Financial Services UK

bitcoin symbol atop a stack of gold coins

UK Crypto Seizure Tees Up £5.5B Legal Battle With China

The record capture by British police of £5.5 billion ($7.4 billion) in cryptocurrency from a convicted money launderer has set up a mammoth legal showdown between the U.K. and defrauded investors, who say the money should be returned to victims in China.

FCA's Crypto Rules Risk Abuse Without Tailored Safeguards

The proposed U.K. crypto-asset regime risks abuse because it tries to clamp traditional finance rules on to a digital asset class, leaving gaps which expose unwary investors to criminals unless new safeguards are added, legal experts have warned.

The crest on the building of a crown court in Southwark.

SFO Gears Up For Fight Over Ex-Petrobras Exec Cash Seizure

The Serious Fraud Office will fight on Monday to hold on to its largest-ever seizure of cash as part of the first-ever legal challenge contesting the agency's powers to confiscate allegedly tainted money.

HSBC Using AI To Fight Fraud Under 'Failure To Prevent' Law

HSBC has emerged as one of the first banks to confirm it is harnessing artificial intelligence under the new "failure to prevent fraud" offense that targets companies benefiting from fraud committed by employees.

October 08, 2025
Proxy Votes Suggest WH Ireland Deal May Fall Flat

WH Ireland said Wednesday that shareholders might not vote in favor of selling the business and some of its wealth management division assets for £1 million ($1.3 million) in cash.
October 08, 2025
Tech Biz Says Former Exec Lied About CEO's Links To Russia

A technology company has accused a former executive in a London court of targeting its CEO with a smear campaign about his alleged ties to Russian special services and organized crime networks.
October 08, 2025
Insurance Brokers Could Face FCA Scrutiny Over Commissions

Insurance brokers could be next to come under the regulator's microscope over how commission arrangements are structured, an expert has warned.
October 08, 2025
'Finfluencers' Have To Wait Until 2027 For Trial

Three men charged with advertising unauthorized investment opportunities in foreign exchange markets on social media will have to wait at least until late 2027 for their trials, a London judge said Wednesday.
October 08, 2025
Aegon Backs Financial Ombudsman Redress Reform

Aegon said Wednesday it "broadly" supports HM Treasury's proposed overhaul of the Financial Ombudsman Service, adding that reforms — if "carefully" implemented — could bring much-needed clarity and consistency to rulings on complaints in the U.K.
October 08, 2025
Ex-Yellow Pages CFO Wins Costs In Baseless £1B Fraud Case

A London court has ruled that the former finance chief of Yellow Pages should have his costs covered in both criminal and review proceedings stemming from a private prosecutor's unfounded allegations that the boss oversaw a £1 billion ($1.3 billion) fraud.
October 08, 2025
Brown & Brown Expands UK Reach With Medical Broker Buy

The European arm of Brown & Brown Inc. has bought British medical insurance broker All Medical Professionals Ltd. — its latest in a line of acquisitions of a U.K. insurer.
October 08, 2025
Charity Gifts In Wills Hit £1B As Estates Swerve Tax Bills

The value of charitable gifts left in people's wills climbed to £980 million ($1.3 billion) in the last financial year to April, as more Britons used philanthropy to reduce inheritance tax bills, London law firm TWM Solicitors LLP said Wednesday.
October 07, 2025
FCA Says Lenders Will Pay Out £8B For Motor Finance Scandal

The Financial Conduct Authority released a proposed industry-wide program under consultation on Tuesday to compensate motor finance customers treated unfairly between 2007 and 2024, which it estimates will pay out £8.2 billion ($11 billion) in redress.
October 07, 2025
Nick Candy Admits Looking Stupid Over Alleged €5M Fraud

Property entrepreneur Nick Candy admitted that he "looks stupid" after being allegedly deceived by a dotcom-era investor into putting money in a failed social media startup, as he gave evidence on the first day of a €5 million ($5.8 million) trial.
October 07, 2025
Dubai Financial Adviser Can't Get 'Citizen By Invitation' TM

European officials have rejected financial consultancy Arton Advisors Management Consultancy LLC's trademark application for the phrase "Citizenship by Invitation," ruling the mark is descriptive and lacks distinctiveness.
October 07, 2025
EU Financial Firms Call For More Competitive Share Clearing

Europe's cash equities clearing system is ripe for further reform even as the region gears up for faster settlement cycles and greater capital-market integration, the trade body for financial institutions in the region warned on Tuesday.
October 07, 2025
Quinn Client Fights To Shield Firm From Ex-Staffer's Abuse

A client of Quinn Emanuel asked a London appeals court on Tuesday to prevent a former employee from sending abusive messages to the firm's lawyers in a case that was set to test a novel area of law.
October 07, 2025
US Consolidator Acquires London-Based Insurance Co.

Bishop Street Underwriters said Tuesday it has bought London-based managing general agent Avid Insurance Services Ltd., marking the American insurance company's second acquisition of a U.K. insurance business in 2025.
October 07, 2025
KPMG Fined By FRC For 'Serious' Failings In Audit Of Retailer

The accounting watchdog said Tuesday that it has hit KPMG and one of its partners with a £711,000 ($952,000) fine for "serious" failings in an audit of an online retailer — the latest in a series of penalties imposed by the regulator.
October 07, 2025
BoE Governor Backs Pension Plans To Boost UK Biz Growth

The governor of the Bank of England has said he is a "strong advocate" for plans by the Labour government to direct pension scheme capital toward British business, despite having warned against proposals that would mandate specific investments.
October 06, 2025
SFO Stands By Ex-Deutsche Bank Trader's Fraud Conviction

The Serious Fraud Office said Monday that the conviction of a former Deutsche Bank AG trader for conspiring to rig a benchmark interest rate remains safe even after the U.K.'s highest court overturned similar cases of two former bankers earlier this year.
October 06, 2025
Lending Platform Ordered To Pay Laid-Off Staffers £100K

An employment tribunal has ordered a lending platform to pay a total of £100,617 ($135,566) to four claimants it had made redundant, ruling in four separate cases that the staffers were dismissed in breach of their contracts.
October 06, 2025
Regulators Crack Down On Misleading Motor Finance Ads

The Financial Services Authority said Monday it has joined forces with the Solicitors Regulation Authority and other watchdogs to stop misleading advertising by claims management companies and law firms working on motor finance claims.
October 06, 2025
Lloyds Pushes To Slash £1.3B Arena TV Fraud Claims To £50M

Lloyds Bank PLC and its Bank of Scotland PLC subsidiary sought at a London court hearing on Monday to slash "extravagant" claims worth a combined £1.3 billion ($1.7 billion), brought by failed broadcast equipment companies at the center of fraud allegations.
October 06, 2025
Linklaters Fails To Toss Fintech Investor's Negligence Case

Linklaters lost an attempt on Monday to strike out a claim brought by a financial technology investor that the Magic Circle firm had negligently failed to spot a "large-scale fraud" against a company that the investor had acquired.
October 06, 2025
Former Petrobras Exec's $7.7M Asset Fight Delayed To 2026

The challenge brought by a former Petrobras executive to the seizure from him by the Serious Fraud Office of $7.7 million will continue in 2026 to allow additional information about related Brazilian proceedings to be gathered, a London court ordered on Monday.
October 06, 2025
FCA Survey Highlights Firms' Frustration With Data Demands

The Financial Conduct Authority has revealed some rising industry concerns about its performance, including excessive supervisory correspondence and unnecessary data requests, as it published its latest annual Practitioner Panel survey.
October 06, 2025
Ex-Soldier Gets 7.5 Years In Prison For £1.3M Ponzi Fraud

A former British Army rifleman convicted of running a £1.3 million ($1.75 million) Ponzi scheme was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison on Monday, as a judge said it was a "great pity" he had not seen the strength of the evidence against him.
October 06, 2025
Justices Won't Review Ex-BigLaw Atty's OneCoin Conviction

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a former Locke Lord LLP partner's appeal of his conviction and prison sentence for helping launder roughly $400 million in proceeds from the infamous OneCoin cryptocurrency scheme.

Editor's Picks

5 Questions For Spencer West Partner Karl Foster

The Financial Conduct Authority's approach to enforcement and consumer protection has come up against government economic growth priorities and resistance from the sector to its proposals to "name and shame" companies early on during regulatory probes.
UK Draft Pay Fraud Rules Open Tricky Legal Liabilities

The government's new draft legislation, which will give banks longer to investigate suspicions of fraud before they send payments instructed by customers, will create a wave of new legal liabilities and lead to regulatory hurdles, according to lawyers.
FCA Fires Warning Shot Over City's Consumer Duty Failings

The Financial Conduct Authority has sent out a fresh warning to financial services companies highlighting how some of them are failing to comply with its Consumer Duty regime. But experts have told Law360 that the expectations are unclear.

Expert Analysis

Privy Council Shareholder Rule Repeal Is Significant For Cos.

The recent Privy Council ruling in Jardine v. Oasis Investment abrogates the shareholder rule, which precluded a company from claiming legal advice privilege for document production in shareholder litigation, providing certainty to company directors seeking legal advice, say lawyers at Harneys.
Supreme Court Ruling Stands Firm On Trust Law Principles

The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent strict application of trust law in Stevens v. Hotel Portfolio may render it more difficult for lawyers in future cases to make arguments based on a holistic assessment of the facts, says Olivia Retter at Quinn Emanuel.
FCA's Woodford Fine Sends Warning To Fund Managers

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent decisions concerning Neil Woodford and the collapse of Woodford Investment Management mark an important moment for the U.K. investment industry, underscoring the regulator's focus on senior managers' personal accountability and the importance of putting investors’ interests at the heart of decision-making, say lawyers at Irwin Mitchell.
UK Supreme Court Dissent May Spark Sanctions Debate

While the recent U.K. Supreme Court's rejection of Eugene Shvidler’s appeal determined that sanctions decisions are primarily the government’s preserve, Justice Leggatt’s dissenting view that judges are better placed to assess proportionality will cause ripples and may mark a material shift in how future appeals are approached, say lawyers at Seladore.
What EBA Report Means For Non-EU Financial Firms

In a recent report concerning unregulated third country banks, the European Banking Authority decided not to extend a bank-to-bank exemption under the Capital Requirements Directive, raising a number of compliance issues for cross-border services, say lawyers at A&O Shearman.
HMRC's Automation Shift Likely To Alter Tax Adviser Role

HM Revenue & Customs’ recently released digital transformation road map promises greater efficiency and a modernized compliance regime, but the increased automation could also mean that the tax adviser role will become more proactive and more defensive, say lawyers at RPC.
How AI May Have Made A Difference In Monzo Bank Breaches

Artificial intelligence tools have the capabilities needed to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated threats, and such tools might have helped prevent the anti-money laundering failures that led to the recent £21.1 million fine against Monzo Bank, says Alexander Vilardo at Howard Kennedy.
Charting A Course For The UK's Transition From Paper Shares

The recent report from the U.K.'s Digitisation Taskforce, recommending modernization of how shares in U.K.-listed companies are held, makes it clear that while moving from paper shares to an intermediated system is a positive step, the transition will not be without complications, say lawyers at HSF Kramer.
Return-To-Office Policy Considerations For UK Employers

As the Financial Conduct Authority reviews its hybrid working policy and other organizations increasingly require employees to return to the office, employers should weigh the costs and benefits of these decisions while considering the nuances of work-from-home rights in the U.K., say lawyers at Shoosmiths.
Catching Up On Simplified EU Sustainability Disclosure Rules

A recent proposal to streamline implementation of the EU’s Taxonomy Regulation contains measures that would reduce companies’ sustainable investment reporting and compliance requirements, and better support the EU’s climate and environmental goals, say lawyers at Proskauer.
Fraud Law Puts Fund Managers Under Compliance Spotlight

The new failure to prevent fraud offense, effective Sept. 1, may not represent a material departure from most managers’ duties to exercise due care in preventing loss to the assets they manage, but the prospect of criminal liability should sharpen their compliance focus, says Andrew Henderson at Goodwin Procter.
CMA Pricing Guide Signals Shift In UK Consumer Protection

The Competition and Markets Authority’s recent draft price transparency guide, as part of a wider reform introduced by the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, represents a significant change in U.K. consumer protection by targeting unfair trading practices and strengthening enforcement mechanisms, says Felicity Forward at Shoosmiths.
8 Compliance Team Strategies To Support Business Agility

Amid new regulatory requirements across the globe, compliance functions must design thoughtful guardrails that help business leaders achieve their commercial objectives lawfully — from repurposing existing tools to using technology thoughtfully — instead of defaulting to cumbersome protocols that hinder legitimate business, says Theodore Edelman at GCE Advisors.
What To Note From FCA, Gov't Financial Growth Proposals

Recent Financial Conduct Authority and government proposals for financial services reform are positive developments for firms, signaling a drive to push forward growth and a willingness to be flexible in areas of regulation that the industry has long raised as barriers, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
What Gov't Report Tells Lawyers About Continuing AML Risks

The U.K. government’s recent national money laundering risk assessment maintains conveyancing, company service work and misuse of client accounts as key threats, underscoring that law firms should expect renewed scrutiny and higher expectations in these high-risk areas, says Harriet Holmes at Thirdfort.