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Financial Services UK
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June 19, 2024
King & Spalding Hires 5 Finance Pros From Cadwalader In UK
King & Spalding LLP has boosted its partnership ranks in London with the hire of five finance lawyers from rival U.S. law firm Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP.
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June 12, 2024
Eurojust Dismantles €113M Fraudulent Investment Scheme
Police have taken down a €113 million ($122.2 million) pyramid fraud scheme based around crypto mining in an operation spanning several European countries, the Eurojust European law enforcement agency said on Wednesday.
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June 12, 2024
BHS Ruling A 'Coup For Liquidators' Over Director Duties
A landmark ruling that found two directors liable for the collapse of a U.K. retailer and ordered them to repay a chunk of the losses highlights the limited reliance that directors can place on professional advice and a lack of experience to avoid responsibility.
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June 12, 2024
EU Agrees To Bolster Retail Investor Protection
European Union negotiators agreed Wednesday on changes to rules on retail investor protection across the bloc, which would help get savings flowing into the economy.
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June 12, 2024
Gowling, Eversheds Steer £125M Med. Nonprofit Pension Deal
Pension insurance company Rothesay said it has completed a £125 million ($160 million) full scheme buy-in with a plan sponsored by The nonprofit Medical Protection Society Ltd., in a deal steered by Gowling WLG and Eversheds Sutherland.
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June 12, 2024
Argentina Loses Appeal Over €1.3B Payment In Bonds Dispute
Argentina cannot avoid paying out €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) to bondholders for wrongly adjusting the way it calculates yields for government securities as a London appeals court rejected on Wednesday its construction of a contractual dispute.
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June 12, 2024
Rule Changes Proposed To Revive EU Securitizations
A European body for financial institutions has warned that regulation is suffocating the securitization market as it proposed a five-point plan to revive it as part of the Capital Markets Union to get investments flowing across member states.
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June 12, 2024
Google's GPay TM Gets Declined In Europe
Google lost its appeal on Wednesday after seeking to revive its "GPay" trademark for electronic payment services as a European court ruled that a Bulgarian rival had already cornered the digital market with "ePay."
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June 12, 2024
Marsh Unit Buys $66B UK Pensions Provider Cardano
A unit of U.S. professional services giant Marsh McLennan has bought $66 billion U.K. pensions provider Cardano, in a deal guided by Norton Rose Fulbright LLP.
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June 11, 2024
UniCredit Overturns $69M Plane Payment Sanctions Ruling
UniCredit was entitled to withhold $69.3 million in payments to lessors for Russian planes because of sanctions, a London appellate court ruled Tuesday, partly overturning findings that it was not reasonable for the bank's U.K. branch to believe it could not make the payments.
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June 11, 2024
Deutsche Bank Trader Fights For Compensation 'Assurances'
Deutsche Bank executives gave "assurances" about compensation that the lender must now abide by, a former trader told the High Court in London on Tuesday as she sued for breach of contract.
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June 11, 2024
Serco Denies Directors Knew Of Fraud In Securities Trial
Serco Group PLC denied investors are entitled to compensation over a fraud that caused the outsourcing giant's share price to nosedive, arguing on the second day of a London trial Tuesday that none of its directors had known about the alleged wrongdoing.
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June 11, 2024
Klarna Gets 2nd Shot To Trim Startup's 'Klar' TM
Buy-now, pay-later giant Klarna has won another chance at restricting a German data analytics' "Klar" mark, after a European appeals board ruled the officials had not properly taken the fintech's reputation into account.
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June 11, 2024
Widow Who Signed Docs 'Without Reading' Still Owes $64M
A London appellate court has ruled that a former Hong Kong resident can't escape a personal guarantee to pay 500 million Hong Kong dollars ($64 million) to cover bonds issued by her husband's company, in part because she entered the contract for business purposes.
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June 11, 2024
Travers Smith Recruits Funds Partner From Blackstone
Travers Smith LLP said Tuesday that it had hired a retailization specialist from Blackstone Inc.'s credit and insurance arm as a partner, fortifying its ability to advise fund managers on products previously only available to financial institutions.
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June 11, 2024
Tory Tax Cut Plans Raise Questions On Funding Gaps
The prime minister unveiled plans for £17.2 billion ($21.8 billion) in tax cuts at the launch of the Conservative Party's election manifesto on Tuesday, but a headline cut of two percentage points in the payroll tax was put off for three years — and funding plans left some experts unconvinced.
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June 11, 2024
French Tax Law Challenged On Free Movement Grounds
The European Court of Justice is examining a French law regarding undeclared assets held outside the country to determine whether it is in line with the European Union's law respecting free movement of capital, the EU's official journal said.
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June 11, 2024
Shakespeare Martineau Adds Finance Pro From Blake Morgan
Shakespeare Martineau LLP has hired a finance and banking specialist as a partner at the firm's new offices on the south coast of England, where he will work with new and existing clients across a range of sectors.
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June 11, 2024
FCA Eyes Consumer Impact Of New Legal Cooperation Rules
The Financial Conduct Authority has set out how it is working with the Financial Ombudsman Service and other bodies under a new duty of legal cooperation required by the Consumer Duty and changing payments regulations.
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June 11, 2024
LC&F Administrators Attack Ex-Boss' Credibility In Ponzi Case
The administrators of London Capital & Finance PLC have criticized the company's former head as a "thoroughly unreliable witness" as they closed their case that he and others operated the business as a £237 million ($302 million) Ponzi scheme.
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June 11, 2024
Sunak Pledges Further Tax Cuts In Election Manifesto
Rishi Sunak said on Tuesday that his Conservative Party would establish a tax system that "rewards work" by slashing a range of levies if it wins the general election, including another cut in the national payroll tax by 2027.
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June 11, 2024
BHS Directors To Pay Liquidators £18M For Wrongful Trading
A London judge ordered two former directors of failed retail chain BHS on Tuesday to pay liquidators at least £18 million ($23 million) after finding that they knew that the company was beyond rescue when it was purchased in 2015.
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June 10, 2024
BDO Denies Failing To Help In £18.5M Insurance Broker Sale
Accounting firm BDO LLP has rejected an insurance broker's claims that it is not entitled to payment for merger and acquisition advice because it failed to propose or introduce the buyer that eventually purchased the broker for £18.5 million ($23.6 million).
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June 10, 2024
Serco Accused Of Playing Around With Books As Trial Opens
Institutional investors told a London court Monday that Serco had "played around" with its financial reporting to keeping the government from clocking fraud in its contract for electronic tagging services as a landmark securities trial kicked off.
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June 10, 2024
Next Gov't To Face Tough Pension Decisions, IFS Warns
The next government will need to make some urgent decisions on pension reforms to ensure future retirees are protected, an influential think-tank has warned ahead of the July 4 general election.
Expert Analysis
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The Outlook For UK Restructuring Plans At Home And Abroad
The U.K. continues to be a center for large-cap, cross-border restructurings, though its competitive edge over the EU in this regard may narrow, while small and medium-sized enterprises are already likely to avoid costly formal processes by reaching out to their secured lenders for restructuring solutions, say Paul Keddie and Timothy Bromley-White at Macfarlanes.
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Foreign Assets Ruling Suggests New Tax Avoidance Approach
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in His Majesty's Revenue & Customs v. Fisher, which found that the scope of the transfer of foreign assets is narrow, highlights that the days of rampant tax avoidance have been left behind, and that the need for wide-ranging and uncertain tax legislation is lessening, says James Austen at Collyer Bristow.
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Lessons To Be Learned From 2023's Bank Failures
This year’s banking collapses, coupled with interest rate rises, inflation and geopolitical instability have highlighted the need for more robust governance, and banks and regulators have learned that they must adequately monitor and control liquidity risk to protect against another financial crisis, say Juliette Mills and Alix Prentice at Cadwalader.
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An Overview Of European Private Investments in Public Equity
Although still fairly rare, private investments in public equity may continue to be an attractive option for some European issuers seeking to secure equity financing, and advisers planning such an investment should consider the various local options, requirements and norms, say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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Cos. Must Monitor Sanctions Regime As Law Remains Unclear
While recent U.K. government guidance and an English High Court's decision in Litasco v. Der Mond Oil, finding that a company is sanctioned when a designated individual is exercising control over it, both address sanctions control issues, disarray in the law remains, highlighting that practitioners should keep reviewing their exposure to the sanctions regime, say lawyers at K&L Gates.
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Unpacking The UK's Proposals To Regulate Crypto-Assets
Recent proposals for crypto-asset regulation in the U.K. demonstrate support for crypto's potential, but there is concern around the authorization process for organizations undertaking crypto-asset activities, and new regulations will require a more detailed assessment of firms' compliance not previously addressed, say Jessica Lee and Menelaos Karampetsos at Brown Rudnick.
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The Top 7 Global ESG Litigation Trends In 2023
To date, ESG litigation across the world can largely be divided into seven forms, but these patterns will continue developing, including a rise in cases against private and state actors, a more complex regulatory environment affecting multinational companies, and an increase in nongovernmental organization activity, say Sophie Lamb and Aleksandra Dulska at Latham.
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UK Takeover Code Changes: Key Points For Bidders, Targets
Newly effective amendments to Rule 21 of the U.K. Takeover Code, which remove legal and administrative constraints on a target operating its business in the ordinary way during an offer, will add clarity for targets and bidders, and are likely to be welcomed by both, say lawyers at Davis Polk.
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Russia Ruling Shows UK's Robust Jurisdiction Approach
An English High Court's recent decision to grant an anti-suit injunction in the Russia-related dispute Renaissance Securities v. Chlodwig Enterprises clearly illustrates that obtaining an injunction will likely be more straightforward when the seat is in England compared to when it is abroad, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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How New Loan Origination Regime Will Affect Fund Managers
Although the recent publication of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive II represents more of an evolution than a revolution, the leverage limitations applicable to loan-originating funds are likely to present practical challenges for European credit fund managers, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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How EU Sustainability Directive Will Improve Co. Reporting
The need for organizations to make nonfinancial disclosures under the recently adopted EU Sustainability Reporting Standards will significantly change workforce and human rights reporting, and with the objective of fostering transparency, should bring about an increased focus on risks, policies and action plans, say Philip Spyropoulos and Thomas Player at Eversheds Sutherland.
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PPI Ruling Spells Trouble For Financial Services Firms
The Supreme Court's recent decision in Canada Square v. Potter, which found that the claimant's missold payment protection insurance claim was not time-barred, is bad news for affected financial services firms, as there is now certainty over the law on the postponement of limitation periods, rendering hidden commission claims viable, say Ian Skinner and Chris Webber at Squire Patton.
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What Lawyers Can Learn From FDI Screening Report Findings
The recent European Commission report on the screening of foreign direct investments into the EU reveals how member states need to balance national security concerns with openness, and with more cross-border transactions subject to screening, lawyers must be alert to jurisdictional variances, says Jonathon Gunn at Faegre Drinker.
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UK Review May Lead To Lower Investment Screening Burden
The government’s current review of national security investment screening rules aims to refine the scope of mandatory notifications required for unproblematic deals, and is likely to result in much-needed modifications to minimize the administrative burden on businesses and investors, say lawyers at Simpson Thacher.
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Economic Crime Act Exposure: What Companies Can Expect
The intention of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act is to make it easier to attribute criminal liability to companies if a senior manager has committed an offense, but the impact on corporate criminal convictions depends on who qualifies as a senior manager and the evidential challenges in showing it, say Hayley Ichilcik and Julius Handler at MoFo.