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Financial Services UK
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June 04, 2024
Investor Rules Offer Shield To IG Index Debt, Tycoon Says
Real estate investor Robert Tchenguiz fought against an investment platform's claim over an alleged £7.9 million ($10 million) spread-betting debt at a London court on Tuesday, arguing that he has not run up the bill because the company failed to properly categorize him as a professional investor.
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June 04, 2024
EU Watchdogs Demand Tighter Greenwashing Controls
The European Union's financial regulators on Tuesday called on national regulators across the bloc to take tougher steps to combat greenwashing, using more resources and stepping up enforcement.
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June 04, 2024
Nearly A Third Of Over 55s Dipping Into Pensions Early
Almost three in 10 retirees over the age of 55 have said they had withdrawn money from their pension before retirement as savers continue to feel squeezed by rising living costs, Just Group said Tuesday.
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June 04, 2024
UK Finance Firms 'Triple Clean Energy Investment' To $2.3B
Britain's financial firms tripled their investments in clean energy projects to $2.3 billion in 2023, up from $800 million the year before, according to a new study published Tuesday.
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June 04, 2024
Enviro Assets Investor To Launch £10M Share Buyback
Green assets investor Octopus said on Tuesday that it is launching a share buyback worth up to £10 million ($12.8 million) — the first chunk of a wider program that aims to reduce outstanding share capital amid concerns its stock is undervalued.
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June 03, 2024
Ex-Autonomy CEO 'Had 500M Reasons' For Fraud, Jury Told
Autonomy's ex-CEO Michael Lynch "had 500 million reasons to defraud HP," since he reaped $500 million by selling his company to the tech giant at an inflated price, a federal prosecutor argued Monday during closings for the businessman's criminal trial, while Lynch's lawyer told jurors, "HP was not a victim."
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June 03, 2024
Mammoth Swipe Fees Cases Joined Together In Pass On Trial
Two mammoth class actions against Mastercard and Visa will be heard together at a trial in November to resolve common issues about whether retailers passed on the credit and debit card giants' fees to consumers, a London tribunal has ruled.
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June 03, 2024
UK Voters Want Pension Reform In Election Manifestos
Three in four workers with a defined contribution pension are more likely to vote for a political party that reforms workplace pensions, research from a retirement savings company shows.
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June 03, 2024
Squire Patton Steers WH Ireland On £5M Asset Sale
Wealth manager WH Ireland Group PLC said Monday it has conditionally agreed to sell its capital markets arm and some of its assets to Zeus Capital Ltd. for up to £5 million ($6.4 million).
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June 03, 2024
IT Biz To Buy Tech Consultant's Banking Software For €330M
Franco-American information technology company Axway said Monday that it will buy most of the banking software activities of Sopra Steria Group, in a deal that values the platform at €330 million ($358 million).
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June 03, 2024
Geale Takes Helm At Payments Watchdog, Hemsley Resigns
The Payment Systems Regulator said on Monday that its managing director Chris Hemsley has resigned and Financial Conduct Authority Director David Geale will replace him temporarily with almost immediate effect.
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May 31, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen financier Crispin Odey file a defamation claim against the Financial Times, Ford hit with the latest "Dieselgate" claim and a human rights activist bring a privacy claim against Saudi Arabia. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 31, 2024
UK Insurers Sign Cooperation Deal With Gibraltar
The Association of British Insurers has said it has penned an agreement with the Gibraltar Insurance Association it hopes will promote better cooperation between the two trade bodies on areas of common interest.
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May 31, 2024
Investor Sues Wealth Managers, Lawyers For Negligence
A real estate investor has sued a law firm and two finance companies in a London court, claiming they negligently advised her on an investment worth almost £20 million ($25.5 million).
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May 31, 2024
Law Firm Denies Promoting Misleading Investment Scheme
A law firm has denied an accusation by the Financial Conduct Authority that it assisted a client in promoting a misleading care home investment scheme, arguing it provided legal advice in "good faith" based on the information it was given.
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May 31, 2024
UBS Formally Completes Merger Of Credit Suisse
UBS Group AG said Friday that it has formally completed the legal merger of stricken Credit Suisse AG, 18 months after regulators brokered the deal to prevent the collapse of its rival.
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June 07, 2024
Quillon Law Strengthens Litigation Team With Commercial Pro
Quillon Law LLP has recruited Alina Neal, an experienced litigator, from Stephenson Harwood LLP as counsel as the litigation boutique seeks to expand its commercial and financial disputes practice.
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May 31, 2024
EU Watchdog Warns Retail Investment Firms Of AI Pitfalls
The European Union's markets regulator has issued guidance for firms using artificial intelligence to give investment services to retail clients, warning of risks like biased decision-making.
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May 31, 2024
Freshfields Guides Gov't Sale Of £1.2B In NatWest Shares
HM Treasury said Friday it has sold more NatWest Group PLC shares worth £1.24 billion ($1.57 billion) back to the lender, as the U.K. government continues its planned exit from the bank it nationalized during the global financial crisis.
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May 31, 2024
Anti-Fraud Agency Sued For £144K Over Unjustified Suspicion
The operator of the U.K.'s national fraud database is being sued for £144,000 ($183,000) for allegedly marking a London resident's bank activity for suspected fraud without any justification and severely affecting his credit rating.
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May 31, 2024
BBVA To Tap Shareholders To Fund €12B Hostile Takeover
Spanish banking giant BBVA said Friday that it has called a shareholders' meeting to approve the sale of new shares in a package to finance the €12 billion ($13 billion) hostile takeover of its smaller rival, Banco de Sabadell SA.
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May 31, 2024
Nationwide's Planned £2.9B Virgin Money Deal Gets UK Probe
The Competition and Markets Authority said Friday it has opened a formal probe into Nationwide Building Society's plans to buy Virgin Money for £2.9 billion ($3.7 billion), which they say would create a combined group with assets of approximately £366 billion.
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May 30, 2024
Autonomy VP Declines To Take Stand As Fraud Trial Nears End
Testimony wrapped Thursday in a California federal criminal trial over claims that former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch and finance vice president Stephen Chamberlain duped HP into overpaying billions for the British tech company, as Chamberlain opted not to testify in his own defense after Lynch stepped off the witness stand.
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May 30, 2024
Russia Looks To Pause Ukrainian Bank's $1.1B Award Suit
Russia has asked a D.C. federal court to pause a case initiated by one of Ukraine's largest banks to enforce a $1.1 billion arbitral award against the Kremlin, saying it has renewed its efforts to annul the award before the French courts.
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May 30, 2024
Bulgarian Fraudsters Get 25 Years For Major Benefits Scam
Five Bulgarian individuals were sentenced to more than 25 years in prison Thursday after admitting to making £54 million ($68.7 million) in fraudulent benefits claims, the largest-ever scam of its kind.
Expert Analysis
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What Russia Case Reveals About UK Sanctions Enforcement
The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation recently issued its first enforcement action under the U.K.'s expanded Russia sanctions against a relatively small company for a moderately severe breach — a decision that highlights several questions about the watchdog’s purpose and methods, say Maia Cohen-Lask and Tasha Benkhadra at Corker Binning.
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Breaking Down The UK's Draft Updates To Prospectus Regime
While there still may be changes, the U.K.'s near-final draft statutory instrument to update and in some parts replace the current on-shored EU prospectus regime is likely to represent a significant overhaul of the existing regime and may make U.K. capital markets a more attractive venue for listings for issuers, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Italy's Bank-Profits Tax Plan May Become Model For Eurozone
If Italy's recently proposed 40% bank-profits tax helps keep its populist coalition government in power, notwithstanding the European Central Bank's legal challenges, the passage could spark a windfall tax trend across the eurozone and even in the U.K., says Cris Cicala at Stinson.
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Bitcoin Case Highlights Advanced Age Of UK's IP Law
An appellate court's recent decision in a case involving the copyright of bitcoin's file format emphasizes the role of copyright protection in software, and also the challenges of applying decades-old laws to new technologies, say Marianna Foerg and Ben Bell at Potter Clarkson.
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Accountability Is Key To Preventing Miscarriages Of Justice
The wrongful conviction of Andrew Malkinson and other recent cases show that in order to avoid future miscarriages of justice, there needs to be a fundamental reevaluation of how investigators, prosecutors and the Criminal Cases Review Commission operate, prioritizing stronger penalties and increased funding, say Thomas Walford at Expert Evidence International and policy analyst Gerald Frost.
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4 Compliance Considerations Under FCA Consumer Duty
Following the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's recent introduction of the new consumer duty regime, firms will need to be mindful of data protection implications when managing their compliance with the duty and data protection legislation, say lawyers at Bird & Bird.
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What Could Come Of CFPB, EU Consumer Finance Collab
A recent joint statement from the European Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau focused on how technology is affecting consumers of financial services, potentially recognizing that legal protections are lacking because tech regulations lag behind its development, say attorneys at DLA Piper.
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6 Key Factors For Successful Cross-Border Dispute Mediation
The European landscape of cross-border disputes diverges markedly from the U.S. experience and presents unique challenges, including the amalgamation of diverse cultures and legal systems, but there are several practical steps that practitioners can take to effectively navigate the process, says Peter Kamminga at JAMS.
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Operational Resilience Considerations In Financial Services
A recent letter from the Financial Conduct Authority reminds CEOs of U.K. wholesale banks of their role in the safety and soundness of markets, but all firms can draw lessons and consider their own operational resilience for longer-term security and commercial benefit, says Richard Tall at Faegre Drinker.
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UK Tech Cases Warn Of Liability Clause Drafting Pitfalls
The recent U.K. High Court cases Drax Energy Solutions v. Wipro and EE v. Virgin Mobile Telecoms indicate a more literal judicial approach to construing limitations of liability, even when this significantly limits a claimant's recoverable damages, highlighting the importance of carefully drafted liability provisions, say Helen Armstrong and Tania Williams at RPC.
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How The UK Investment Screening Regime Is Taking Shape
A recent order imposing remedies on an acquisition by EDF Energy highlights emerging trends in the U.K. government's national security reviews of transactions under the U.K. National Security and Investment Act, and shows how the U.K. remedy landscape compares to the U.S. regime, say lawyers at Arnold & Porter.
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Consultations Underpin Mandatory Fraud Victim Repayment
The U.K. Payment Systems Regulator’s recent consultations on authorized push payment fraud reinforce its June policy expectation, which said that unless there is evidence of gross negligence and the consumer standard of caution has not been followed, providers must reimburse fraud victims, say lawyers at Hogan Lovells.
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Swiss Privacy Law Reforms Present Divergences From GDPR
The differences between Switzerland’s recently reformed Federal Act on Data Protection and the EU's General Data Protection Regulation, particularly around data breach reporting and the liability of company officers, will need to be carefully managed by multinationals that may have competing obligations under different laws, say Kim Roberts and Vanessa Alarcon Duvanel at King & Spalding.
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New Legislation May Not Be Needed For Recovery Of Crypto
The recent seizure of cryptocurrency under a civil recovery order raises the issue of whether extended powers under the forthcoming Economic Crime Bill are necessary, with the ability to seize crypto-related items that may be the subject of a search order more likely to be of assistance, says Nicola McKinney at Quillon Law.
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Opinion
Russia Ruling Should Lead UK To Review Sanctions Policy
The High Court's recent dismissal of the first-ever court challenge to Russian sanctions in Shvidler v. Secretary of State sets a demanding standard for overturning designation decisions, highlighting the need for an independent review of the Russia sanctions regime, says Helen Taylor at Spotlight on Corruption.