Financial Services UK

  • April 03, 2025

    UK Watchdog Plans Tighter Controls Of Mastercard, Visa Fees

    The U.K. payments watchdog has proposed tough measures to force Mastercard and Visa to reveal more about their processes for charging fees to businesses amid concerns about ill explained sharp rises.

  • April 03, 2025

    UK Trustee Firms Face New Regulatory Oversight

    Britain's retirement savings watchdog has unveiled plans formally to regulate professional trustee firms amid significant growth in the sector.

  • April 03, 2025

    Pinsent Masons Promotes 24 Partners In Latest Global Round

    Pinsent Masons said Thursday that it has promoted 24 lawyers to its partnership, a slight rise from 2024's numbers, with women accounting for more than half of those who made the grade.

  • April 03, 2025

    AVI Japan Proposes Merger With Fidelity Japan Trust

    AVI Japan Opportunity Trust called on shareholders of Fidelity Japan Trust on Thursday to consider a merger, even though the board of Fidelity has recommended that it continue with its current strategy.

  • April 02, 2025

    Ex-Metro Bank CFO Followed Legal Advice Over £900M Error

    Metro Bank PLC's former chief financial officer, David Arden, said at a London tribunal Wednesday that he had followed legal advice when preparing to publish a market announcement at the center of a £900 million ($1.1 billion) reporting scandal, arguing he and the bank's former chief executive officer should not face "career-ending allegations" for doing so.

  • April 02, 2025

    Consumers Tell UK Justices Car Dealers Owe Transparency

    Consumers bringing a test case on motor finance commissions told the U.K. Supreme Court in a hearing Wednesday that car dealers arranging financing for the purchase of vehicles were acting as "classic" credit brokers and owed a duty to act in borrowers' best interest.

  • April 02, 2025

    City Seeks Regulatory Talks With US Amid Trade Tension

    A U.K. financial services trade body called on the government Wednesday to enter stronger financial regulatory dialogues with the U.S. and other countries amid trade uncertainties, boosting investment in high-growth companies.

  • April 02, 2025

    Class Rep Says Appeal Court Entitled To Allow £2.7B FX Claim

    A class representative said Wednesday that the Court of Appeal was entitled to allow a £2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) foreign exchange claim to go ahead as an opt-out class action, arguing Britain's specialist competition tribunal was wrong to effectively end the proceedings.

  • April 02, 2025

    Experian Completes $350M Deal For Brazil Biz ClearSale

    Multinational Experian PLC said Wednesday it has completed its acquisition of Brazil-based ClearSale SA in a $350 million deal that the credit reference agency said will broaden its offering to include transaction fraud detection in account opening.

  • April 02, 2025

    Ankle Tag Maker Sues Sacked CEO Over Ties To Shareholders

    A company which makes technology for monitoring people remotely has brought legal action against its ousted chief executive, alleging that she lied about her interest in the company's shareholders and stole funds from the business.

  • April 02, 2025

    FCA 'Thinking Radically' On Savings Welcome, LCP Says

    The Financial Conduct Authority "thinking radically" about allowing savers to use accrued pension pots for house deposits is "very encouraging," Lane Clark & Peacock LLP has said.

  • April 02, 2025

    Gov't Told To Reform PPF On Pension Surplus Extraction Plan

    The government must extend the safety net of the Pension Protection Fund if it wants retirement schemes to release up to £160 billion ($207 billion) in surpluses to the wider economy, a think tank warned Wednesday.

  • April 09, 2025

    Travers Smith Hires Restructuring Pro From Fried Frank

    Travers Smith LLP has recruited a specialist from Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP to lead its restructuring and insolvency services.

  • April 02, 2025

    'Snow White' Email Shows Staley's Ties To Epstein, FCA Says

    The inability of former Barclays boss Jes Staley to remember "now infamous" emails with Jeffrey Epstein undermines his credibility and his attempts to overturn his ban for lying about his ties to the sex offender, the Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday.

  • April 02, 2025

    Insurers Back EU Delay To Sustainability Rules

    European insurers on Wednesday publicly backed the executive branch of the European Union's proposal to temporarily suspend implementing two flagship sustainability regimes, saying the delay allows time to streamline several of the planned reporting requirements.

  • April 02, 2025

    Former Wyelands Director Fined £72K For Risky 'Failings'

    The Bank of England's regulatory arm said Wednesday that it has fined George Hambro, a former non-executive director of Wyelands Bank PLC, £72,000 ($93,000) for failings that threatened the safety of the now-inactive lender.

  • April 02, 2025

    UniCredit To Bid On BPM As Credit Agricole Ups Stake

    Italian bank UniCredit said Wednesday that it plans to launch a formal takeover for domestic rival Banco BPM, as French lender Credit Agricole announced that it has won regulatory backing to increase its stake in the target to as high as 19.9%.

  • April 02, 2025

    Deutsche Bank Units Fined €25M In 'Greenwashing' Case

    Two subsidiaries of Deutsche Bank AG have been fined a total of €25 million ($27 million) for failing to fulfill environmental, social and governance promises in promotional materials for investment products, the Frankfurt Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.

  • April 01, 2025

    EU Watchdogs Call For Simplified Securitization Rules

    The European Union's finance watchdogs have called on the European Commission to simplify the rules governing securitizations in a bid to make the market more competitive.

  • April 01, 2025

    Businessmen Blame Parent Company In £11.8M Loan Dispute

    Three businessmen have hit back at an investment fund's accusations that they allowed it to issue £11.8 million ($15.2 million) in loans for property developments that it alleged were likely to fail, telling a London court the fund's parent company was responsible.

  • April 01, 2025

    Major Banks Appeal To Block Class In £2.7B Forex Case

    A group of major banks accused the Court of Appeal on Tuesday of circumventing Britain's specialist competition tribunal when it allowed a £2.7 billion ($3.5 billion) foreign exchange claim to go ahead against them as an opt-out class action.

  • April 01, 2025

    Motor Finance Ruling Was 'Egregious Error,' Lenders Say

    Motor finance firms urged the U.K. Supreme Court on Tuesday to overturn findings that car dealers owed a legal duty to act in the interests of their customers, as a landmark hearing that could determine the size of compensation bills begins.

  • April 01, 2025

    Reform Pensions To Tackle Retirement Risks, Think Tank Says

    Pension reforms are necessary to ensure that savers can successfully navigate the "risks and complexities" of managing their retirement savings in later life, the Institute for Fiscal Studies warned Tuesday.

  • March 31, 2025

    Billions On The Line As Justices Weigh Motor Finance Appeal

    Britain's highest court will consider on Tuesday whether hidden commission payments made by lenders to car dealers were unlawful in a case that could leave banks on the hook for billions of bounds in damages and have legal ramifications far beyond motor finance.

  • March 31, 2025

    'Still Early Days': A Litigation Funder Stays Optimistic

    As part of a series of interviews with lawyers, class representatives and litigation-funders to mark the 10-year anniversary of the collective proceedings order regime, Law360 spoke to Neil Purslow of Therium Capital Management about the future of litigation funding for CPOs in the wake of the Supreme Court's PACCAR ruling.

Expert Analysis

  • What The Auto-Enrollment Law Means For UK Workforce

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    In a welcome step to enhance retirement savings, the U.K. government is set to extend the automatic enrollment regime by lowering the eligibility age and reducing the lower qualifying earnings limit, but addressing workers' immediate financial needs remains a challenge, says Beth Brown at Arc Pensions.

  • UAE Bank Case Offers Lessons On Enforcing Foreign Rulings

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    The High Court recently clarified in Invest Bank v. El-Husseini that foreign judgment debts may be enforceable in England, despite being unenforceable in their jurisdiction of origin, which should remind practitioners that foreign judgments will be recognized in England if they are final and conclusive in their court of origin, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.

  • Revised OECD Guidelines Key In Shaping Business Standards

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    The OECD’s recent revised guidelines on responsible business conduct, supported by a domestic government agencies’ grievance referral mechanism, have already influenced EU due diligence standards, and enterprises engaging in the unique procedure will benefit from case-specific nuances, parallel proceedings and the availability of confidentiality protections, say lawyers at Debevoise.

  • Libor Fallback To Prime May Increase Corporate Loan Costs

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    Despite preparations and legislative actions related to the transition away from Libor earlier this year, there remains a contingent of corporate borrowers that have fallen through the cracks and could face increased costs if their loans default to prime rates, say Nathan Moore and Dana Bradley at WilmerHale.

  • Report Can Aid With Sustainable Finance Disclosure Filings

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    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.

  • Protecting The Arbitral Process In Russia-Related Disputes

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    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.

  • Audit Reform Takeaways After Record KPMG Fine

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    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.

  • RSA Insurance Ruling Clarifies Definition Of 'Insured Loss'

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    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.

  • Putin Ruling May Have Unintended Sanctions Consequences

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    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.

  • Navigating The New Framework On Nature-Related Reporting

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    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.

  • FCA Engagement Signals New Direction In ESG Disclosures

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    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.

  • New Policies Will Aid UK Cos. Accessing US Capital Markets

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    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.

  • Key Takeaways From ICO Report On Workforce Monitoring

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    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.

  • Creating A Safe Workplace Goes Beyond DEI Compliance

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    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.

  • Asset Managers Should Prepare For Nature-Related Reporting

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    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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