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Financial Services UK
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April 11, 2024
Squire Patton Steers £130M Mitsubishi Pension Deal
Insurer Just Group said Thursday it has signed off on a £130 million ($163 million) buy-in transaction for a scheme sponsored by Mitsubishi Chemical UK Ltd. in a deal guided by Squire Patton Boggs LLP.
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April 11, 2024
FCA Finds Failings By Administrator Of Woodford Funds
The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday it has found that Link Fund Solutions failed to act with "due skill, care and diligence" when it was the authorized manager of the failed £3.7 billion ($4.6 billion) flagship fund managed by Neil Woodford.
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April 10, 2024
No Merit To Autonomy Whistleblower Claims, Auditor Says
A Deloitte partner testifying in a California criminal trial over claims that former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch and finance director Stephen Chamberlain duped HP into buying the British tech company for $11.7 billion said Wednesday that auditors concluded that whistleblower allegations by a finance department executive were meritless.
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April 10, 2024
Italian Airline Chairman Sued For €50M Over Joint Venture
The chairman of Aeroitalia SRL has allegedly blocked aviation magnate German Efromovich from controlling the startup Italian airline by refusing to hand over his majority stake in the project, according to a new London claim seeking €50 million ($54 million).
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April 10, 2024
Ex-BigLaw Atty In OneCoin Scam A Flight Risk, Feds Say
A former Locke Lord LLP partner who was convicted of laundering proceeds from the OneCoin cryptocurrency scam has "every incentive" to flee the country, prosecutors told a New York federal judge, arguing he shouldn't be allowed to stay out on bail while his appeal is pending.
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April 10, 2024
Ex-Footballer Sues HSBC For £2M Loan Negligence
Former professional soccer player Matthew Jansen has claimed HSBC lost him almost £2 million ($2.5 million) during the 2008 financial crisis by allegedly failing to monitor the risk of loans secured against properties.
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April 10, 2024
Insurer Aviva Expands Bulk Purchase Pilot For Small Pensions
Insurance giant Aviva said Wednesday it has launched a streamlined bulk purchase annuity service to support smaller pension schemes with assets of less than £100 million ($126 million) to de-risk their plans.
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April 10, 2024
PCAOB Fines KPMG, Deloitte Units $27M For Cheating Claims
KPMG Netherlands and two Deloitte units will pay a combined $27 million to settle allegations from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board of widespread answer sharing in their internal training programs, with KPMG's $25 million penalty marking the largest fine PCAOB has ever imposed.
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April 10, 2024
UK Reports £612M Lost To Investment Fraud Last Year
Cryptocurrency scams accounted for the bulk of investment fraud cases that cost U.K. investors more than £612 million ($771 million) in 2023, according to crime data service Action Fraud.
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April 10, 2024
Swiss To Beef Up Banking Rules After Credit Suisse Rescue
The Swiss government said Wednesday that it plans to beef up rules for its largest domestic lenders, including giving its financial watchdog an expanded toolkit after the near-collapse of Credit Suisse revealed holes in the current regime.
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April 10, 2024
Compensation For Poor Pensions Advice At Record Low
Compensation for retirement savers who were wrongly advised to transfer out of their defined benefit pension has hit a record low, a consultancy said on Wednesday.
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April 10, 2024
EU Bank Rescue Agency Overcharged Institutions By €3.7B
A European Union court ruled Wednesday that the eurozone's rescue agency for financial institutions overcharged for contributions to its safety net fund by almost €3.7 billion ($4 billion) but has given the authority at least six months until it has to repay.
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April 10, 2024
FCA Eyes Revisions To Payments For Investment Research
The Financial Conduct Authority on Wednesday said it plans to revise how asset managers pay for investment research, seeking to simplify and expand access across the sector.
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April 10, 2024
Fraudsters Behind £50M Benefits Scam Get Sentencing Date
Five Bulgarians who pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering have been convicted at a London criminal court, the European Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation said Wednesday, a crime the agency described as the largest benefits fraud to have hit the U.K.
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April 10, 2024
Lifeboat Fund Opens Probe Into British Steel Pension Adviser
The compensation program for financial services said it has opened an investigation into an advice firm in connection with the British Steel Pension Scheme scandal.
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April 10, 2024
EY Law Helps Alisa Bank Merge With Fintech In €10.4M Deal
Finnish digital lender Alisa Bank PLC said it plans to merge with PURO Finance Ltd. in a deal that values the invoice financing company at €10.4 million ($11.3 million).
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April 10, 2024
FCA Records Decline In Households In Financial Difficulty
The number of households in financial difficulty tumbled by 38% in the 12 months to January, the finance watchdog said Wednesday, adding that more than seven million people were struggling to pay bills and credit repayments compared with almost 11 million a year earlier.
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April 10, 2024
Russian Tycoons Win Initial Fight Over EU Sanctions
Russian businessmen Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven have beaten the initial European sanctions imposed against them as a European Union court ruled Wednesday that they were unjustifiable, although their assets will continue to be restrained under newer measures.
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April 09, 2024
'You're Going To Lose These People,' Judge Tells Lynch Atty
U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Tuesday chided a Steptoe partner representing former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch in his criminal fraud jury trial, saying that his hourslong questioning of a Deloitte partner shouldn't go on much longer, or "you're going to lose these people."
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April 09, 2024
Pension Scheme End-Game Options Rising, Consultancy Says
A rise in funding means U.K pension schemes have more end-game options, consultancy Broadstone said Tuesday, as the aggregate surplus of thousands of defined benefit schemes increased to £455.5 billion ($578.4 billion) by the end of March.
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April 09, 2024
Labour Party Pledges £5.1B Tax Crackdown If Elected
Britain's opposition Labour Party pledged Tuesday to raise £5.1 billion ($6.5 billion) by closing tax loopholes and cracking down on tax avoidance schemes if it wins the next election, expected later this year.
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April 09, 2024
Gov't Urged To Ban Cash Incentives For Pension Switching
The government should ban pension providers from offering cash incentives for savers to switch plans because the practice encourages people to ignore the "fine print" and move over to a worse option, new research by a provider of retirement savings plans suggests.
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April 09, 2024
HSBC To Take $1B Hit From Sale Of Argentina Unit
HSBC said Tuesday that it will book a $1 billion loss on the sale of its business in Argentina to local lender Grupo Financiero Galicia, as the London-based bank continues to shift its focus to Asia.
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April 16, 2024
Charles Russell Speechlys Hires Banking And Finance Lawyer
Charles Russell Speechlys LLP has appointed Philip Withey, a lawyer from Womble Bond, as partner in its banking and finance practice in a move the firm believes will boost its business.
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April 08, 2024
Ex-Autonomy Exec Says Boss's Invoice Ask Caused Concern
A former Autonomy finance employee took the stand Monday in the criminal fraud trial of ex-CEO Michael Lynch and finance director Stephen Chamberlain, telling a California federal jury that he was "not comfortable" with one of Chamberlain's invoice requests and was sacked after raising concerns about accounting irregularities.
Expert Analysis
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Crypto Regulation Demands A More Cooperative Approach
Instead of implementing ever-increasing fines and unduly restrictive regulation, regulators should establish a more collaborative approach to the conundrum of cryptocurrency compliance that seeks to develop an understanding of both the industry's needs and its potential, says Mandeep Kaur Virdee at KaurMaxwell.
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Preparing For EU's Pay Gap Reporting Directive
An agreement has been reached on the European Union Pay Transparency Directive, paving the way for gender pay gap reporting to become compulsory for many employers across Europe, introducing a more proactive approach than the similar U.K. regime and leading the way on new global standards for equal pay, say attorneys at Lewis Silkin.
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A New FCA Gateway For Financial Promotion Approval
The Financial Conduct Authority's recent consultation paper regarding firms that approve financial promotions sheds light on its plans to narrow the scope for such promotions in order to better protect consumers from multiple areas of concern, says Gavin Punia at Bird & Bird.
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How Geopolitical Change Is Affecting M&A Activity In Europe
Several factors are leading businesses to divest from Russia and invest in central and Eastern European EU member states, with particular sectors attractive to U.K. companies and certain trends in M&A transactional activity emerging, says Oksana Howard at Colman Coyle.
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Examining The UK Government's Attempts To Combat Fraud
The U.K. government’s response to a parliamentary committee report on fraud and the justice system lays bare a disappointing lack of consensus and frustratingly fails to support a plan for the introduction of a strict liability offense of corporate failure to prevent fraud, as strongly recommended, say Lloyd Firth and Katy O’Connor at WilmerHale.
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7 Areas To Look Out For In The Edinburgh Reforms Package
Most of the proposed Edinburgh Reforms to facilitate the growth of U.K. financial services are already in progress, and while they may take months or even years to come to fruition, regulated firms should be aware of the considerable reach of the changes outlined and bookmark the areas of particular relevance, says Jill Lorimer at Kingsley Napley.
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EU Double Jeopardy Ruling May Complicate US Extraditions
The European Court of Justice’s recent judgment in Germany v. HF refines the European Union’s double jeopardy protections, weakening U.S. authorities’ ability to extradite defendants if charges involving the same set of facts are resolved in any EU member state, says Gabrielle Friedman at Lankler Siffert.
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Why 2023 Could Be The Year Of The Restructuring Plan
As U.K. businesses face a challenging economic environment going into 2023, the stage may be set for a rise in restructuring plans, with early signs such as an increasing body of case law, the pragmatic approach taken by the judiciary to date and the cross-class cramdown mechanism, say Rachael Markham and Charlotte Møller at Squire Patton.
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ECJ Beneficial Owners Ruling Leaves Uncertainty In Its Wake
The European Court of Justice's recent ruling in the WM and Sovim cases, holding that making information on a register of beneficial owners publicly available interferes with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, has been criticized as a step backward in the fight against money laundering and financing of terrorism, and its impact is not yet clear, say Michael Marschall and Verena Krikler at Schoenherr.
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UK Sustainability Disclosure Regime Complicates Compliance
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's new sustainability disclosure rules — likely to be finalized later this year — are the latest piece in an evolving compliance puzzle that fund managers may struggle with, due to conflicting interplay between regulatory requirements and investor expectations, say attorneys at Akin Gump.
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FCA Sends Banks Strong AML Message With Santander Fine
The recent nine-figure financial penalty imposed on Santander by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority shows the regulator's appetite to go after big banks for AML failings remains undiminished after the landmark case against National Westminster Bank in 2021, says Tom Bushnell at Hickman Rose.
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Why Your Fund Name Needs To Be Trademarked
It is a common misconception that the mere formation of a fund vehicle provides a trademark for its name — but the rights of brand owners are not safeguarded without trademark registration, and the fund is vulnerable if a third party registers the same or a similar mark and seeks to enforce it, says Sophie Peat at Ogier.
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ESG Initiative From FCA Likely To Inform Future Regulation
The code of conduct for environmental, social and governance data and ratings providers to be developed by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority may be voluntary, but market participants should be aware that compliance will likely offer the best mitigation against potential regulatory and litigation risks, say Ferdisha Snagg and Andreas Wildner at Cleary.
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5 Tips For Adding Value To Legal Clients' Experience In 2023
Faced with a potential economic downturn this year, attorneys should look to strengthen client relationships now by focusing on key ways to improve the client experience, starting with a check-in call to discuss client needs and priorities for the coming year, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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ECJ Fiat Ruling Sets Clear Boundaries For EU State Aid Law
The European Court of Justice's recent landmark decision in Fiat v. Commission limiting the commission’s attempts to circumvent the lack of EU powers in the area of tax law has important implications in EU state aid law and beyond, say Andreas Reindl and Pietro Stella at Van Bael.