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Financial Services UK
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July 19, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen a libel clash between comedian Paul Currie and the Soho Theatre Company over allegations of anti-semitism, technology giant Huawei face a patents claim by Mediatek, Westfield Europe pursue action against Clearpay Finance for contract breaches and tour operating company Carnival hit chartered airline Maleth Aero for significant flight delays. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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July 19, 2024
UK Clears Nationwide's £2.9B Purchase Of Virgin Money
The competition regulator of the U.K. said Friday that it has cleared Nationwide Building Society's acquisition of Virgin Money UK PLC for £2.9 billion ($3.7 billion), which the companies say would create a combined group with assets of approximately £366 billion.
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July 19, 2024
Businessman Found Guilty Of Fraud For COVID Loan Abuse
A British businessman accused of dishonestly obtaining a COVID-19 small business loan was convicted of fraud on Friday after prosecutors accused him of scamming the system to repay an associate embroiled in a fight with the Serious Fraud Office.
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July 19, 2024
Casino Group Faces French Price-Fixing Probe
Casino Group, the French retail giant that has recently undergone a restructuring, said it is being investigated by France's financial crime agency for possible price manipulation and corruption.
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July 18, 2024
Ukraine Businessman Looks To Arbitrate $1B Gramercy Suit
A Ukrainian businessman is urging a Wyoming federal court to force Gramercy Funds Management to arbitrate in London its racketeering lawsuit accusing him of fraudulently transferring more than a billion dollars from his agricultural business, a debtor of the Connecticut-based hedge fund.
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July 18, 2024
Law Firm Did Not Think SRA Alerts Applied To Former Client
Matthew & Matthew Solicitors has told liquidators for a now-defunct group of companies that it did not believe that warnings about investment schemes by the English solicitors' regulator applied to its client, arguing that the businessman's care home scheme appeared legitimate.
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July 18, 2024
GE Can't Claim Credit For £189M In Double Tax, Court Says
A U.K.-registered subsidiary of General Electric does not qualify for at least £189 million ($245 million) in double tax relief under a U.S.-U.K. treaty because it lacks a U.S. presence akin to a domicile, a London appellate court ruled.
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July 18, 2024
PE Firm's £432M Deal Awaiting NSIA Clearance Pushed Back
Wealth management firm Mattioli Woods said Thursday that its approximately £432 million ($546 million) acquisition by London private equity firm Pollen Street Capital that is awaiting national security clearance is now likely to close a month later than expected.
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July 18, 2024
Pension Experts Urge 'Gateway Tests' For Public Consolidator
More than half of pension professionals believe that any public sector consolidator must have tough "gateway tests" similar to those employed by commercial superfunds, if the project gets off the ground.
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July 18, 2024
Treat Politically Exposed People Better, FCA Tells Firms
The Financial Conduct Authority told all financial services companies on Thursday to do more to ensure that high-profile individuals and their families are not treated unfairly after it found widespread deficiencies in a review of the sector.
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July 18, 2024
Faegre Drinker Hires Ex-Northern Trust Legal Chief
Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP has recruited a senior lawyer at Northern Trust Asset Management to join its office in London as it continues to build its investment management practice in the English capital.
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July 17, 2024
Retired Couple Seek To Override Ex-Solicitor's Deceit Win
A financial advisor and his wife battled to reverse a ruling finding them liable to a former solicitor for his investment in a now-defunct forex trading scheme, arguing they had wrongly been found to be partners.
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July 17, 2024
Qatari Fund Sues Sheikh Over Stalled 70-Carat Diamond Deal
A Qatari investment fund has accused a Sheikh of breaching a promise to sell it a 70-carat diamond, telling a London court that he cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a force majeure event allowing his family to avoid handing over the jewel.
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July 17, 2024
Labour Revives Arbitration Bill To Reform £2.5B Industry
The U.K. will introduce a new Arbitration Bill reviving legislation shelved in the runup to the election as part of plans to support the country's position as an international center for dispute resolution, the government said in the King's Speech on Wednesday.
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July 17, 2024
UK Gov't Moves Ahead With Accounting Reform Bill
The new Labour Government said on Wednesday that it will push ahead with draft legislation to toughen up regulation of auditors to help to reduce the risk of corporate failures.
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July 17, 2024
EU Financial Watchdogs Set Up Cyber-Risk Info Exchange
European Union financial watchdogs said Wednesday that they will establish a framework for authorities in the bloc and international bodies to share information on cyberthreats and incidents that pose a risk to financial stability.
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July 17, 2024
Labour Gov't To Make Fiscal Rules Law, Empower OBR
The new Labour government will legislate to write into law the Treasury's long-held fiscal rules and grant new powers to the Office for Budget Responsibility to scrutinize policy, according to plans confirmed in the King's Speech on Wednesday.
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July 17, 2024
Gov't Plans Pensions Bill To Consolidate Retirement Savings
The new Labour government said on Wednesday that it will introduce a new Pensions Schemes Bill that aims to consolidate the cluttered retirement savings sector.
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July 16, 2024
Tycoon's Pilot Says Feds' Stock Tip Claims Don't Add Up
A private pilot who used to work for convicted insider trader and U.K. billionaire Joe Lewis is arguing federal prosecutors can't use allegations that his own trades were suspicious to ramp up a sentence for a separate tax evasion charge.
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July 16, 2024
Ex-Goldman Banker Denies Bribe Charges After Extradition
A former Goldman Sachs banker pled not guilty Tuesday before a Brooklyn federal magistrate judge to charges that he bribed Ghanaian officials, after losing an extradition battle in British courts.
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July 16, 2024
Ex-Mozambique Official Accused Of $2B Fraud As Trial Opens
Federal prosecutors told a Manhattan jury Tuesday that Mozambique's former finance minister took $7 million in bribes in a "corrupt" plot to enrich himself and defraud investors after $2 billion in state-backed development projects flopped.
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July 16, 2024
Self-Styled Bitcoin Founder Could Face Criminal Prosecution
A London judge referred Craig Wright to prosecutors on Tuesday for potential perjury charges after concluding that the Australian computer scientist had repeatedly lied about inventing bitcoin for financial gain.
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July 16, 2024
Labour Government Urged To Introduce Green Tax Credits
The new Labour government should introduce tax credits for businesses investing in green energy technology, according to a tax expert from the Confederation of British Industry.
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July 16, 2024
Financial Intel Firm To Buy Fund Ratings Biz RSMR
Fintel PLC said Tuesday it has conditionally bought Rayner Spencer Mills Research Ltd. for an undisclosed amount of money, making the purchase of the fund ratings and research agency its ninth acquisition in 12 months.
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July 16, 2024
Donre Advisory Enters Liquidation After FCA Scrutiny
The Financial Conduct Authority said Tuesday that Donre Advisory Ltd. has entered liquidation two months after it stopped the inadequately resourced investment adviser from conducting business.
Expert Analysis
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Emerging Trends From A Busy Climate Litigation Year
Although many environmental cases brought in the U.K. were unsuccessful in 2023, they arguably clarified several relevant issues, such as climate rights, director and trustee obligations, and the extent to which claimants can hold the government accountable, illustrating what 2024 may have in store for climate litigation, say Simon Bishop and Patrick Kenny at Hausfeld.
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Regulating Digital Platforms: What's Changing In EU And UK
Lawyers at Mayer Brown assess the status of recently enacted EU and U.K. antitrust regulation governing gatekeeper platforms, noting that the effects are already being felt, and that companies will need to avoid anti-competitive self-preferencing and ensure a higher degree of interoperability than has been required to date.
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How Boards Can Mitigate Privacy, Cybersecurity And AI Risks
In 2023, data privacy, cybersecurity and AI persist as prominent C-suite concerns as regulators stepped up enforcement, and organizations must develop a plan for handling these risks, in particular those with a global footprint, say lawyers at Latham.
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The Outlook For UK Restructuring Plans At Home And Abroad
The U.K. continues to be a center for large-cap, cross-border restructurings, though its competitive edge over the EU in this regard may narrow, while small and medium-sized enterprises are already likely to avoid costly formal processes by reaching out to their secured lenders for restructuring solutions, say Paul Keddie and Timothy Bromley-White at Macfarlanes.
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Foreign Assets Ruling Suggests New Tax Avoidance Approach
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in His Majesty's Revenue & Customs v. Fisher, which found that the scope of the transfer of foreign assets is narrow, highlights that the days of rampant tax avoidance have been left behind, and that the need for wide-ranging and uncertain tax legislation is lessening, says James Austen at Collyer Bristow.
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Lessons To Be Learned From 2023's Bank Failures
This year’s banking collapses, coupled with interest rate rises, inflation and geopolitical instability have highlighted the need for more robust governance, and banks and regulators have learned that they must adequately monitor and control liquidity risk to protect against another financial crisis, say Juliette Mills and Alix Prentice at Cadwalader.
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An Overview Of European Private Investments in Public Equity
Although still fairly rare, private investments in public equity may continue to be an attractive option for some European issuers seeking to secure equity financing, and advisers planning such an investment should consider the various local options, requirements and norms, say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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Cos. Must Monitor Sanctions Regime As Law Remains Unclear
While recent U.K. government guidance and an English High Court's decision in Litasco v. Der Mond Oil, finding that a company is sanctioned when a designated individual is exercising control over it, both address sanctions control issues, disarray in the law remains, highlighting that practitioners should keep reviewing their exposure to the sanctions regime, say lawyers at K&L Gates.
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Unpacking The UK's Proposals To Regulate Crypto-Assets
Recent proposals for crypto-asset regulation in the U.K. demonstrate support for crypto's potential, but there is concern around the authorization process for organizations undertaking crypto-asset activities, and new regulations will require a more detailed assessment of firms' compliance not previously addressed, say Jessica Lee and Menelaos Karampetsos at Brown Rudnick.
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The Top 7 Global ESG Litigation Trends In 2023
To date, ESG litigation across the world can largely be divided into seven forms, but these patterns will continue developing, including a rise in cases against private and state actors, a more complex regulatory environment affecting multinational companies, and an increase in nongovernmental organization activity, say Sophie Lamb and Aleksandra Dulska at Latham.
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UK Takeover Code Changes: Key Points For Bidders, Targets
Newly effective amendments to Rule 21 of the U.K. Takeover Code, which remove legal and administrative constraints on a target operating its business in the ordinary way during an offer, will add clarity for targets and bidders, and are likely to be welcomed by both, say lawyers at Davis Polk.
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Russia Ruling Shows UK's Robust Jurisdiction Approach
An English High Court's recent decision to grant an anti-suit injunction in the Russia-related dispute Renaissance Securities v. Chlodwig Enterprises clearly illustrates that obtaining an injunction will likely be more straightforward when the seat is in England compared to when it is abroad, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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How New Loan Origination Regime Will Affect Fund Managers
Although the recent publication of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive II represents more of an evolution than a revolution, the leverage limitations applicable to loan-originating funds are likely to present practical challenges for European credit fund managers, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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How EU Sustainability Directive Will Improve Co. Reporting
The need for organizations to make nonfinancial disclosures under the recently adopted EU Sustainability Reporting Standards will significantly change workforce and human rights reporting, and with the objective of fostering transparency, should bring about an increased focus on risks, policies and action plans, say Philip Spyropoulos and Thomas Player at Eversheds Sutherland.
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PPI Ruling Spells Trouble For Financial Services Firms
The Supreme Court's recent decision in Canada Square v. Potter, which found that the claimant's missold payment protection insurance claim was not time-barred, is bad news for affected financial services firms, as there is now certainty over the law on the postponement of limitation periods, rendering hidden commission claims viable, say Ian Skinner and Chris Webber at Squire Patton.