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Financial Services UK
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December 04, 2024
More Diverse Audit Market Will 'Take Time,' Watchdog Says
Britain's top four accounting firms "continue to dominate" and earn almost all the fees in the audit market, even though smaller companies have grown their share in 2023, the accounting watchdog said Wednesday.
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December 04, 2024
Pensions Watchdog Publishes Key Guide For Funding Code
The Pensions Regulator published on Wednesday long-awaited guidance for how trustees can assess the strength of the financial committed of an employer to a retirement savings plan.
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December 04, 2024
JPMorgan Accused Of Unfair Firing Over Spoofing Allegations
A former precious metals trader at JPMorgan has accused his former employer of unfair dismissal, as his lawyer argued on Wednesday that the bank dismissed him to appear tough on fraud after a criminal scandal in 2022.
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December 04, 2024
3 Firms Steer £50M Pension Deal For Aerospace Co.
Pension insurer Rothesay said Wednesday that it has completed a £50 million ($63.3 million) full scheme buy-in with a plan sponsored by defense technology company Thales in a deal guided by Gowling WLG, Squire Patton Boggs LLP and Eversheds Sutherland.
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December 04, 2024
EU Gov'ts Endorse Plan For Sharing Customer Financial Data
The Council of the European Union backed a legislative proposal Wednesday to make it easier for financial institutions to share their customers' data in an attempt to boost competition, improve access to financial services and encourage innovation in the sector.
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December 03, 2024
Austrian Banker Says Brazilian Tax Fraud Allegations 'Risible'
An Austrian banker sought Tuesday to overturn a London court decision allowing his extradition to the U.S. on money laundering charges over his alleged role in a massive corruption scandal involving Brazilian construction conglomerate Odebrecht SA, calling the U.S. government's arguments "risible."
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December 03, 2024
Consumers Settle £10B Mastercard Swipe Fees Class Action
Representatives of more than 45 million U.K. consumers confirmed Tuesday that they had settled a multibillion-pound claim against Mastercard over its fees, which is likely to end one of the first cases to test the boundaries of Britain's collective proceedings regime.
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December 03, 2024
Clifford Chance Hires Finance Pros From Goodwin In Paris
Clifford Chance LLP announced on Tuesday that it has boosted its finance offering in Paris with the hire of two specialists from Goodwin Procter LLP.
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December 03, 2024
Retailers Argue For Higher Damages Bill In Swipe Fees Trial
Retailers suing Mastercard and Visa argued before the Court of Appeal on Tuesday that their damages bill from alleged unlawful overcharging by the card companies should incorporate continuing losses because the anticompetitive conduct has not yet stopped.
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December 03, 2024
UK Watchdog Probes BlackRock Deal For Data Co. Preqin
The U.K.'s competition regulator said on Tuesday it is delving into whether private equity giant BlackRock Inc.'s proposed £2.55 billion ($3.2 billion) acquisition of private markets data provider Preqin would harm competition in U.K. markets.
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December 03, 2024
City Firms Are Unprepared For GenAI Rollouts
U.K. financial firms are struggling to keep pace with the adoption of generative artificial intelligence due to gaps in workforce training and regulatory readiness, according to EY's second survey on the technology in financial services.
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December 03, 2024
Pension-Age Mortgages Now An 'Entrenched' Market Feature
The number of new mortgages that extend into borrowers' retirement has grown, with 40% of loans issued in the second quarter of 2024 set to run beyond pension age, according to recent data from the Bank of England.
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December 03, 2024
Severity Of Cyber Risk 'Widely Underestimated' In UK
Britain is facing a "widening gap" in its ability to fight cyberthreats and must improve its defenses to combat the increasing severity and scale of hostile threats, the head of the country's top cybersecurity agency said on Tuesday.
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December 02, 2024
PE Firms Swap Calisen Stake At Reported $5B Value
A majority stake in Calisen Group is changing hands in a private equity-backed deal that is said to value the British smart metering company at more than $5 billion, according to disclosures made Monday.
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December 02, 2024
Skat Settles With Ex-Barclays Director In £1.4B Fraud Case
The Danish tax authority has settled its claim against a former Barclays Capital director and four companies that it sued alongside dozens of others over an alleged scheme to defraud it of £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) in tax revenue.
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December 02, 2024
Mogul Can't Duck £102M Debt Using Sham Settlement
Property mogul Andrew Ruhan colluded with a British businessman convicted for fraud to cook up sham litigation to escape a £102 million ($129 million) debt owed to the liquidators of three luxury hotels, a London judge has ruled.
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December 02, 2024
BoE Finds Pension Funds Resilient After LDI Crisis
The Bank of England has said that the pensions sector has significantly improved its financial and operational resilience since the crisis that hit liability-driven investment funds two years ago.
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December 02, 2024
DLA Piper Taps Senior Finance Pro As New Leeds Chief
DLA Piper said on Monday that it has appointed a senior finance lawyer as the managing partner for its office in Leeds as it prepares to relocate to a new £85 million ($108 million) office development in the northern English city.
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December 02, 2024
Eversheds Aids Canada Life On £250M Pension Deal For Kion
German industrial supplier Kion Group AG has offloaded £250 million ($316 million) of its U.K. pension liabilities to Canada Life, the insurer said Monday, in a deal steered by Pinsent Masons LLP and Eversheds Sutherland.
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December 02, 2024
Compensation Fund Open To Claims On Failed SIPP
Customers of a self-invested personal pension operator can now file compensation claims through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme following the company's administration and liquidation earlier this year.
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December 02, 2024
FCA Urges Better AML Regulation Of Conveyancing
The supervisory body for watchdogs in the legal and accountancy sectors has told them that they must take further steps to prevent money laundering in the transfer of ownership in U.K. property transactions.
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November 29, 2024
US Firm Gathers Support For £351M Bid For Loungers
U.S. investment firm Fortress Investment Group LLC said Friday that its takeover bid of approximately £350.50 million ($447 million) for British hospitality chain Loungers has won support from another shareholder.
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November 29, 2024
Greensill Rejects Gov't's 'Immaterial' Defense To Leaked Probe
Lex Greensill has said a claim by the Department for Business and Trade that leaking private details of an investigation into him had not damaged his reputation is "immaterial" to his data and privacy claim against the government.
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November 29, 2024
Lombard Odier Indicted In Switzerland For Money Laundering
Swiss prosecutors said on Friday that they have indicted Lombard Odier and one of its former employees for "aggravated money laundering" — a rare move against one of the country's largest wealth managers.
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November 29, 2024
UK Pension Funds Back Gov't Mansion House Reforms
The largest pension providers in Britain threw their weight Friday behind the government's measures to develop Canadian-style megafunds in the U.K. to achieve better results for savers through economies of scale.
Expert Analysis
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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.
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German Competition Law May Herald New Enforcement Trend
The recent amendment to the German Act against Restraints of Competition is expected to significantly expand the powers of the German Federal Cartel Office, and could signal a global trend toward greater direct intervention by national competition authorities and political interference in competition law, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
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New Financial Services Act Leaves Few Firms Untouched
The recently published Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, which replaces retained EU law with U.K. legislation, is one of the most significant pieces of post-Brexit regulation, with key practical implications for actors such as investment firms and crypto-asset and payment service providers, say Tim Cant, Emma Tran and Bisola Williams at Ashurst.
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FCA 'De-Banking' Clampdown May Need Gov't Backing
The U.K. Financial Conduct Authority’s recent clampdown on unfair bank account closures will give customers greater transparency, but with terms usually skewed in the bank’s favor, it is a policy matter for the government to enact further protections for businesses and consumers, say Stephen Rosen and Jean-Martin Louw at Collyer Bristow.
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UK Securitization Reform Opts For Modest Approach, For Now
Recently published consultation papers from the U.K. Prudential Regulation and Financial Conduct Authorities on new securitization rules mainly restate retained EU law, but there are some targeted adjustments being proposed and further divergence is to be expected, say Alix Prentice and Assia Damianova at Cadwalader.