Financial Services UK

  • March 18, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy CEO's Fraud Trial Over $11.7B HP Deal Kicks Off

    Autonomy's former CEO Michael Lynch duped HP into buying his company at the inflated price of $11.7 billion, a federal prosecutor said Monday during opening statements in the British entrepreneur's criminal trial, while Lynch's lawyer countered his client had "all the money in the world" and no motive to commit fraud.

  • March 18, 2024

    HMRC Defends Response To Tax Avoidance Ploy

    The U.K. tax authority has rejected claims that it has been "heavy-handed" by applying the loan charge to users of disguised remuneration schemes, according to a letter released on Tuesday by the Treasury Committee.

  • March 18, 2024

    Prison Sentence Persuades Ex-Solicitor To Pay FCA's Order

    The Financial Conduct Authority said Friday that money launderer and ex-solicitor Dale Walker has paid a final sum of £33,500 ($42,600) required under a confiscation order, persuaded by a 62-day prison sentence for failure to pay.

  • March 18, 2024

    Ex-LC&F Chief's Legal Team Seeks Payment Upfront For Trial

    The £237 million ($300 million) London Capital & Finance investment trial was adjourned on Monday as the company chief's former legal team refused to come back unless they were paid upfront.

  • March 18, 2024

    Hayes Laments Judge's 'Catastrophic' SFO Interview Remarks

    A former derivatives' trader said Monday that, although he had admitted to dishonestly submitting figures for a key benchmark interest rate, it was unhelpful, prejudicial and ultimately "catastrophic" that the judge presiding over his trial told jurors that his conduct was misleading.

  • March 18, 2024

    WTW To Launch 'Game-Changing' Climate Finance Solution

    Insurance broker WTW said Monday it is working to launch an insurance facility that it hopes will remove risks associated with loans to private companies, a move to protect them from threats linked to climate change.

  • March 18, 2024

    FCA Levies £5.95M Fine In Fake Dividend Tax Reclaim Case

    The Financial Conduct Authority said Monday it had decided to fine the former chief executive of Indigo Global Partners Ltd. £5.95 million ($7.57 million) and ban him from the industry for participating in a Danish tax scam that falsely reclaimed dividend taxes on shares.

  • March 18, 2024

    PA Unfairly Pushed To Quit Over Underground COVID Fears

    A trader unfairly forced his personal assistant to quit after demanding that she continue to work at his house despite her concerns about catching COVID-19 on the London Underground, an appeals tribunal has ruled.

  • March 18, 2024

    Serving Claims To HMRC By Email Made Permanent

    Claimants pursuing legal action against the U.K. tax authority in England and Wales will continue to be able to serve documents by email, HM Revenue and Customs said Monday, making the process it introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic permanent.

  • March 18, 2024

    SFO's Ephgrave Targets Fraud In Push To Kick Down Doors

    The Serious Fraud Office's fifth new investigation in the five months since Nick Ephgrave took the helm shows the watchdog has focused on domestic fraud cases and delivered on the director's pledge to be bolder, lawyers say.

  • March 18, 2024

    Watchdogs Join Forces To Ramp Up Fight On Debt Collection

    The Financial Conduct Authority said on Monday it is launching a joint effort with three other watchdogs to further scrutinize debt collection practices, ensuring that companies fairly treat consumers who are feeling the pinch from the cost-of-living crisis.

  • March 15, 2024

    Ex-Autonomy CEO To Face Jury As HP Fraud Trial Boots Up

    Former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch's 2011 sale of the tech company he founded to HP for about $11.7 billion earned him around $804 million and acclaim in tech circles, but the British executive now faces up to 20 years in prison on federal fraud charges that he inflated revenue figures in a monthslong criminal trial slated to kick off Monday in San Francisco.

  • March 15, 2024

    Emirati Banks Deny Misleading Court To Get $31M Order

    Emirates NBD Bank PJSC has denied misleading the Dubai courts to secure court orders for 117 million AED ($31.8 million) to enforce loans it claims executives of a Kuwaiti opticians company owe.

  • March 15, 2024

    Investment Funds Fight For Disclosure In $1.2B Mining Row

    Two Brazilian investment funds lost their bid Friday to force a mining company to hand over board documents ahead of a trial over a $1.2 billion deal that went south, with the judge agreeing with the mining firm that the documents are privileged.

  • March 15, 2024

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

    The past week in London has seen Howard Kennedy face legal action by a London hotel chain, former racing boss Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One hit with a breach of contract claim by a Brazilian racecar driver, and a libel row between broadcaster Jeremy Vine and ex-footballer Joey Barton. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • March 15, 2024

    US Acquittals Don't Upend UK Libor Convictions, SFO Says

    The acquittals in the U.S. of two former bankers previously convicted of rigging Libor doesn't undermine the legal rationale — upheld on several appeals — for prosecuting traders in English courts, counsel for the Serious Fraud Office said Friday.

  • March 15, 2024

    FCA To Review How Firms Treat Vulnerable Customers

    Britain's finance watchdog said on Friday that it will examine whether U.K. firms are treating vulnerable and elderly customers fairly.

  • March 15, 2024

    Debenhams Pension Deal Eases Superfund Fears, LCP Says

    The step by Clara-Pensions to take on all 10,400 members of the retirement savings plan of collapsed retailer Debenhams in the U.K.'s second-ever superfund deal will ease concerns around transactions in the nascent market, a consultancy has said.

  • March 15, 2024

    Fintech Co. R8 Capital Extends £50M Redwood Bank Deal

    Struggling fintech company R8 Capital said Friday that it now is likely to complete the approximately £50 million ($63.7 million) acquisition of the parent company of specialist business lender Redwood Bank in August to "accommodate certain aspects of the transaction."

  • March 15, 2024

    Scottish Mortgage Plans £1B In Buybacks Over 2 Years

    Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust said Friday it is planning to spend at least £1 billion ($1.3 billion) over the next two years to reward shareholders after a sharp rise in cash flow from its portfolio companies.

  • March 15, 2024

    Pension Watchdog Says Poor-Value Plan Initiative Is Working

    The U.K.'s retirement savings watchdog said that its fight against poor-value pension schemes is working and that plans are choosing to wind up following government regulations introduced to drive improvements for members.

  • March 15, 2024

    One-Day US Settlement Will Jeopardize Global FX Market

    European asset managers have warned central banks and regulators that the planned U.S. move in May to settle foreign exchange trades more quickly will make billions of dollars in daily settlements unsafe, putting the global market at risk.

  • March 14, 2024

    Lehman Brothers Can't Undo Trial Loss Over Crisis-Era CDS

    A New York appeals court on Thursday affirmed a bench trial loss Lehman Brothers' bankrupt European unit suffered last year in a suit attempting to claw back nearly half a billion dollars from Assured Guaranty over losses on credit default swaps tied to the 2008 financial crisis.

  • March 14, 2024

    UK Top Court Wrongly Enforced $356M Award Against Romania

    Britain violated European Union law when the U.K. Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that two Swedish food investors could resume their efforts to enforce a $356 million arbitral award against Romania, despite findings within the EU that the award is illegal, the bloc's highest court found on Thursday.

  • March 14, 2024

    Barclays Beats Race Bias Claims From Cameroonian Ex-VPs

    Barclays did not discriminate against three of its former vice presidents based on their ethnicity or Cameroonian nationality, but two of the bankers proved it mishandled their performance reviews in light of disabilities they had, a tribunal has ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • EEA Equivalence Statement Is Welcomed By Fund Managers

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    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.

  • In Int'l Arbitration Agreements, Be Clear About Governing Law

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    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.

  • Crypto As A Coin Of The Corporate Realm: The Pros And Cons

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    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.

  • Comparing UK And EU's View On 3rd-Party Service Providers

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    The U.K. is taking welcome steps to address the lack of direct oversight over critical third-party service providers, and although less onerous than that of the EU Digital Operational Resilience Act, the U.K. regime's proportionate approach is designed to make providers more robust and reliable, say lawyers at Shearman.

  • Key Points Of BoE Response To Digital Pound Consultation

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    Lawyers at Hogan Lovells analyze the recent Bank of England and U.K. government response to a consultation on the launch of a digital pound, finding that the phased approach to evaluating the issues makes sense given the significant potential impact on the U.K. economy.

  • Goldman Prosecution Delivers A Clear Sign Of FCA Strength

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    The recent successful prosecution of a former Goldman Sachs analyst for insider dealing and fraud is a reminder to regulated individuals that economic crime will never be tolerated, and that the Financial Conduct Authority is willing to bare its teeth in the exercise of its prosecutorial remit, says Doug Cherry at Fladgate.

  • The Good, The Bad And The New Of The UK Sanctions Regime

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    Almost six years after the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act was introduced, the U.K. government has published a strategy paper that outlines its focus points and unveils potential changes to the regime, such as a new humanitarian exception for financial sanctions, highlighting the rapid transformation of the U.K. sanctions landscape, says Josef Rybacki at WilmerHale.

  • A Look At Environment Agency's New Economic Crime Unit

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    Sophie Wood at Kingsley Napley explains how the Environment Agency’s newly established Economic Crime Unit will pursue criminal money flows from environmental offenses, and discusses the unit’s civil powers, including the ability to administer account freezing and forfeiture orders, says Sophie Wood at Kingsley Napley.

  • Opinion

    UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason

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    The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.

  • 4 Legal Privilege Lessons From Dechert Disclosure Ruling

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    The Court of Appeal's recent decision in Al Sadeq v. Dechert LLP, finding that evidence may have been incorrectly withheld, provides welcome clarification of the scope of legal professional privilege, including the application of the iniquity exception, says Tim Knight at Travers Smith.

  • BT Case May Shape UK Class Action Landscape

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    The first opt-out collective action trial commenced in Le Patourel v. BT in the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal last month, regarding BT's abuse of dominance by overcharging millions of customers, will likely provide clarification on damages and funder returns in collective actions, which could significantly affect the class action regime, say lawyers at RPC.

  • Key Points From EC Economic Security Screening Initiatives

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    Lawyers at Herbert Smith analyze the European Commission's five recently announced initiatives aimed at de-risking the EU's trade and investment links with third countries, including the implementation of mandatory screening mechanisms and extending coverage to investments made by EU companies that are controlled subsidiaries of non-EU investors.

  • Following The Road Map Toward Quantum Security

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    With the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent publication of a white paper on a quantum-secure financial sector, firms should begin to consider the quantum transition early — before the process is driven by regulatory obligations — with the goal of developing a cybersecurity architecture that is agile while also allowing for quantum security, say lawyers at Cleary.

  • Why EU Ruling On Beneficial Ownership May Affect The UK

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    Following the EU judgment in Sovim v. Luxembourg that public access to beneficial ownership information conflicts with data protection rights, several British overseas territories and dependencies have recently reversed their commitment to introduce unrestricted access, and challenges to the U.K.’s liberal stance may be on the cards, says Rupert Cullen at Allectus Law.

  • Key Changes In FRC Code Aim To Promote Good Governance

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    The focus of the recently published Financial Reporting Council Corporate Governance Code on risk management and internal controls is to ensure the competitiveness of the U.K. listing regime while not compromising on governance standards, and issuers may wish to consider updating their policies in order to follow best practice, say lawyers at Debevoise.

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