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Snap July 4 Election Leaves Pension Reform In Disarray

The government's decision to call a snap general election for July 4 has left the U.K.'s pension sector in limbo, experts say, with uncertainty over whether the next administration will continue with an ambitious reform program.
September 24, 2024
UK Gov't Brings Forward New Laws To Fight Welfare Fraud

The British government said Tuesday it is getting ready to introduce a new bill in this parliamentary session to tackle social security fraud that could save taxpayers £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion) over the next five years.
September 24, 2024
PRA Sets Date For Final Package Of Solvency II Rules

The Bank of England said it would publish the final set of rules for its solvency reform of the insurance sector by mid-November.
September 24, 2024
Most UK Financial Firms Are Risk-Averse About New Tech

Financial services companies in the U.K. have delayed the adoption of new technology, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, because they have concerns over risks, a survey by a specialist insurer suggested on Tuesday.
September 24, 2024
Pension Trustees Urged To Look At Insurers' Carbon Targets

Trustees of retirement savings plans should look at how well insurers perform against their interim carbon-reduction targets when they choose a partner for a bulk annuities transaction, a consultancy has said.
September 24, 2024
Nasdaq, Deutsche Boerse Targeted In EU Antitrust Raids

Nasdaq and Deutsche Boerse said Tuesday that they are among the financial services firms being investigated by the European Commission over alleged violations of EU competition laws in derivatives trading.
September 24, 2024
Half Of Local Gov't Pension Plans Have No Net-Zero Target

Half of the local government pension schemes in Britain have yet to set a net-zero emissions target, according to a report published Tuesday, which reveals that just 49% of local authority retirement funds have committed to a strategy.
September 23, 2024
FCA Chair Cleared Over Whistleblower Complaints Handling

Britain's finance watchdog said Monday that its chair had been cleared of wrongdoing over his handling of two whistleblower complaints but that it will strengthen protection for people who sound the alarm after it reviewed its internal policy.
September 23, 2024
FCA Faults City Bodies' AML Policing As Inconsistent

The Financial Conduct Authority on Monday raised concerns over the inconsistent enforcement of anti-money laundering regulations by City professional bodies, particularly in the legal and accountancy sectors.
September 23, 2024
UK Insurers' Tax Contribution Hits Record High £18.5B

Members of the Association of British Insurers contributed a record £18.5 billion ($24.6 billion) in tax to the U.K. economy last financial year, the trade body said Monday.
September 23, 2024
Pension Experts Urge Tax Breaks For UK Investment Plan

The government could best encourage investment in the economy from pension schemes by adopting tax incentives, a trade body said.
September 23, 2024
UK Watchdog Thins Out Pension Plan Reporting Rules

The Pensions Regulator said Monday it has scaled back the amount of data that retirement schemes are expected to submit under new funding regulations, which went live this weekend.
September 23, 2024
Finance Sector Seeks Regulatory Clarity As Challenges Loom

The financial services sector is pushing for clearer regulations on artificial intelligence and environmental, social and governance criteria, according to research by global law firm DLA Piper.
September 20, 2024
BNP Paribas Plugging $5B Into Apollo-Backed Atlas

Private equity giant Apollo and its Atlas SP Partners platform, both advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, on Friday unveiled a strategic partnership with European Union bank BNP Paribas, led by Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, that will see the global bank plugging an initial $5 billion investment into the collaboration.
September 20, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

The past week in London has seen crypto exchange Binance face a new claim from the co-founder of SO Legal, a U.S. immersive art company take on a Bristol venue for copyright violations and Blake Morgan LLP hit with a pension schemes claim by The Trust for Welsh Archeology. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
September 20, 2024
Replace NHS With Health Insurance Model, Think Tank Says

Britain's National Health Service should be replaced by a social insurance model to bring health outcomes to comparable levels in Europe, a free-market think tank has argued, amid concerns the cash-strapped system is no longer viable.
September 20, 2024
Insurance Brokers Say Big Cos. Don't Need Consumer Rules

The Financial Conduct Authority should exclude bigger businesses from the scope of consumer protection regulations, in order to boost the competitiveness of the U.K. insurance sector, a trade body said.
September 20, 2024
Insurers Deny Liability For $911M Stranded Aircraft Claims

Two insurers have argued they are not liable for claims totaling $911 million over aircraft stranded in Russia as part of a wave of claims worth £13 billion ($17.3 billion) that have flooded courts following the invasion of Ukraine.
September 20, 2024
DLA Piper Boosts Corporate, Insurance Teams With 2 Partners

DLA Piper has strengthened its European corporate and insurance practices with the recruitment of two experienced partners to its offices in Spain and Italy.
September 20, 2024
Audit Watchdog Revises Actuarial Standard For Insurers

Britain's accounting watchdog on Friday published a revised version of the rules for actuarial work in the insurance sector that it said reflected recent regulatory changes around delivering good outcomes for consumers.
September 20, 2024
Pension Savings Plans Warned Over 'Deflation Spiral' Risk

Pension schemes should make contingency plans now for falling inflation, a consultancy has said, as it warned that failure to prepare could result in a destabilizing rush to sell off U.K. government bonds.
September 20, 2024
UK Fraud Reimbursement Plan Could Attract Organized Crime

A program launching in October that allows victims of fraudulent authorized push payments to get reimbursement from banks and payments companies could be exploited by organized crime to cash in with bogus claims, according to lawyers.
September 19, 2024
Record Number Of Pension Deals Reported In First Half Of '24

A record number of companies in the U.K. carried out pension risk transfer transactions during the first six months of 2024, offloading £15.3 billion ($20.3 billion) of pension plan liabilities to bigger players, Hymans Robertson said in a report.
September 19, 2024
Gov't Urged To Push Collective Defined Benefit Pension Plans

The U.K. government should push forward new collective pension plans with "bold and innovative" thinking to address Britain's retirement adequacy challenge, Hymans Robertson LLP said Thursday.
September 19, 2024
Insurers Wrestle With 'Cyberwar' Policy Exclusions

The evolving cyberinsurance market could be heading for a seismic shift if more insurers scale back standard business IT breach policies to limit the impact of state-backed cyberattacks on their bottom line.
September 19, 2024
UK Issues Disclosure Exemptions For Investment Trusts

The government and Financial Conduct Authority announced Thursday plans to reform the U.K. retail disclosure rules in early 2025, with immediate interim exemption of investment trusts from current requirements on cost disclosures to retail investors.

Editor's Picks

Top Court Ruling In 'Whiplash' Test Case Could Hit Premiums

Personal injury claimants could get higher payouts from their motor insurance as a result of a test case ruling at Britain's highest court on Tuesday, although analysts warn that insurers could respond with higher premiums to cover the cost of bigger claims.
FCA Begins Crackdown On Poor-Value Insurance Products

The move by the Financial Conduct Authority to restrict sales of guaranteed asset protection insurance is a sign of a faster approach to market intervention, and could lead the regulator to scrutinize other underperforming products, consultants say.
Post-Election UK Pension Changes Could Be In The Fine Print

Regulatory lawyers are not expecting radical overhaul in pension policies if the government changes after this year's general election. But lawyers say that signals in the opposition Labour Party's policy language could hint at possible shifts in investment priorities for retirement savings.

Expert Analysis

A Look At UK, EU And US Cartel Enforcement Trends

The European Union, U.K. and U.S. competition agencies' recently issued joint statement on competition risks in generative artificial intelligence demonstrates increased cross-border collaboration on cartel investigations, meaning companies facing investigations in one jurisdiction should anticipate related investigations in other jurisdictions, say lawyers at Latham & Watkins.
What Green Claims Directive Proposal Means For Businesses

With the European Union’s recent adoption of a general approach to the proposed Green Claims Directive, which will regulate certain environmental claims and likely be finalized next year, companies keen to publicize their green credentials have even more reason to tread carefully, say Marcus Navin-Jones and Juge Gregg at Crowell & Moring.
EU Reports Signal Greenwashing Focus For Financial Sector

Reports from the European Supervisory Authorities on enforcement of sustainability information, plus related guidance issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority, represent a fundamental change in how businesses must operate to maintain integrity and public trust, say Amilcare Sada and Matteo Fanton at A&O Shearman.
Embedding Consumer Duty: 6 Areas Firms Should Prioritize

The Financial Conduct Authority has repeatedly emphasized that complying with the Consumer Duty is not a tick-box exercise but an ongoing responsibility, so firms need to show that the duty is at the heart of their practices by staying compliant in areas from cultural change to customer vulnerability, say Nicola Higgs and Becky Critchley at Latham.
Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute

In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.
What Steps Businesses Can Take After CrowdStrike Failure

Following last month’s global Microsoft platform outage caused by CrowdStrike’s failed security software update, businesses can expect complex disputes over liability resulting from multilayered agreements and should look to their various insurance policies for cover despite losses not stemming from a cyberattack, says Daniel Healy at Brown Rudnick.
What To Expect From Labour's Pension Schemes Bill

The Labour government’s recently announced Pension Schemes Bill, outlining key policy areas affecting the retirement savings sector, represents a positive step forward for both defined contribution scheme members and defined benefit superfunds, but there are some missing features, says Sonya Fraser at Arc Pensions.
What EU Opinion May Mean For ESG Product Classification

The recently issued European Supervisory Authority opinion on the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation offers key recommendations, including revising the definition of sustainable investments and making principal adverse impacts consideration mandatory, that could sway the European Commission’s final approach to product classification, say lawyers at Debevoise.
Insurance Rulings Show Court Hesitancy To Fix Policy Errors

Two recent Court of Appeal insurance decisions highlight that policyholders can only overcome policy drafting errors and claim coverage if there is a very obvious mistake, emphasizing courts' reluctance to rewrite contract terms that are capable of enforcement, says Aaron Le Marquer at Stewarts.
EU Investment Fund Standards Offer Welcome Clarity

The European Commission’s recently published regulatory technical standards for long-term investments, which granted managers greater flexibility with respect to open-ended European long-term investment funds, should help managers active in the space navigate the mandatory liquidity requirements for long-term investment funds, say Zac Mellor-Clark and Nishkaam Paul at Fried Frank.
10 Ways To Manage AI Risks In Service Contracts

With the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act coming into force on Aug. 1 and introducing a new regulatory risk, and with AI technology continuing to develop at pace, parties to services arrangements should employ mechanisms now to build in flexibility and get on the front foot, says James Longster at Travers Smith.
Unpacking The New Concept Of 'Trading Misfeasance'

In addition to granting one of the largest trading awards since the Insolvency Act was passed in 1986, the High Court recently introduced a novel claim for misfeasant trading in Wright v. Chappell, opening the door to liability for directors, even where insolvent liquidation or administration was not inevitable, say lawyers at Greenberg Traurig.
Key Takeaways From Proposed EU Anticorruption Directive

The European Commission's anticorruption proposal, on which the EU Council recently adopted a position, will substantially alter the landscape of corporate compliance and liability across the EU, so companies will need to undertake rigorous revisions of their compliance frameworks to align with the directive's demands, say lawyers at Linklaters.
Tips For Implementing EU Sustainability Reporting Guidance

Lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell discuss the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group’s recently published guidance on double materiality assessments and offer takeaways on achieving a sustainability directive-compliant process that could enhance clarity and consistency among multinational stakeholders.
Why Ukraine Aircraft Insurance Case Failed To Take Off In UK

In Aercap v. PJSC Insurance, the High Court decided the claimants could not avoid an exclusive jurisdiction clause and advance their case in England rather than Ukraine, and the reasoning is likely to be of relevance in future jurisdiction disputes, say Abigail Healey and Genevieve Douglas at Quillon Law.