Financial Services UK

  • July 09, 2026

    FCA Details Crackdown On Illegal Ads, Financial Crime

    The City regulator said in its latest annual report on Thursday that it led an international crackdown on illegal financial promotions over the past year, making three arrests, requesting 650 social media takedowns and intensifying its fight against financial crime.

  • July 09, 2026

    Capita Pension Failings To Hit Profit By Up To £40M

    Outsourcing giant Capita warned Thursday that problems administering the U.K. Civil Service Pension Scheme will cut its 2026 profit by up to £40 million ($54 million) and delay its return to surplus cash generation.

  • July 09, 2026

    More Firms Sign FRC Investor Code Amid Regime Switch

    Britain's accounting watchdog said Thursday that 191 organizations meet the conditions to be signed up to its revised UK Stewardship Code, announcing that 290 businesses are now signatories to the framework.

  • July 09, 2026

    Pensions Biz Nest Eyes £1B VC Investment For UK Savers

    Workplace pension scheme Nest plans to invest up to £1 billion ($1.3 billion) in growing private companies via a dedicated venture capital portfolio managed by Schroders Capital, to boost long-term returns and increase backing for British startups.

  • July 09, 2026

    Pensions Dashboard Program 'On Track' For Oct. Deadline

    Around 85% of personal, workplace and state pension records are now connected to the retirement savings dashboard system, the government has said, highlighting that the delayed program is on track to meet its Oct. 31 deadline. 

  • July 09, 2026

    Insurance M&A Activity 'Hits Lowest 1st-Half Level Since 2017'

    Economic uncertainty and a shortage of willing sellers have driven merger and acquisition activity in the U.K. insurance distribution sector to its weakest first-half level in nearly a decade, according to a consultancy.

  • July 08, 2026

    Citadel Securities Drops Portofino Suit To Chase UK Judgment

    Citadel Securities has dropped its New York trade secrets lawsuit targeting a Swiss cryptocurrency trading firm launched by two ex-employees in order to focus on enforcing a roughly £6 million ($8 million) judgment it's already won in the dispute, according to documents filed Wednesday.

  • July 08, 2026

    Lawyers Set To Profit From Sanctions 'Mission Creep'

    The government's growing use of sanctions to disrupt criminals targeting Britain is creating more work for white-collar lawyers, even if they object that the heavy-handed foreign policy tool flouts the rule of law.

  • July 15, 2026

    Charles Russell Hires PE Pro From Mishcon De Reya

    Charles Russell Speechlys LLP has boosted its transactional capabilities with the hire of a private equity lawyer from Mishcon de Reya LLP.

  • July 08, 2026

    BAT Hit With 2nd Investor Claim Over North Korea Disclosures

    British American Tobacco PLC faces a second group claim in London this year after more than 100 shareholders alleged it had failed to disclose information about its North Korean activities, which ultimately led to the company paying hundreds of millions in penalties.

  • July 08, 2026

    Gov't Vows To Claw Back Bill For Capita Pensions Fix

    The government said Wednesday it will pursue service provider Capita for reimbursement on a taxpayer-funded fix for the ongoing Civil Service Pensions Scheme debacle.

  • July 08, 2026

    Pensions Body Floats Reforms To Boost Retirement Saving

    ​The U.K. government must reform workplace pensions as the current system still cannot provide adequate retirement incomes for many workers, a trade body warned on Wednesday.

  • July 08, 2026

    PwC Error Inflated Lender's €189M Claim, Real Estate Biz Says

    Real estate developer Urbas has admitted to defaulting on loan agreements but argued that a €189 million ($215 million) claim brought by a Luxembourg credit provider for repayment must be recalculated because PwC allegedly undervalued the shares appropriated by the lender as collateral.

  • July 08, 2026

    Gupta Says England Not The Venue For $7M Fraud Claim

    Metals tycoon Prateek Gupta told the Court of Appeal on Wednesday that a U.K. commodities trader cannot bring a fraud claim worth almost $7 million against him in England because the alleged loss occurred abroad.

  • July 08, 2026

    AI Adoption Not Yet Uniform In Corporate Reporting, FRC Says

    The audit watchdog said Wednesday that the use of artificial intelligence tools in corporate reporting is still cautious and uneven across the market, despite many businesses considering adopting the technology over the coming year.

  • July 08, 2026

    FCA Investigating 11 Potential Consumer Duty Breaches

    The Financial Conduct Authority said Wednesday in its latest enforcement watch newsletter that it is conducting 11 investigations into potential breaches of the Consumer Duty.

  • July 08, 2026

    UniCredit Stake In Commerzbank Now Just Short Of Control

    Italian lender UniCredit said Wednesday that it holds 49.65% of the voting rights in Commerzbank AG of Germany despite resistance from the German state about the approach.

  • July 07, 2026

    EU Lawmakers Seek To End VAT Break For Financial Services

    The European Parliament moved toward ending financial services' blanket exemption from value-added taxes by voting Tuesday to adopt a report recommending such a shift.

  • July 07, 2026

    EU Watchdogs Warn New AI Models Fuel Financial Cyber Risk

    European financial authorities warned Tuesday that the latest generation of artificial intelligence poses "a paradigm shift for cybersecurity" as the technology could enable bad actors to launch faster, cheaper and more sophisticated attacks on the financial market.

  • July 07, 2026

    Firms To Boost Cybersecurity After AI Attacks Cost UK £15B

    Dozens of major companies pledged on Tuesday to strengthen their cyberdefenses amid a surge in AI-enabled attacks by foreign states and criminal groups that cost the U.K. economy an estimated £14.7 billion ($19.7 billion) annually.

  • July 07, 2026

    FCA Warns Issuers Of Failure To Disclose Voting Rights Data

    The Financial Conduct Authority has warned companies trading shares on the London Stock Exchange that many are failing to disclose information on total voting rights as required to the market.

  • July 07, 2026

    HMRC Admits New State Pension Tax Errors Over 4 Years

    The government has said it accidentally overtaxed millions of Britons for their state pension income over four years, but that the tax ministry is working to ensure the error will not be repeated.

  • July 07, 2026

    BoE Weighs Revising Capital Rules To Boost Bank Lending

    The Bank of England said Tuesday that it plans to ease a critical capital requirement for major financial institutions in the U.K. to make it "simpler and more effective" for them to continue lending during times of financial stress.

  • July 14, 2026

    Kirkland Hires Debt Finance Pro From Ropes & Gray In Paris

    Ropes & Gray LLP is set to lose a finance lawyer to rival Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Paris, a little more than a year after Ropes & Gray opened its office in the French capital.

  • July 07, 2026

    English Law Governs £5B Bitcoin Claims, Fraud Victims Say

    Thousands of Chinese investors defrauded by a money launderer argued Tuesday that their claims seeking to recover their share of billions of pounds of seized cryptocurrency should be governed by English law.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Themes From New PRA Supervisory Letters

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    Two recent supervisory letters from the Prudential Regulation Authority outline priorities for international banks and U.K. deposit takers for the year ahead, including the need to strengthen risk culture, manage credit risk and govern data integrity, all of which indicate that banks will face greater regulatory interest in their internal controls, say lawyers at Skadden.

  • Banker Remuneration Proposals Could Affect More Than Pay

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    The Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority’s pending proposals to reduce banker remuneration restrictions bring obvious personal financial advantages for bankers, but may have repercussions that result in increased scrutiny of bonus payments and wider changes to workplace culture and overall accountability, say lawyers at Fox Williams.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • EU Report May Influence Regulation Of Decentralized Finance

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    The European supervisory authorities’ recent report on decentralized finance highlights the major regulatory challenges and increased cybersecurity risks of this ecosystem, and will likely provide useful guidance on how the market could be regulated to limit potential risks for investors, say Hubert de Vauplane and Hugo Bordet at Morgan Lewis.

  • Market Infrastructure Regs Aim To Reinvigorate EU Trading

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    The recently amended European Market Infrastructure Regulation, imposing a requirement on certain financial and nonfinancial institutions to maintain an active EU counterparty account, hopes to incentivize the central clearing of trades, although there are concerns that higher compliance costs will lead to a decrease in competitiveness, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Equal Rights Limit State Immunity

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    The Court of Appeal of England and Wales' recent determination that Spain’s London embassy could not dodge a former U.K.-based employee’s discrimination claims by invoking sovereign immunity reaffirms its position that employment and human rights should come before the privileges of foreign powers, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray’s Inn.

  • How Proposed Private Share Trading System May Benefit Cos.

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    The government's proposal for a private securities and capital exchange system intends to enhance market practices and risk tolerances, offering a significant way for firms to free up liquidity by allowing investors to trade existing private company shares, say lawyers at Mishcon de Reya.

  • Nonfinancial Misconduct Lessons From Rail Worker's Win

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    While financial services firms wait for the Financial Conduct Authority’s final policy statement on nonfinancial misconduct, an Employment Tribunal’s recent award to a railroad worker targeted by a hostile human resources team provides guidance on developing even-handed and inclusive company policies, say attorneys at Shoosmiths.

  • Important Changes To Note In Accountant Ethics Code Update

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    The Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales' forthcoming code of ethics will bring a number of significant updates to raise standards within the profession, but also risks of professional indemnity claims that could lead to challenges for firms, say lawyers at RPC.

  • A Look At Collateralized Loan Obligations Post-Reform

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    The Financial Stability Board's recent report on global securitization reforms, analyzing resilience trends in the collateralized loan obligation market post-2008, suggests that, while risk retention rules have a limited impact on observable characteristics, other structural features play a significant role in ensuring risk alignment, says Kos Vavelidis at DLA Piper.

  • What EU Sustainable Category Proposals Will Mean For Funds

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    The European Union Platform on Sustainable Finance’s recent proposals to apply stricter product categorization standards for funds subject to the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation will assist retail investors in selecting sustainable products, and allow advisers to easily match their clients’ preferences, say lawyers at Debevoise.

  • What To Expect As CAT Considers Mastercard Settlement

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    It is expected that the Competition Appeal Tribunal will closely scrutinize the proposed collective settlement in Merricks v. Mastercard, including the role of the case’s litigation funder, as the CAT's past approach to such cases shows it does not treat the process as a rubber stamp exercise, say lawyers at BCLP.

  • Managing Transatlantic Antitrust Investigations And Litigation

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    As transatlantic competition regulators cooperate more closely and European antitrust investigations increasingly spark follow-up civil suits in the U.S., companies must understand how to simultaneously juggle high-stakes multigovernment investigations and manage the risks of expensive new claims across jurisdictions, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.

  • What 2025 Holds For UK, EU Restructuring And Insolvency

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    European Union and U.K. restructuring developments in 2024, with a new era of director accountability, the use of cramdown tools and the emergence of aggressive liability management exercises, mean greater consideration of creditors' interests and earlier engagement in restructuring discussions can be expected this year, says Inga West at Ashurst.

  • What To Know As EU Urges Outbound Investment Reviews

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    A recent European Commission recommendation urges European Union member states to review outbound investments in certain critical technologies sectors, but does not clarify the next steps for states once information on relevant transactions in third countries is received, say lawyers at Cleary.

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