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Snap July 4 Election Leaves Pension Reform In Disarray

The government's decision to call a snap general election for July 4 has left the U.K.'s pension sector in limbo, experts say, with uncertainty over whether the next administration will continue with an ambitious reform program.
November 14, 2024
UK Unveils Plan To Roll Back Post-Financial Crisis Safeguards

The U.K. government said on Thursday that it is launching reforms to drive economic growth and competitiveness in financial services by rebalancing a regulatory regime that is focused more on minimizing risk.
November 14, 2024
Ex-BDO Auditor Gets 20-Year Ban For 'Serious' Misconduct

A former BDO auditor has been banned from the accountancy profession for two decades after the sector's watchdog said Thursday she acted with "sustained dishonesty" by forging signatures and other official documents over a five-year period.
November 14, 2024
Just Group Pens £1.8B Private Security Biz Pension Deal

Insurer Just Group on Thursday said it has penned its largest pension deal by taking on £1.8 billion ($2.3 billion) of retirement savings liabilities from a scheme sponsored by private security giant G4S Ltd., in a deal guided by three leading law firms.
November 14, 2024
Standard Setter Warns Watchdogs To Address AI Risk Better

A global standard setter warned Thursday that artificial intelligence might amplify vulnerability in the financial sector and damage market stability, telling regulators to improve data-led monitoring.
November 14, 2024
Proposed Pension Megafunds Create New Risks For Savers

The U.K. government's plans to drum up more long-term investment in the U.K. economy by creating pension megafunds designed could create new risks for the retirement savings of millions of workers, experts warned.
November 14, 2024
Canadian Pension Fund Buys UK Airport Operator For £1.5B

A subsidiary of Public Sector Pension Investment Board, a Canadian investor, has said it will buy the operator of airports in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton for £1.53 billion ($1.94 billion).
November 13, 2024
Gov't Sets Out Major £80B Pension Investment Reforms

The U.K. government on Wednesday set out landmark reform to create new pension megafunds that together will invest an additional £80 billion ($102 billion) into the economy.
November 13, 2024
Pension Dashboards A '£2B Time Bomb,' Master Trust Warns

The arrival of the pensions dashboards project could cause savers to lose over £2 billion ($2.5 billion) before 2030 because of poorly informed transfer decisions, a pension provider warned on Wednesday, calling for comparable value-for-money metrics on the portals.
November 13, 2024
Pension Watchdog Lays Out Law For New Collective Schemes

The retirement savings watchdog set out on Wednesday how it will intervene if a new generation of collective pension plans are not being properly run, warning that it will act if it sees a risk to savers.
November 13, 2024
£100K Gender Pensions Gap Will Take 20 Years To Close

The gender pensions gap of approximately £100,000 ($127,500) in favor of men is projected to take at least 20 years to close without more aggressive measures, according to a report published Wednesday by Scottish Widows.
November 13, 2024
FCA Warns Ratings Agencies To Address Conflicts Of Interest

The Financial Conduct Authority has warned chief executives of credit rating agencies in a letter to improve their governance to mitigate conflicts of interest, amid limited evidence that some companies are reviewing their ratings outcomes.
November 13, 2024
FCA Admits Mishandling Of 'Name And Shame' Roll-Out

The Financial Conduct Authority conceded on Wednesday that it might have handled its announcement of controversial plans to publish names of the firms it probes and other details of investigations at an earlier stage differently after heated protests from the sector.
November 13, 2024
Global M&A Insurance Claims Slumped By 21% In 2023

Insurance claims connected with corporate mergers and acquisitions fell worldwide by approximately a fifth in 2023, Liberty Mutual said Wednesday, in line with a dip in the total number of transactions.
November 12, 2024
Forsters, Ex-Bank Lawyer Avoid Case Of Failed Property Deal

Forsters LLP and a former Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi lawyer who was convicted of a multimillion-pound fraud have avoided being sucked into a philanthropist's £3.5 million ($4.7 million) legal battle over a collapsed property deal.
November 12, 2024
Young Drivers Buying Fake Insurance, Aviva Says

Nearly one in three young drivers have bought fraudulent car insurance from criminals on social media, Aviva has said, urging teenagers and early adults to treat "too good to be true" deals with suspicion despite soaring costs testing consumers.
November 12, 2024
Pensions Regulator Can't Defend Claims After Delayed Reply

A case manager can seek a default judgment in his claim for unfair dismissal and disability bias after an employment tribunal ruled that the U.K.'s pensions agency couldn't justify filing its defense 53 days late.
November 12, 2024
BoE, Regulators Set Out Regime For Critical Third Parties

The Bank of England and other City regulators set out new rules on Tuesday for critical third parties such as cloud service providers used by finance firms to reduce the risk of failure and disruption to the market.
November 12, 2024
Gov't Could Get £200B Investment Boost From LGPS Overhaul

The U.K. could free up £200 billion ($256 billion) for investment in national infrastructure projects by reforming the Local Government Pension Scheme into a Canadian-style megafund, an insurer has predicted.
November 12, 2024
New Defined Benefit Pension Funding Code Goes Live

A long-awaited funding code for defined benefit retirement savings plans in the U.K. went live on Tuesday, introducing what the pensions minister described as a "stronger set of standards" for the sector.
November 12, 2024
FCA Strengthens Disclosure Process In Enforcement Cases

The Financial Conduct Authority has said it has improved its process for disclosing evidence to individuals and companies under investigation in regulatory enforcement cases, a move designed to cut the risk of omitting necessary documents.
November 11, 2024
Lloyd's Syndicate Sued Over Unpaid Subsidence Claim

A Bedfordshire property owner has sued a Lloyd's of London syndicate for allegedly failing to pay out over £1 million ($1.3 million) to cover the cost of fixing damage caused by subsidence.
November 11, 2024
Barings Lawyers Cleared Of Misleading Clients In SRA Case

A tribunal has dismissed a case against two senior lawyers at the consumer finance firm Barings Ltd. who were accused of misleading clients over payday loans claims and sending out letters on behalf of fictional clients, including Mickey Mouse.
November 11, 2024
Zurich Sued For £584K Over Law Firm's Settlement Terms

A bankrupt insurance company shut out from an earlier settlement agreement amid alleged mistakes by its lawyers has argued that Zurich should be liable as the firm's insurer for its losses of £583,600 ($751,700).
November 11, 2024
New Lloyd's Underwriter Doe & Emuss Gets OK To Operate

New underwriting manager Doe & Emuss said Monday that it has been given the green light to operate by Lloyd's of London to provide professional liability insurance for the North America market.
November 11, 2024
FCA Fines Director Of Insurer For Misusing Money

The Financial Conduct Authority said Monday that it has banned the former director of an insurance broker from working in financial services and fined him £1.1 million ($1.4 million) for misusing money that was owed to insurers.

Editor's Picks

Top Court Ruling In 'Whiplash' Test Case Could Hit Premiums

Personal injury claimants could get higher payouts from their motor insurance as a result of a test case ruling at Britain's highest court on Tuesday, although analysts warn that insurers could respond with higher premiums to cover the cost of bigger claims.
FCA Begins Crackdown On Poor-Value Insurance Products

The move by the Financial Conduct Authority to restrict sales of guaranteed asset protection insurance is a sign of a faster approach to market intervention, and could lead the regulator to scrutinize other underperforming products, consultants say.
Post-Election UK Pension Changes Could Be In The Fine Print

Regulatory lawyers are not expecting radical overhaul in pension policies if the government changes after this year's general election. But lawyers say that signals in the opposition Labour Party's policy language could hint at possible shifts in investment priorities for retirement savings.

Expert Analysis

FCA's Broad Proposals Aim To Protect Customer Funds

The Financial Conduct Authority’s proposed changes to payments firms’ safeguarding requirements, with enhanced recordkeeping and fund segregation, seek to bolster existing regulatory provisions, but by introducing a statutory trust concept to cover customers’ assets, represent a set of onerous rules, says Matt Hancock at Greenberg Traurig.
Modernizing UK Trade Settlement Standard: The Road Ahead

Andrew Tsang and Tom Bacon at BCLP consider the rationale and challenges of a potential U.K. trade settlement acceleration, part of an initiative to modernize the financial market infrastructure, and suggest that incorporating distributed ledger technology as a synchronized recording system would facilitate the move.
A Look At UK, EU And US Cartel Enforcement Trends

The European Union, U.K. and U.S. competition agencies' recently issued joint statement on competition risks in generative artificial intelligence demonstrates increased cross-border collaboration on cartel investigations, meaning companies facing investigations in one jurisdiction should anticipate related investigations in other jurisdictions, say lawyers at Latham & Watkins.
What Green Claims Directive Proposal Means For Businesses

With the European Union’s recent adoption of a general approach to the proposed Green Claims Directive, which will regulate certain environmental claims and likely be finalized next year, companies keen to publicize their green credentials have even more reason to tread carefully, say Marcus Navin-Jones and Juge Gregg at Crowell & Moring.
EU Reports Signal Greenwashing Focus For Financial Sector

Reports from the European Supervisory Authorities on enforcement of sustainability information, plus related guidance issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority, represent a fundamental change in how businesses must operate to maintain integrity and public trust, say Amilcare Sada and Matteo Fanton at A&O Shearman.
Embedding Consumer Duty: 6 Areas Firms Should Prioritize

The Financial Conduct Authority has repeatedly emphasized that complying with the Consumer Duty is not a tick-box exercise but an ongoing responsibility, so firms need to show that the duty is at the heart of their practices by staying compliant in areas from cultural change to customer vulnerability, say Nicola Higgs and Becky Critchley at Latham.
Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute

In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.
What Steps Businesses Can Take After CrowdStrike Failure

Following last month’s global Microsoft platform outage caused by CrowdStrike’s failed security software update, businesses can expect complex disputes over liability resulting from multilayered agreements and should look to their various insurance policies for cover despite losses not stemming from a cyberattack, says Daniel Healy at Brown Rudnick.
What To Expect From Labour's Pension Schemes Bill

The Labour government’s recently announced Pension Schemes Bill, outlining key policy areas affecting the retirement savings sector, represents a positive step forward for both defined contribution scheme members and defined benefit superfunds, but there are some missing features, says Sonya Fraser at Arc Pensions.
What EU Opinion May Mean For ESG Product Classification

The recently issued European Supervisory Authority opinion on the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation offers key recommendations, including revising the definition of sustainable investments and making principal adverse impacts consideration mandatory, that could sway the European Commission’s final approach to product classification, say lawyers at Debevoise.
Insurance Rulings Show Court Hesitancy To Fix Policy Errors

Two recent Court of Appeal insurance decisions highlight that policyholders can only overcome policy drafting errors and claim coverage if there is a very obvious mistake, emphasizing courts' reluctance to rewrite contract terms that are capable of enforcement, says Aaron Le Marquer at Stewarts.
EU Investment Fund Standards Offer Welcome Clarity

The European Commission’s recently published regulatory technical standards for long-term investments, which granted managers greater flexibility with respect to open-ended European long-term investment funds, should help managers active in the space navigate the mandatory liquidity requirements for long-term investment funds, say Zac Mellor-Clark and Nishkaam Paul at Fried Frank.
10 Ways To Manage AI Risks In Service Contracts

With the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act coming into force on Aug. 1 and introducing a new regulatory risk, and with AI technology continuing to develop at pace, parties to services arrangements should employ mechanisms now to build in flexibility and get on the front foot, says James Longster at Travers Smith.
Unpacking The New Concept Of 'Trading Misfeasance'

In addition to granting one of the largest trading awards since the Insolvency Act was passed in 1986, the High Court recently introduced a novel claim for misfeasant trading in Wright v. Chappell, opening the door to liability for directors, even where insolvent liquidation or administration was not inevitable, say lawyers at Greenberg Traurig.
Key Takeaways From Proposed EU Anticorruption Directive

The European Commission's anticorruption proposal, on which the EU Council recently adopted a position, will substantially alter the landscape of corporate compliance and liability across the EU, so companies will need to undertake rigorous revisions of their compliance frameworks to align with the directive's demands, say lawyers at Linklaters.