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Financial Services UK
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June 13, 2024
Media Personalities Appear At Court Charged Over Forex Ads
Six reality TV stars and social media influencers appeared at a London court for the first time Thursday charged with promoting an unauthorized trading scheme online that dealt with high-risk financial products tied to foreign exchange rates.
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June 13, 2024
Broad Consensus Emerges On Pensions Before UK Election
The U.K.'s pension sector is set for a period of relative stability as the three main political parties this week unveiled manifestos that revealed more consensus than disagreement.
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June 13, 2024
Payment Services Firm Launches £20M Share Buyback
PayPoint PLC said Thursday it will start an up to £20 million ($25.6 million) share repurchase program, part of a planned three-year buyback scheme aimed at rewarding shareholders.
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June 13, 2024
Labour Prioritizes Wealth Creation In Election Manifesto
Keir Starmer said on Thursday that his Labour Party would kick-start a future of "national renewal" if it wins the general election, with economic growth and wealth creation driving a manifesto that lacked any surprise headline pledges.
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June 12, 2024
Rimon Hires 5 Partners, Expands Global Transactions Team
A team of five partners focusing on transactional, finance and corporate matters has joined Rimon PC across several countries to represent investors, asset managers, credit funds and other clients.
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June 12, 2024
Ex-Serco Chair Says Contract Fraud 'Came Out Of The Blue'
Serco's former chair said at a London trial Wednesday that the scandal of its overbilling for government contracts left a "cloud" hanging over the outsourcing multinational, as the company clashes with investors seeking to recover their losses from the resulting plunge of its stock price.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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Key Changes In FRC Code Aim To Promote Good Governance
The focus of the recently published Financial Reporting Council Corporate Governance Code on risk management and internal controls is to ensure the competitiveness of the U.K. listing regime while not compromising on governance standards, and issuers may wish to consider updating their policies in order to follow best practice, say lawyers at Debevoise.
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Ruling In FCA Case Offers Tips On Flexible Work Requests
In Wilson v. Financial Conduct Authority, the Employment Tribunal recently found that the regulator's rejection of a remote work request was justified, highlighting for employers factors that affect flexible work request outcomes, while emphasizing that individual inquiries should be considered on the specific facts, say Frances Rollin, Ella Tunnell and Kerry Garcia at Stevens & Bolton.
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Breaking Down The New UK Pension Funding Regs
Recently published U.K. pension regulations, proposing major changes to funding and investing in defined benefit pension schemes, raise implementation considerations for trustees, including the importance of the employer covenant, say Charles Magoffin and Elizabeth Bullock at Freshfields.
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Predicting DeFi Regulations At Home And Abroad In 2024
Though decentralized finance has advocates on both sides of the Atlantic in figures like U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, DeFi in 2024 seems likely to be folded into existing regulatory frameworks in the U.K. and EU, while anti-crypto scrutiny may discourage DeFi’s growth in the U.S., say Daniel Csefalvay and Eric Martin at BCLP.
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Consultation Docs Can Help EU Firms Prep For Crypto Regs
Firms providing crypto services should note two recent papers from the European Securities and Markets Authority defining proposals on reverse solicitation and financial instrument classification that will be critical to clarifying the scope of the regulatory framework under the impending Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, say lawyers at Hogan Lovells.
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A Closer Look At Novel Jury Instruction In Forex Rigging Case
After the recent commodities fraud conviction of a U.K.-based hedge fund executive in U.S. v. Phillips, post-trial briefing has focused on whether the New York federal court’s jury instruction incorrectly defined the requisite level of intent, which should inform defense counsel in future open market manipulation cases, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.
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Investors' Call For Voting Changes Faces Practical Challenges
A recent investor coalition call on fund managers to offer pass-through voting on pooled funds highlights a renewed concern for clients’ interests, but legal, regulatory and technological issues need to be overcome to ensure that risks related to the product are effectively mitigated, says Angeli Arora at Allectus.
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Litigation Funding Implications Amid Post-PACCAR Disputes
An English tribunal's recent decision in Neill v. Sony, allowing an appeal on the enforceability of a litigation funding agreement, highlights how the legislative developments on funding limits following the U.K. Supreme Court's 2023 decision in Paccar v. Competition Appeal Tribunal may affect practitioners, say Andrew Leitch and Anoma Rekhi at BCLP.
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What Extension Of French FDI Control Means For Investors
The recently published French order on foreign investment control expands the regime's application to more sectors and at a lower threshold of share ownership, illustrating France's determination to maintain sovereignty over its supply chains in sensitive sectors, and adding new considerations for potential investors in these areas, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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What To Expect For Private Capital Investment Funds In 2024
As 2024 gets underway, market sentiment in the private fundraising sphere seems more optimistic, with a greater focus on deal sourcing and operational optimizations, and an increased emphasis on impact and sustainability strategies, say lawyers at Ropes & Gray.
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Cayman Islands Off AML Risk Lists, Signaling Robust Controls
As a world-leading jurisdiction for securitization special purpose entities, the removal of the Cayman Islands from increased anti-money laundering monitoring lists is a significant milestone that will benefit new and existing financial services customers conducting business in the territory, say lawyers at Walkers Global.
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Cos. Should Plan Now For Extensive EU Data Act Obligations
The recently enacted EU Data Act imposes wide-ranging requirements across industries and enterprises of all sizes, and with less than 20 months until the provisions begin to apply, businesses planning compliance will need to incorporate significant product changes and revision of contract terms, say Nick Banasevic, Robert Spano and Ciara O'Gara at Gibson Dunn.
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How Decision On A Key Definition Affects SMEs
The Financial Conduct Authority's decision not to extend the definition of small and midsized enterprises may benefit banks and finance providers in the current high interest rate environment and where SMEs in certain sectors may be under financial pressure in light of the cost-of-living crisis in order to streamline it, says Rachael Healey at RPC.
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What New Digital Sandbox Regs Hold In Store For UK Markets
The recently enacted Digital Sandbox Regulations will be key to incorporating distributed ledger technology into the activities of a central securities depository, but despite being a potentially transformative innovation, a number of considerations may need to be addressed to accommodate the trading, settlement and maintenance of shares, say Tom Bacon and Andrew Tsang at BCLP.
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Why Investment In Battery Supply Chain Is Important For UK
The recently published U.K. battery strategy sets out the government’s vision for a globally competitive battery supply chain, and it is critical that the U.K. secures investment to maximize opportunities for economic prosperity and net-zero transition, say lawyers at Watson Farley & Williams.