomez-Igbo at Forensic Risk Alliance.

  • Why FCA Proposals For UK Listing Rules May Need Tweaking

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    Although many of the Financial Conduct Authority’s recently published proposals for listing rules reform are to be welcomed, a few further changes are needed if the regulator's objective of making the U.K. public markets more attractive is to be achieved, says Nigel Gordon at Fladgate.

  • Exploring UK Regulatory Reform Amid Global Bank Failures

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    In light of recent high-profile bank failures and the publication of a feedback statement to a U.K. regulatory review, the concern that banks are overly reluctant to use their stock begs the question whether regulators now need to rethink the operation of the liquidity coverage ratio, say Alix Prentice and Carl Hey at Cadwalader.

  • Key Takeaways From Recent UK Insolvency Disputes

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    As recent insolvency statistics show that U.K. registered company insolvencies are up 16% compared to last year, having a strong understanding of recent key U.K. decisions and how insolvency disputes operate is more important for companies now than it has ever been, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Why The Draft UK Fraud Offense May Not Be A Game Changer

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    Although the U.K.’s proposed "failure to prevent fraud" offense will generate a need for large businesses to reassess their existing processes, given the long lead-in times for prosecutions and the Serious Fraud Office's current success rate, it seems unlikely that the corporate fraud landscape will be immediately transformed, say Charles Kuhn and Charlotte Gill at Clyde & Co.

  • A Review Of The EU FDI Screening Regulation And Its Scope

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    The EU advocate general’s recent broad interpretation of the EU Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation takes account of some of the geopolitical challenges faced by the bloc, and may foreshadow a revision of the regulation and widen the scope of investments screened, say Vassilis Akritidis and Jean-Baptiste Blancardi at Crowell & Moring.

  • Key Takeaways From EU Proposal For Greenwashing Rules

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    If the proposal for a Green Claims Directive, with its enhanced rules on claims about a product or trader's environmental impact, is adopted, it will affect all businesses selling their products in the EU and bring major changes to the way those products are packaged and advertised, say attorneys at Shearman.

  • How EU ESG Regs Affect US Financial Market Participants

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    The European Commission recently confirmed that the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation applies to all funds marketed in the EU, so affected U.S. financial market participants will need to consider the new guidance on principal adverse impacts, sustainable investments and promotion of carbon emissions reductions, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • UK Plan For AI Rules Raises Compliance Questions For Cos.

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    The U.K. government's proposal for a new, clear and pro-innovation regulatory framework on artificial intelligence diverges from the European Union's approach, which may create incoherence and compliance burdens for businesses operating in both jurisdictions, says attorneys at Akin Gump.

  • UK Investment Screening Inches Closer To US Regime

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    The recent agreement between the U.K. Cabinet Office and House of Commons concerning parliamentary scrutiny of the Investment Security Unit represents a step toward greater transparency of intervention in investments that may raise national security concerns, and underscores increasing alignment with the U.S. regime, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • UK Ruling May Affect 3rd-Party Fraud Liability Post-Insolvency

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    While the recent Court of Appeal decision in Tradition Financial Services v. Bilta could make Section 213 of the Insolvency Act a powerful tool for liquidators, it also heightens the risk of companies tangentially involved in fraud being subject to claims following insolvency, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • 5 Ways For A Legal Practice To Close Technology Gaps

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    With technology a driving force for success, the U.K. legal sector must embrace innovation to maintain its competitive edge, and investing in new processes is no longer optional, says Gareth Preece at Doherty Associates.

  • UK Ruling Offers Useful Guidance To Insolvency Practitioners

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    The recent U.K. High Court ruling in a matter involving Sova Capital represents the first unsecured credit bid to be approved by an English court, demonstrating a pragmatic approach to complex sanctions-related administrations and identifying a novel solution for insolvency practitioners to maximize value for the benefit of creditors, say attorneys at Katten.

  • The FCA's Timely Plan To Reform Asset Management Regime

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    The discussion paper recently issued by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority finally addresses how, in the future, asset management regulation will work in totality from an investor, manager and distributor perspective, and its review of the purpose and balance of the regime is welcomed, says Tim Dolan at Greenberg Traurig.

  • UK's Draft Fraud Offense And How It May Affect Companies

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    The new U.K. corporate criminal offense of "failing to prevent fraud," recently published in draft form, will make it easier for prosecutions to be brought against companies, with no need to show that the "directing mind and will" of a company were involved in the fraud, say attorneys at Allen & Overy.

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