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Financial Services UK
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May 09, 2024
Construction Giant Cimolai Settles €10.6M Forex Dispute
Italian construction giant Cimolai has settled a €10.6 million ($11.4 million) claim from Ebury Partners over foreign exchange contracts that the steel pipe manufacturer signed in 2022.
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May 09, 2024
Aviva Takes On Construction Co. Pension Scheme In Full
Insurance giant Aviva has secured the benefits of all uninsured final salary members of a pension plan sponsored by a British construction group in a deal guided by CMS.
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May 09, 2024
Watchdog Preps Rules For Banks To Repay High-Value Fraud
The payments watchdog has set out plans to extend its fraud reimbursement scheme to high-value bank transfers through the CHAPS system, reducing the risk that fraudsters will move there to avoid detection.
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May 09, 2024
BBVA €12B Offer For TSB Owner Sabadell Turns Hostile
Spanish banking giant BBVA launched a hostile takeover of Banco de Sabadell on Thursday, approaching shareholders directly with a €12 billion ($12.8 billion) all-share deal after being rebuffed by the rival bank's board.
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May 08, 2024
EGC Won't Annul EU Decision To Toss Spanish Tax Scheme
The European General Court will not annul a European Commission decision that a Spanish tax scheme for vessels built in its domestic shipyards must be abandoned because it was incompatible with the European Union's internal market, according to a judgment released Wednesday.
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May 08, 2024
FCA Mulls 'Enforcement Watch' As Naming Alternative
The Financial Conduct Authority's top executives on Wednesday vigorously defended its plans to name firms under investigation, but saw value in a potential alternative move to publish an "enforcement watch" newsletter giving an overview.
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May 15, 2024
Squire Patton Hires Partner Trio As UK Expansion Continues
Squire Patton Boggs LLP said Wednesday that it has hired three partners in Birmingham and London in a move to boost its offerings in litigation; leveraged finance; and environmental, social and governance.
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May 08, 2024
StanChart Bids To Toss Investors' Sanctions Claim On Appeal
Standard Chartered PLC urged an appeals court Wednesday to toss accusations from investors that it had downplayed the extent to which it had breached U.S. sanctions against Iran by hundreds of billions of dollars, saying they have insufficient evidence to support them.
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May 08, 2024
Reed Smith's $13M Ask May Breach Sanctions, Barclays Says
Barclays has told a London court that it rightfully refused to transfer approximately $13 million back to a sanctioned shipping company at Reed Smith LLP's request after a collapsed tanker deal, arguing that it declined so it could avoid violating sanctions.
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May 08, 2024
Insurer Claims 400 Pension Deals Penned In 12 Years
Insurer Just Group said Wednesday it has completed 400 pension transfer deals since it launched in 2012, adding that the year ahead is poised to break more records in the retirement savings de-risking market.
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May 08, 2024
Three Men Plead Not Guilty In £4M Water Investment Fraud
Three men pleaded not guilty on Wednesday at a London court to defrauding investors out of £3.9 million ($4.9 million) through an unregulated investment scheme promising to build water production plants in Australia, New Zealand and Africa.
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May 08, 2024
Advertisers Fight For Class Action In Google Antitrust Case
A group of advertisers fought for a green light for their class action against Google owner Alphabet on Wednesday, arguing that their case meets the requirements for a class proceedings order because there are serious issues of abuse of market dominance to be tried.
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May 08, 2024
Investment Cos. Ask Gov't To Settle Disclosure Uncertainties
A trade body has asked the U.K. Treasury to decide now whether to remove investment companies from its planned post-Brexit regime covering disclosures firms must make before selling certain products to investors to resolve a current misleading cost figure.
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May 08, 2024
Litigation Funder Probably Owned By Sanctioned Oligarchs
A court has found that there is "reasonable cause" to suspect that a litigation-funder that backs a $1.34 billion fraud claim from a collapsed Russian bank against its former owner is controlled by individuals sanctioned in the U.K.
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May 07, 2024
Banks, Regulators Holding Back SMEs, Lawmakers Say
A parliamentary committee urged the financial watchdogs on Wednesday to review their approach to helping small and midsized businesses gain access to money, arguing that banks are making it "needlessly tougher" to take out loans and unfairly closing accounts of legitimate companies.
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May 14, 2024
Clifford Chance Hires Finance Pro From A&O Shearman
Clifford Chance LLP said Tuesday that it has recruited a specialist in derivatives and structured finance from A&O Shearman, just a week after the new transatlantic giant's merger went live.
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May 07, 2024
Businessman Asks Top Court To Block £19M UAE Debt Claim
A businessman's family took its fight with a UAE bank to Britain's highest court Tuesday over an alleged £19 million ($24 million) debt, arguing that the lender should not be allowed to collect on debts he says are illegitimate and a result of fraud.
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May 07, 2024
Pension Schemes Weigh Halting Employer Contributions
Sustained improvements in funding levels for private sector pensions in the U.K. means that many defined benefit schemes are considering stopping contributions from sponsors to avoid overfunding, PwC has said.
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May 07, 2024
EU Watchdog Mulls Opening Funds To Riskier Investments
The European Union's markets watchdog called Tuesday for market views on whether to expand the range of assets in which the most widely used type of investment fund can legally invest, to include crypto-assets as well as risky shares and bonds.
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May 07, 2024
FCA Bans Investment Firm's Ex-CEO For Misleading Clients
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined the former chief executive of a London-based investment firm for misleading clients about cash held by the group and handed him a ban, according to a statement published Tuesday.
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May 07, 2024
PwC, EY Hit With Fines Over LC&F Audit Failures
The Financial Reporting Council said Tuesday that it has handed out fines totaling approximately £10 million ($12.5 million) to PwC, EY and a third accounting firm for failures during audits they carried out on London Capital & Finance before the investment company's high-profile collapse.
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May 03, 2024
HMRC Director Rejoins KPMG To Boost Tax Dispute Offering
A former deputy director at HM Revenue & Customs has returned to KPMG as director of KPMG Law's tax disputes teams, the firm has announced.
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May 03, 2024
SRA Warns Law Firms On Improper Practices In Mass Claims
The Solicitors Regulation Authority voiced concerns on Friday about law firms and legal professionals that handle mass claims involving financial services or products, saying that some are running up costs before they have even been instructed to act.
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May 03, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
The past week in London has seen rapper Ivorian Doll hit with a copyright claim, private members club Aspinalls file a claim against a Saudi sheikh, and Motorola Solutions file a claim against the British government on the heels of its dispute over losing a £400 million ($502 million) government contract. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 03, 2024
EU Regulators To Report AML Suspects To Central Database
The European Union's banking watchdog has said that national regulators can start reporting information on named individuals to the bloc's centralized anti-money laundering database from May, in a step further strengthening the fight against financial crime.
Expert Analysis
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Key Points Of BoE Response To Digital Pound Consultation
Lawyers at Hogan Lovells analyze the recent Bank of England and U.K. government response to a consultation on the launch of a digital pound, finding that the phased approach to evaluating the issues makes sense given the significant potential impact on the U.K. economy.
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Goldman Prosecution Delivers A Clear Sign Of FCA Strength
The recent successful prosecution of a former Goldman Sachs analyst for insider dealing and fraud is a reminder to regulated individuals that economic crime will never be tolerated, and that the Financial Conduct Authority is willing to bare its teeth in the exercise of its prosecutorial remit, says Doug Cherry at Fladgate.
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The Good, The Bad And The New Of The UK Sanctions Regime
Almost six years after the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act was introduced, the U.K. government has published a strategy paper that outlines its focus points and unveils potential changes to the regime, such as a new humanitarian exception for financial sanctions, highlighting the rapid transformation of the U.K. sanctions landscape, says Josef Rybacki at WilmerHale.
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A Look At Environment Agency's New Economic Crime Unit
Sophie Wood at Kingsley Napley explains how the Environment Agency’s newly established Economic Crime Unit will pursue criminal money flows from environmental offenses, and discusses the unit’s civil powers, including the ability to administer account freezing and forfeiture orders, says Sophie Wood at Kingsley Napley.
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Opinion
UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason
The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.
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4 Legal Privilege Lessons From Dechert Disclosure Ruling
The Court of Appeal's recent decision in Al Sadeq v. Dechert LLP, finding that evidence may have been incorrectly withheld, provides welcome clarification of the scope of legal professional privilege, including the application of the iniquity exception, says Tim Knight at Travers Smith.
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BT Case May Shape UK Class Action Landscape
The first opt-out collective action trial commenced in Le Patourel v. BT in the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal last month, regarding BT's abuse of dominance by overcharging millions of customers, will likely provide clarification on damages and funder returns in collective actions, which could significantly affect the class action regime, say lawyers at RPC.
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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.