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Financial Services UK
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May 16, 2024
FCA Charges Reality TV Stars Over Risky Investment Ads
The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday it has charged nine social media influencers and reality TV stars for promoting an unauthorized trading scheme online that dealt with high-risk financial products tied to foreign exchange rates.
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May 16, 2024
Russian Wealth Fund Fails To Curb EU Sanctions
The European Union's General Court has upheld sanctions against a Russian sovereign wealth fund, ruling it is the "archetypal" company for attracting international investors who sustain the country's war in Ukraine.
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May 16, 2024
M&G Accounts Manager Wins £13K Over Resignation Dispute
An accounts manager at M&G PLC has won more than £13,000 ($16,500) after an employment tribunal found that the company wrongly refused to let him see out his 12-week notice period while on garden leave.
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May 16, 2024
Slovenian Bank NLB Bids €400M For Austrian Lender Addiko
A Slovenian bank has tabled a €400 million ($435 million) bid to buy Austria's Addiko, a business lender operating in central and southeastern Europe, as it seeks to expand into new territories.
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May 16, 2024
Nationwide Cited For Compliance Breaches In PPI Market
The competition watchdog said on Thursday it has written to Nationwide Building Society, telling the lender that it had breached the rules by giving clients incorrect information about insurance covering mortgage repayments.
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May 16, 2024
Lithuania PM Wants Frozen Russian Assets To Help Ukraine
Lithuania's prime minister said Thursday that Russia's frozen assets should be used to help Ukraine fight off aggression from its larger neighbor, saying that a recent European decision to use profits from frozen assets should be only a first step.
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May 15, 2024
Taxpayers Let Down By HMRC Digital Service, Says Watchdog
HM Revenue and Customs has let down taxpayers by failing to deliver better online services, according to a report published on Wednesday by the public spending watchdog.
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May 15, 2024
Swiss Seek Feedback On Crypto Information Exchange
Switzerland's executive body, the Federal Council, is seeking feedback from the public on its plan to adopt two Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development standards that will update the country's automatic exchanges of information to account for crypto-assets, it said Wednesday.
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May 15, 2024
Crypto 'Academy' Closed After Probe Into False Assurances
A cryptocurrency firm that "recklessly" persuaded customers to put money into investment plans has been wound up after the government's insolvency agency found that the company had given false assurances and traded without regulatory approval.
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May 15, 2024
Watchdog Warns Bank CEOs Of Inadequate Recovery Plans
The Prudential Regulation Authority told the chief executives of smaller U.K. banks and building societies in a letter on Wednesday that their companies should improve recovery plans, saying that they use insufficiently severe scenarios in testing.
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May 15, 2024
FCA Charges 3 For Alleged £8M Pension Fraud
The Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday it has charged three consultants over an alleged fraudulent investment scheme in which victims lost £8 million ($10.1 million) of their pension savings.
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May 15, 2024
Experts See Risks In FCA's Soft-Touch Response To AI
The Financial Conduct Authority has so far failed to detail its rules on artificial intelligence and is moving toward a reliance on companies to self-report, putting it at risk of deferring excessively to the sector it regulates, legal experts say.
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May 14, 2024
Autonomy Overstated Revenue Before HP Sale, Jury Hears
Autonomy's reported revenue was overstated by a combined $300 million in the two-and-a-half years before HP acquired it, an accounting expert testified Tuesday in a California criminal trial over claims that Autonomy founder Michael Lynch duped HP into buying his software company for an inflated $11.7 billion price.
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May 14, 2024
Christian Org. Staves Off Same-Sex Bias Trial With $120K Deal
A Christian nonprofit has agreed to pay a Washington job candidate $120,000 to avoid a damages trial on claims it refused to hire her because she was in a same-sex marriage, though it said it would appeal the liability finding against it.
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May 14, 2024
Billionaire's Pilot Cops To Tax Count, Avoids Insider Trial
A pilot from Virginia accused of profiting from stock tips fed to him by British billionaire Joe Lewis on Tuesday copped to dodging taxes on $500,000 of income from Lewis' company, in a plea deal that avoids an insider trading trial.
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May 14, 2024
UK Gov't Rules Out NDA Ban In Harassment Cases
HM Treasury said Tuesday that the U.K. government will not commit to a legislative ban on nondisclosure agreements in harassment cases, rejecting a call from MPs to bring an end to the "abusive use" of NDAs to silence victims.
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May 14, 2024
UniCredit Bids To Toss $69M Plane Payment Sanctions Ruling
UniCredit urged an appeals court on Tuesday to overturn a ruling that it was not reasonable for its London branch to believe it was prohibited from making $69.3 million in payments to three Irish lessors tied to aircraft held in Russia because of Western sanctions.
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May 14, 2024
EU Watchdog Sets Anti-Greenwashing Guidelines For Funds
The European Union's markets regulator on Tuesday published its final guidelines for firms using ESG terms in fund names, requiring 80% of the fund's investments to match the claimed criteria to combat greenwashing risk.
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May 14, 2024
Gov't To Add Legal Powers, Staff To Stop Benefits Fraud
The Department for Work and Pensions said Tuesday it will support new legislation to expand its powers to make arrests and conduct searches in its crackdown on benefits fraud.
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May 14, 2024
EU Finance Ministers Strike Deal On Withholding Tax Refunds
European Union finance ministers agreed Tuesday to a withholding tax refund law, as previous holdouts Poland and the Czech Republic withdrew their objections.
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May 14, 2024
UK Pension Scheme Funding Edges Up £2.8B
The overall funding level of U.K. pension schemes edged up £2.8 billion ($3.5 billion) last month, according to official figures Tuesday, but experts warned that there was potential "volatility" on the horizon amid uncertainty over whether interest rates will change this year.
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May 14, 2024
Repository Denies Withholding Investment Data From Fund
A securitization repository has denied "capriciously" withholding investment data from an investment fund, claiming that it never received a request for the information and did not know the fund existed.
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May 14, 2024
ATM Network Accuses Stripe Of Infringing 'Link' TMs
The main ATM network in the U.K. has accused Stripe of infringing its trademarks and hijacking its reputation by providing a payments system under the "Link" name, telling a court that consumers associate this branding with the cash machine system in Britain.
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May 13, 2024
Irked Autonomy Judge Vents On HP Fraud Trial's Slow Pace
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Monday blasted lawyers for the government and two former Autonomy Corp. PLC executives in a criminal fraud case over the trial's slow progress, saying he's "annoyed," but also "complicit" because he "did not take more of a controlling posture."
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May 13, 2024
JP Morgan Battles Viva Wallet Founder Over Buyout Value
J.P. Morgan International Finance Ltd. urged a London judge Monday to reject a payment company's "nonsensical" case over the investment bank's option to buy out its partner's stake in a joint venture fintech business.
Expert Analysis
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Report Can Aid With Sustainable Finance Disclosure Filings
The European Supervisory Authorities recently issued a report on companies' consideration of the principal adverse impacts of their investment decisions on sustainability factors, providing examples of good and bad disclosure practices under the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, which firms should note in their future reporting, say lawyers at Debevoise.
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Protecting The Arbitral Process In Russia-Related Disputes
Four recent High Court and Court of Appeal rulings concerning anti-suit injunction claims illustrate that companies exposed to litigation risk in Russia may need to carefully consider how to best protect their interests and the arbitral process with regard to a Russian counterparty, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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Audit Reform Takeaways After Record KPMG Fine
The Financial Reporting Council’s recent £21 million fine against KPMG for its Carillion audit work failures is representative of the agency’s increasing proactivity in policing audit quality, and brings to light the U.K. government’s slow-moving but ongoing efforts to majorly reform audit sector regulations, says Paul Brehony at Signature Litigation.
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RSA Insurance Ruling Clarifies Definition Of 'Insured Loss'
A London appeals court's recent ruling in Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance v. Tughans, that the insurer must provide coverage for a liability that included the law firm's fees, shows that a claim for the recovery of fees paid to a firm can constitute an insured loss, say James Roberts and Sophia Hanif at Clyde & Co.
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Putin Ruling May Have Unintended Sanctions Consequences
By widening the scope of control, the Court of Appeal's recent judgment in Mints v. PJSC opens the possibility that everything in Russia could be deemed to be controlled by President Vladimir Putin, which would significantly expand the U.K.'s sanctions regime in unintended ways, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.
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Navigating The New Framework On Nature-Related Reporting
The Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures’ recently published disclosure framework represents a significant step toward the coalescence of nature-related disclosure standards for corporates and financial institutions, and has the potential to influence investor expectations and future regulation, say lawyers at Kirkland.
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FCA Engagement Signals New Direction In ESG Disclosures
The Financial Conduct Authority recently published a response to a consultation on sustainability-related standards, highlighting the regulator's priorities for the U.K.'s green transition, including an early indication that it may turn its attention to nature-based disclosures, say Ferdisha Snagg and Andreas Wildner at Cleary.
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New Policies Will Aid UK Cos. Accessing US Capital Markets
The U.K. government's recent adoption of regulations permitting the use of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, and announcement of measures to remove a 1.5% tax on certain share issues and transfers, should help ensure that England remains an attractive holding company jurisdiction for companies seeking a listing on U.S. stock exchanges, say lawyers at Davis Polk.
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Key Takeaways From ICO Report On Workforce Monitoring
The Information Commissioner's Office recently published guidance on workplace monitoring, highlighting that employers must strike a balance between their business needs and workers' privacy rights to avoid falling afoul of U.K. data protection law requirements, say lawyers at MoFo.
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Creating A Safe Workplace Goes Beyond DEI Compliance
The Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority recently proposed a new diversity and inclusion regulatory framework to combat sexual harassment in the workplace, and companies should take this opportunity to holistically transform their culture to ensure zero tolerance for misconduct, says Vivek Dodd at Skillcast.
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Asset Managers Should Prepare For Nature-Related Reporting
Although it is doubtful that the U.K. nature-related task force’s recent recommendations for mandatory nature reporting will come into effect imminently, it is likely that investors will begin to use them to assess risks and will request asset managers to shift capital flows to more sustainable outcomes, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.
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What Justices' Cert. Denial Of Terrorism Suit Means For Banks
The U.S. Supreme Court's denial of certiorari in Freeman v. HSBC Holdings lets stand the Second Circuit's decision on the narrow scope of conspiracy liability under the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, providing protection for banks that otherwise could have faced liability for finance activities with limited connections to third parties' unlawful acts, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Firms Should Prepare For New DEI Reporting Requirements
While the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority's recent proposals on diversity and inclusion in the financial sector are progressive, implementing reporting requirements will pose data collection and privacy protection challenges for employers, say lawyers at Fieldfisher.
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What The UK Digital Markets Bill Will Mean For Businesses
The new investigatory and enforcement powers conferred by the U.K. Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill mean that although businesses may be aware of their market status due to existing EU law, they should ensure they are mindful of the changes to consumer law and the implications for digital markets, says Richard Hugo at Burges Salmon.
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5 Takeaways From ICO's Biometric Recognition Guidance
Recent guidance from the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office is a helpful reminder of key data protection principles and obligations stemming from the U.K. General Data Protection Regulation that organizations should consider when implementing biometric recognition technology, say lawyers at Dechert.