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Financial Services UK
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February 13, 2025
MPs Call On Minister To Respond On Pensions Inflation Rules
The U.K. government has been urged by senior MPs to respond to calls for reform that will allow retirement benefits for older pensioners to rise with inflation.
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February 13, 2025
Pension Insurers Invest £178B In UK Assets, Trade Body Says
Providers of bulk and individual annuities invested £178 billion ($222 billion), or 65% of their assets, in the U.K. in 2023, the Association of British Insurers said on Thursday.
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February 13, 2025
Exec Proves Harassment By Inflexion-Backed Finance Firm
A finance firm back by private equity provider Inflexion harassed one of its executives before penalizing him for blowing the whistle on bullying by giving him a less generous equity package when he left, a tribunal has ruled.
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February 13, 2025
Insider Dealing Suspect Denies Illegally Profiting From Trades
A man appeared at a criminal court in London on Thursday to deny using inside information to profit from oil and gas stocks over a four-year period.
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February 13, 2025
FCA's Pension Support Reform Needs Work, Industry Says
Britain's pension industry on Thursday signaled its support for proposals floated by the Financial Conduct Authority to allow retirement savings providers to offer better support to workers ahead of retirement, but said more detail was needed before plans go live.
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February 13, 2025
Essity Faces Investors' Claim Over Chinese Tissue Biz Sale
A group of investment companies has sued Essity at a London court, alleging that the manufacturer of hygiene and health products defaulted on bond notes when it sold its controlling stake in a Chinese tissue company.
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February 13, 2025
FCA Files Criminal Charges Against Financial Adviser
The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday it has charged an independent financial adviser with multiple criminal offenses that resulted in more than £2.3 million ($2.9 million) in losses for clients.
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February 13, 2025
Gov't Urged To Act On Growing Number Of Small Pension Pots
The number of small pension pots in the U.K. rose by two million between 2020 and 2023, a think tank has said, as it urged the government to urgently intervene for consolidation.
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February 13, 2025
FRC Probes Former Finance Staff At Bankrupt Local Authority
Two former accountants are under investigation for their work at a bankrupt local authority in England that has amassed debts of £2.4 billion ($3 billion), a corporate governance watchdog said Thursday.
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February 12, 2025
UK Annuity Sales Hit Record After Pension-Freedom Reforms
Pension annuity sales in Britain reached £7 billion ($8.7 billion) in 2024, figures published Wednesday by the Association of British Insurers show, marking a 34% increase on the previous year.
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February 12, 2025
Russia Loses State Immunity Bid In $63B Yukos Case
A London appeals court on Wednesday dismissed the Russian government's attempt to use state immunity to block investors from enforcing an over $63 billion arbitration award, saying the state should honor the award without engaging in "trench warfare."
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February 12, 2025
Justices Rewrite Extradition Rules In Shock To DOJ's Reach
The decision by Britain's highest court to block the extradition of a British trader has rewritten decades of precedent, although lawyers are divided on whether the findings will weaken the long reach of U.S. law or simply refocus it.
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February 12, 2025
Financial Ombudsman's Sudden Exit Draws MP Scrutiny
A cross-party group of MPs is scrutinizing the sudden and unexplained resignation of the chief executive of Britain's Financial Ombudsman Service after failing to get answers from the body's board.
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February 12, 2025
Watchdog Warns Pension Providers Over Climate Lethargy
The U.K. retirement savings watchdog issued a warning to pension providers Wednesday after campaigners found the sector to be dragging its heels on climate action.
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February 12, 2025
Reading FC Owner Sues Buyer Over Unreturned Loan Security
The owner of Reading Football Club has sued a potential buyer of the League One club over a "continuing refusal" to return assets used to secure the outfit's sale, in the latest legal twist in litigation following the botched takeover deal.
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February 12, 2025
UK Clears £2.55B BlackRock Bid For Data Biz Preqin
The U.K.'s competition watchdog said Wednesday it has given the green light to asset management giant BlackRock's £2.55 billion ($3.16 billion) takeover of Preqin Ltd., a markets data provider based in London.
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February 12, 2025
Arena Liquidators Challenge Lloyds' Directors' Authority Defense
Arena Television's liquidators have dismissed Lloyds Bank's defense to allegations it processed payments linked to a £1.2 billion ($1.5 billion) fraud, saying the bank's claim it was acting on the instructions of directors who were authorized to make the payments is "unsustainable."
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February 12, 2025
Close Brothers Sets Aside £165M For Car Finance Probe
London merchant bank Close Brothers said Wednesday that it plans to set aside £165 million ($205 million) to cover potential costs stemming from a Financial Conduct Authority probe into motor finance commission agreements and a related appeal at the U.K.'s top court.
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February 12, 2025
HMRC Can't Tax Canadian Bank For Oil Loan Payments
The U.K. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that HM Revenue and Customs cannot tax loan payments made to Royal Bank of Canada connected to oil rights in the North Sea because the underlying agreement did not give an oil company the right to work the oilfield.
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February 12, 2025
UK Supreme Court Bars Trader's Extradition To The US
Britain's highest court has barred the extradition of a British-Lebanese trader to the U.S. over insider dealing allegations, finding on Wednesday that the charges he faced for allegedly doling out lavish gifts in exchange for tips occurred in Britain.
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February 11, 2025
£5.5B Tax Evasion Could Be 'Tip Of Iceberg,' Watchdog Warns
The £5.5 billion ($6.8 billion) annual cost of tax evasion drawn up by HM Revenue and Customs is probably "vastly underestimated" — and the authority has no plan to tackle the gap in the public purse, the government's spending watchdog warned Wednesday.
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February 11, 2025
Vacuum Or Trap? What Trump's FCPA Halt Means For SFO
U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to stop enforcing bribery laws against American companies creates a potential vacuum for the Serious Fraud Office to fill, though lawyers caution that prosecuting U.S. companies could prove a political hazard for the U.K. enforcement agency.
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February 11, 2025
StanChart Bids To Slash £762M From UK Investor Claim
Standard Chartered urged the High Court on Tuesday to strike out claims from passive investors worth £762 million ($943 million) in litigation accusing the bank of making untrue or misleading market statements about its sanctions noncompliance.
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February 11, 2025
Tribunal To Consider If FCA Has Equality Duty In Cum-Ex Row
The U.K.'s Upper Tribunal will hold a preliminary hearing to decide whether the Financial Conduct Authority has a duty to not discriminate when it fined and banned a cum-ex trader from the industry, according to a tribunal decision published Tuesday.
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February 11, 2025
Barclays Sued Over Staffer's Alleged Role In $643K Fraud
A Singaporean fire safety business has sued Barclays Bank PLC over an elaborate fraud that caused it to send $643,000, alleging that a bank employee was involved in the plot to dupe it into transferring funds to criminals.
Expert Analysis
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What French Watchdog Ruling Means For M&A Landscape
Although ultimately dismissed due to lack of evidence, the French competition authority’s recent post-closing review of several nonreportable mergers is a landmark case that highlights the increased complexity of such transactions, and is further testament to the European competition authorities’ willingness to expand their toolkit to address below-threshold M&As, say lawyers at Cleary.
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New Directors' Code Of Conduct May Serve As Useful Guide
Although the Institute of Directors’ current proposal for a voluntary code of conduct is strongly supported by its members, it must be balanced against the statutory requirement for directors to promote their company’s success, and the risk of claims by shareholders if their decisions are influenced by wider social considerations, says Matthew Watson at RPC.
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Exploring The EU's Draft Standards On Crypto Authorization
The European Securities and Markets Authority’s recently published draft standards aim to promote fair competition and a safer environment for crypto providers and investors, detailing precisely the information to be provided to national authorities in charge of screening the acquisitions of a qualifying holding, says Mathieu de Korvin at Norton Rose.
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How FCA Guidance Aligns With Global Cyberattack Measures
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s recent guidance on preparing for cyberattacks aligns with the global move by financial regulators to focus on operational resilience, highlighting the importance of proactive strategies and robust resilience frameworks to mitigate disruptions, while observing a disappointing level of engagement by the industry, say Alix Prentice and Grace Ncube at Cadwalader.
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Takeaways From Regulators' £61.6M Citigroup Trading Fine
Following the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority’s recent significant fining of Citigroup for its catastrophic trading error, and with more enforcement likely, institutions should update their controls and ensure system warnings do not become routine and therefore disregarded, says Abdulali Jiwaji at Signature Litigation.
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Factors For London Cos. To Consider If Adding US Listings
Recent reports of a continuing valuation gap between London and New York have resulted in some London-listed companies considering U.S. listings to gain an increased investor base, but with various obligations and implications involved in such a move, organizations should consider whether there is a real benefit from trading there, say lawyers at Winston & Strawn.
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Assessing The Energy Act 2023, Eight Months On
Although much of the detail required to fully implement the Energy Act 2023 remains to be finalized, the scale of change in the energy sector is unprecedented, and with the U.K. prioritizing achieving net-zero, it is likely that developments will continue at pace, say lawyers at Paul Hastings.
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Opinion
Why Timing Makes UK Libor Judgments Controversial
The recent U.K. Court of Appeal decision in the R v. Hayes and Palombo appeal against Libor convictions demonstrates that had U.K. regulators probed with the facts known today, civil claims in all jurisdictions would be dismissed and a decadelong wasted investigation should be put to rest, says Charles Kuhn at Clyde & Co.
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Tips For Orgs Using NDAs In Light Of New UK Legislation
The recent passage of the Victims and Prisoners Act follows a crackdown on the misuse of nondisclosure agreements, but although NDAs are not prohibited and regulators recognize their legitimate justification, organizations relying on them must be able to clearly explain that justification if challenged, say attorneys at Macfarlanes.
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What Alternative Fuel Proposals Mean For EU Infrastructure
The European Union’s proposed Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Facility, covering activities in the transport sectors supporting the decarbonization process, sets ambitious standards regarding the deployment of adequate supply infrastructure and offers new funding opportunities for port operators and shipowners, says Christian Bauer at Watson Farley.
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Continuation Funds: What You Need To Know
As the continuation fund market matures, the structure and terms of these transactions have become increasingly complex, presenting challenges that should be carefully navigated by participants to ensure a successful transaction process, say lawyers at Skadden.
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EU Anti-Greenwashing Guide Analyzed For Fund Managers
Anna Maleva-Otto and Matthew Dow at Schulte Roth explain how the European Securities and Markets Authority’s new guidelines on sustainability-related terms in fund names aim to protect European Union investors from unsubstantiated claims, and how they provide quantifiable criteria for determining which terms can be used to promote their funds.
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FCA 'Finfluencer' Trial Exposes Social Media Promo Risks
The upcoming Financial Conduct Authority prosecution of nine individuals for Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 violations is the first time an online influencer will be tried for using social media to promote investments, demonstrating the need to be wary of the specific legal requirements surrounding financial product promotion, says David Claxton at Red Lion.
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A Look At US-EU Consumer Finance Talks' Slow First Steps
The unhurried and informal nature of planned discussions between the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the European commissioner for justice and consumer protection suggests any coordinated regulatory action on issues like AI and "buy now, pay later" services is still a ways off, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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FCA Doubles Down On New Priorities With Target ID Plan
Respondents to the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent consultation on its plan to publicly name subjects under investigation are concerned that the regulator’s cost-benefit analysis has not adequately considered the risks, but the FCA is holding firm, and it seems likely the changes will be implemented, says James Tyler at Peters & Peters.