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Financial Services UK
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August 13, 2024
JPMorgan Trust Seeks Shareholder Nod For Equity Raise
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income PLC said Tuesday that it is seeking approval from its shareholders to grant the investment trust the authority to issue up to 200 million of its shares in light of strong investor demand.
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August 13, 2024
UK Regulators Mull Digital Reporting Future Outside EU
Britain's accounting watchdog on Tuesday proposed a number of potential reforms for the future of digital reporting in the U.K., amid recent legislative changes after the country's departure from the European Union.
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August 13, 2024
Linklaters-Led Fund Buys Blackstone JV Homes For £405M
Britain's biggest private pension fund said on Tuesday that it has acquired 3,000 shared-ownership homes from a joint venture that is majority-owned by Blackstone Inc. for £405 million ($518 million).
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August 12, 2024
Judge Won't DQ Asst. US Atty In Standard Chartered FCA Case
A New York federal judge on Monday declined to disqualify an assistant United States attorney from a long-dismissed False Claims Act suit against Standard Chartered Bank, calling the whistleblower's arguments for disqualification meritless "to the point where they verge on vexatious and frivolous."
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August 12, 2024
UK To Look Deeper Into Amex GBT's $570M Buy Of CWT
Britain's antitrust regulator said Monday that it has referred American Express Global Business Travel's proposed acquisition of rival CWT for an in-depth second phase of investigation over concerns the approximately $570 million deal could hurt competition in the country.
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August 12, 2024
FRC Sees Too Many Cos. Using 'Boilerplate' Wates Filings
The Financial Reporting Council said Monday that 30% of large private firms favor the Wates corporate governance principles for filing company reports, but many companies still need to improve their disclosures.
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August 12, 2024
Westfield Sues Clearpay Over Brand Deal Breach
Shopping giant Westfield has sued Clearpay Finance Ltd. for more than £665,000 ($848,722), claiming the payment processing provider wrongly terminated two "buy now, pay later" partnerships with its London shopping centers.
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August 12, 2024
EU Watchdog Warned Of Crypto Risk For Retail Funds
Fund managers warned the European Union markets regulator Monday that there is no consensus on how to value crypto-assets, in a consultation on whether such products should be accessible to retail funds.
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August 12, 2024
UK Pensions Body Calls For Reform For Investment Plan
The government should consider introducing planning reform and tax incentives to encourage pensions providers to invest more in U.K. assets, a trade body said on Monday, as the new administration considers how to tap into the sector to fuel a national economic recovery.
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August 12, 2024
LCP Launches Tool To Check Gov't Pension Payment Errors
Consultancy Lane Clark & Peacock LLP has launched an online tool designed to help retirement savers check what state pension they can get amid "worrying evidence" that some widows and widowers are not receiving their full entitlement.
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August 09, 2024
Ex-Mozambique Finance Minister Convicted For $2B Scheme
Mozambique's former finance minister was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges in connection with his role in the $2 billion "tuna bonds" scandal, prosecutors announced.
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August 09, 2024
Kuwaiti Investment Arm Immune From Ex-CEO's Claim
The Kuwait Investment Authority has succeeded in getting a whistleblowing claim from its former chief executive thrown out of a London tribunal after a judge ruled that he was employed as a diplomat, and therefore the authority has sovereign immunity against his claim.
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August 09, 2024
Pension Protection Fund Marks Progress On Climate Goals
The U.K. Pension Protection Fund has said it is making good progress on its climate ambitions but needs to "keep pushing" for better quality climate data across its portfolio.
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August 09, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen China Evergrande Group file a commercial fraud claim against its founder's ex-wife, legal action by Manolete Partners against the directors of an insolvent construction company, VietJet tackle a claim by French banking group Natixis and more developments in the "Dieselgate" scandal. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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August 09, 2024
Plane Stuck In Russia 'Not Lost,' Reinsurers Argue
A batch of reinsurers has denied they must pay out in a row over $44 million to cover the alleged loss of a plane leased to a Russian airline, arguing the plane is not lost and would not be covered by the policy.
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August 09, 2024
UK Tightens Disclosure Rules For Greensill-Type Finance
The U.K.'s accounting watchdog on Friday set out amendments to reporting exemptions from international accounting standards available to subsidiaries of groups, including around disclosure of supplier finance arrangements, as used by collapsed Greensill Capital.
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August 09, 2024
The Top Commercial Dispute Trials & Rulings Of 2024 So Far
So far in 2024 disputes lawyers have been treated to the first trial in the U.K. of an opt-out collective action, the Pope's chief of staff giving evidence, and Mozambique being awarded more than $825 million for the tuna bond scandal.
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August 09, 2024
FCA Warned Over Risks From Value-For-Money Pension Rules
The Financial Conoduct Authority's new "traffic light" system for assessing the value-for-money offered by a pension scheme could create unintended consequences, experts warned Friday.
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August 09, 2024
Hargreaves Lansdown Agrees To £5.4B CVC Takeover Offer
Hargreaves Lansdown PLC said Friday that its board has agreed to a £5.4 billion ($6.9 billion) take-private offer from a consortium of private equity companies, including CVC and the sovereign wealth fund of Abu Dhabi.
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August 08, 2024
SEC Wins Jurisdiction Over German As Sanction For Default
A German national who the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says has ignored discovery requests in its attempt to recover proceeds from a $150 million international pump and dump scheme involving his son is subject to personal jurisdiction in the U.S., a Boston federal judge ordered as a sanction.
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August 08, 2024
Derivatives Co. Fails To Refreeze Assets In Global Fraud Case
Multibank has failed to revive a freezing order against two investment companies and an executive it alleges were involved in an unlawful conspiracy, after an appeals court upheld a ruling that the international derivatives provider had made serious disclosure failings.
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August 15, 2024
Sidley, Milbank Tap Latham For Finance Hires In London
Sidley Austin LLP is set to recruit five finance partners from Latham & Watkins LLP in London, adding to the U.S. outfit's woes after Milbank LLP said that it has snapped up its own six-lawyer team in the English capital.
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August 08, 2024
EU Watchdog Finds Poor Practices In Nonbank Lenders
The European Union's banking watchdog has found that nonbank lenders are often failing to verify the accuracy of information they gather on borrowers, helping to put them in too much debt.
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August 08, 2024
Finance Co. Botched Risk Outline In Fire Claim, Insurer Says
A subsidiary of U K Insurance Ltd. has denied having to pay out on a policy with Parker Asset Management Ltd. over a fire that destroyed a property costing around £4.2 million ($5.3 million), saying the company did not fairly present its insurance risk.
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August 08, 2024
UK Gov't Refunds £57M In Pension Freedoms Overtaxation
The government has been forced to repay £59.6 million ($75.5 million) in the three months between April and June to people who overpaid tax after they tapped into their pensions for the first time, according to HM Revenue and Customs.
Expert Analysis
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Key Points From EC Economic Security Screening Initiatives
Lawyers at Herbert Smith analyze the European Commission's five recently announced initiatives aimed at de-risking the EU's trade and investment links with third countries, including the implementation of mandatory screening mechanisms and extending coverage to investments made by EU companies that are controlled subsidiaries of non-EU investors.
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Following The Road Map Toward Quantum Security
With the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent publication of a white paper on a quantum-secure financial sector, firms should begin to consider the quantum transition early — before the process is driven by regulatory obligations — with the goal of developing a cybersecurity architecture that is agile while also allowing for quantum security, say lawyers at Cleary.
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Why EU Ruling On Beneficial Ownership May Affect The UK
Following the EU judgment in Sovim v. Luxembourg that public access to beneficial ownership information conflicts with data protection rights, several British overseas territories and dependencies have recently reversed their commitment to introduce unrestricted access, and challenges to the U.K.’s liberal stance may be on the cards, says Rupert Cullen at Allectus Law.
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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.