Financial Services UK

  • August 02, 2024

    Property Investor Denies Hiding Info From Franchise Buyers

    A real estate investment scheme's former owner has hit back at a £6.4 million ($8.1 million) counterclaim by the management consultancy that acquired it, saying in London court documents that he did not conceal any important information and that he had not breached any agreement.

  • August 02, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Sullivan, Dechert, Kirkland

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, BNP Parabis SA acquires an investment management subsidiary for €5.1 billion, Cleveland accounting firm CBIZ merges with competitor Marcum for $2.3 billion, and Arcosa Inc. inks a deal with a family-owned construction materials business for $1.2 billion.

  • August 02, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen insurance broker Marsh sue the collapsed Greensill Bank, the former chair of the Islamic Students Association of Britain pursue a defamation case against the Jewish Chronicle, Berkshire Hathaway and Lloyd's face action from a shipping company, and alleged fraudster Ronald Bauer hit a loan company with a claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • August 02, 2024

    SFO Claws Back Funds From Convicted Property Developer

    Britain's white-collar crime prosecutor said Friday it has seized £86,000 ($110,000) from a former commercial property developer who was convicted of fraud more than a decade ago after it discovered that he had acquired a luxury car.

  • August 02, 2024

    Top UK Court To Hear HMRC Car Park Tax Dispute With NHS

    HM Revenue and Customs has been granted permission by Britain's highest court to challenge a ruling that a National Health Service trust qualified for value-added tax exemption for hospital car parking, a decision that could affect appeals brought by NHS entities.

  • August 02, 2024

    FCA Charges Unauthorized Mortgage Broker With Fraud

    An unauthorized mortgage broker has been charged with fraud for allegedly arranging mortgage applications based on false information, the Financial Conduct Authority said Friday.

  • August 02, 2024

    FCA To Allow Flexible Use Of Unclaimed Investment Assets

    The Financial Conduct Authority said Friday it has changed its rules to enable companies such as banks and insurers to release dormant investment assets and client money into a scheme to find their owners or support U.K. growth through good causes.

  • August 02, 2024

    Ex-F1 Boss Sues HSBC For £5.5M For Wrongly Selling Bonds

    Former Formula One team boss Eddie Jordan has sued HSBC for £5.5 million ($7 million) for losses suffered as the result of the bank's allegedly false and negligent advice over a bond in which he invested tens of millions of pounds.

  • August 02, 2024

    BNP Paribas To Buy Axa's Investment Manager For €5.1B

    BNP Paribas SA has said it will buy an investment management subsidiary from French insurer Axa SA for €5.1 billion ($5.5 billion) to create a combined platform with €1.5 trillion of assets under management.

  • August 01, 2024

    World's First AI Act Takes Effect In EU

    The world's first comprehensive regulation of the tools known as artificial intelligence came into force Thursday, introducing restrictions on the development and use of the technology across all member states.

  • August 01, 2024

    Barclays Wins £13.7M Freezing Order Action Against Directors

    Barclays Bank PLC has proven that two businessmen breached freezing orders on £13.7 million ($17.5 million) of assets, after a London court on Thursday ruled it was beyond reasonable doubt the men allowed the assets to move offshore.

  • August 01, 2024

    Investor Wins $180M Claim Over Plane Leases Against VietJet

    A global private investment company's unit has won its $180 million claim against a Vietnamese budget airline it alleged was a "delinquent debtor," after a London judge said that the air carrier had waged a campaign to stop the planes being returned to their owner.

  • August 01, 2024

    City Firms To Invest Up To £20B Of Pension Funds In UK Biz

    Phoenix Group and Schroders have announced plans to invest as much as £20 billion ($25.7 billion) of pension money into private markets over the next decade in line with wider industry commitments to direct retirement savings capital toward the British economy.

  • August 01, 2024

    EU Watchdog Warns Of Risk From Global Crypto-Asset Firms

    Europe's financial markets watchdog has warned national regulators to address the risk that global crypto groups may seek authorization in the European Union to obtain clients unlawfully and expose them to non-EU-regulated services.

  • August 01, 2024

    Tragedy And A Hustle: 5 Takeaways From The 'Tuna Bonds' Ruling

    A London judge took the opportunity as he delivered a ruling that Mozambique was defrauded in a controversial maritime project to raise questions about the role played by international banks and the lack of financial standards in the multibillion-dollar "tuna bonds" scandal.

  • August 01, 2024

    UK Capital Gains Tax Liabilities Decline, HMRC Says

    Capital gains tax liability in the U.K. declined in the 2022-2023 tax year, HM Revenue & Customs said in a news release Thursday.

  • August 01, 2024

    Watchdog Names Banks Reimbursing Few APP frauds

    The Payment Systems Regulator found Thursday that banking groups varied widely in how far they reimbursed victims of authorized push payment fraud, with AIB Group, Danske Bank and Monzo making the lowest payouts in its 2023 performance report.

  • August 01, 2024

    Italy's Banca Generali Beats Credit Note Issuer's Appeal

    A London appeals court has ruled an Italian bank can remove and replace a special purpose vehicle's financial agents working on a series of securities transactions that went south, without needing the SPV's consent.

  • August 01, 2024

    Early Pension Dips Raise Long-Term Concerns, Insurer Says

    Pensions insurer Just Group has said official government statistics showing that seven in 10 people taking flexible payments from their pensions are younger than 65, raising questions about the sustainability of retirement savings in later life.

  • August 01, 2024

    Tchenguiz Can't Dodge £8M IG Index Spread Betting Debt

    Real estate investor Robert Tchenguiz has to repay an investment platform a spread-betting debt of £8 million ($10.2 million) after a court ruled Thursday that the company had correctly characterized him as a professional investor.

  • August 01, 2024

    Accounting Standards Setter Eyes Better Climate Reporting

    A global accounting standards setter has proposed "new illustrative examples" to improve how companies report climate change-related uncertainty and other factors in their financial statements.

  • August 01, 2024

    Barclays Plans £750M Buyback As Profits Beat Estimates

    Barclays PLC said Thursday that it will reward shareholders with a shares buyback of up to £750 million ($957 million) as it announced results for the first six months of 2024 that beat the expectations of analysts.

  • July 31, 2024

    HSBC Says HUD Has Closed Fair Lending Probe

    HSBC's U.S. banking arm said it is no longer facing a multicity fair lending investigation from federal housing authorities after an outside complaint that prompted the probe was withdrawn.

  • July 31, 2024

    FCA Can't Avoid Paying Julius Baer Bankers' Legal Costs

    Britain's financial watchdog lost its appeal to avoid paying part of the legal costs for two former employees of Swiss bank Julius Baer accused of acting recklessly and lacking integrity with specific foreign exchange transactions.

  • July 31, 2024

    Indian Businessman Loses Extradition Over $32M Loan Fraud

    An Indian businessman accused of defrauding 28.6 million Swiss francs ($32.5 million) from companies in an advance fee fraud scheme lost his chance to challenge the decision to extradite him from the U.K. on Wednesday after a London judge ruled that he could not mount a double jeopardy defense.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Approach Different Data Types In E-Disclosure Matters

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    The High Court's recent decision in Terre Neuve v. Yewdale highlights the importance of practitioners adequately approaching e-disclosure obligations, including understanding their data landscapes and the nuances of different data types, say Fiona Campbell at Fieldfisher and Alejandro Gomez-Igbo at Forensic Risk Alliance.

  • Why FCA Proposals For UK Listing Rules May Need Tweaking

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    Although many of the Financial Conduct Authority’s recently published proposals for listing rules reform are to be welcomed, a few further changes are needed if the regulator's objective of making the U.K. public markets more attractive is to be achieved, says Nigel Gordon at Fladgate.

  • Exploring UK Regulatory Reform Amid Global Bank Failures

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    In light of recent high-profile bank failures and the publication of a feedback statement to a U.K. regulatory review, the concern that banks are overly reluctant to use their stock begs the question whether regulators now need to rethink the operation of the liquidity coverage ratio, say Alix Prentice and Carl Hey at Cadwalader.

  • Key Takeaways From Recent UK Insolvency Disputes

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    As recent insolvency statistics show that U.K. registered company insolvencies are up 16% compared to last year, having a strong understanding of recent key U.K. decisions and how insolvency disputes operate is more important for companies now than it has ever been, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Why The Draft UK Fraud Offense May Not Be A Game Changer

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    Although the U.K.’s proposed "failure to prevent fraud" offense will generate a need for large businesses to reassess their existing processes, given the long lead-in times for prosecutions and the Serious Fraud Office's current success rate, it seems unlikely that the corporate fraud landscape will be immediately transformed, say Charles Kuhn and Charlotte Gill at Clyde & Co.

  • A Review Of The EU FDI Screening Regulation And Its Scope

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    The EU advocate general’s recent broad interpretation of the EU Foreign Direct Investment Screening Regulation takes account of some of the geopolitical challenges faced by the bloc, and may foreshadow a revision of the regulation and widen the scope of investments screened, say Vassilis Akritidis and Jean-Baptiste Blancardi at Crowell & Moring.

  • Key Takeaways From EU Proposal For Greenwashing Rules

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    If the proposal for a Green Claims Directive, with its enhanced rules on claims about a product or trader's environmental impact, is adopted, it will affect all businesses selling their products in the EU and bring major changes to the way those products are packaged and advertised, say attorneys at Shearman.

  • How EU ESG Regs Affect US Financial Market Participants

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    The European Commission recently confirmed that the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation applies to all funds marketed in the EU, so affected U.S. financial market participants will need to consider the new guidance on principal adverse impacts, sustainable investments and promotion of carbon emissions reductions, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • UK Plan For AI Rules Raises Compliance Questions For Cos.

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    The U.K. government's proposal for a new, clear and pro-innovation regulatory framework on artificial intelligence diverges from the European Union's approach, which may create incoherence and compliance burdens for businesses operating in both jurisdictions, says attorneys at Akin Gump.

  • UK Investment Screening Inches Closer To US Regime

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    The recent agreement between the U.K. Cabinet Office and House of Commons concerning parliamentary scrutiny of the Investment Security Unit represents a step toward greater transparency of intervention in investments that may raise national security concerns, and underscores increasing alignment with the U.S. regime, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • UK Ruling May Affect 3rd-Party Fraud Liability Post-Insolvency

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    While the recent Court of Appeal decision in Tradition Financial Services v. Bilta could make Section 213 of the Insolvency Act a powerful tool for liquidators, it also heightens the risk of companies tangentially involved in fraud being subject to claims following insolvency, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • 5 Ways For A Legal Practice To Close Technology Gaps

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    With technology a driving force for success, the U.K. legal sector must embrace innovation to maintain its competitive edge, and investing in new processes is no longer optional, says Gareth Preece at Doherty Associates.

  • UK Ruling Offers Useful Guidance To Insolvency Practitioners

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    The recent U.K. High Court ruling in a matter involving Sova Capital represents the first unsecured credit bid to be approved by an English court, demonstrating a pragmatic approach to complex sanctions-related administrations and identifying a novel solution for insolvency practitioners to maximize value for the benefit of creditors, say attorneys at Katten.

  • The FCA's Timely Plan To Reform Asset Management Regime

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    The discussion paper recently issued by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority finally addresses how, in the future, asset management regulation will work in totality from an investor, manager and distributor perspective, and its review of the purpose and balance of the regime is welcomed, says Tim Dolan at Greenberg Traurig.

  • UK's Draft Fraud Offense And How It May Affect Companies

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    The new U.K. corporate criminal offense of "failing to prevent fraud," recently published in draft form, will make it easier for prosecutions to be brought against companies, with no need to show that the "directing mind and will" of a company were involved in the fraud, say attorneys at Allen & Overy.

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