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Financial Services UK
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May 08, 2025
FCA Flags Risky Investment Practices At Small Asset Firms
The Financial Conduct Authority said Thursday that many small asset managers have ineffective arrangements to manage conflicts of interest and inadequate processes to offer high-risk investments.
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May 08, 2025
FRC Bans Former Finance Head Of Bankrupt Local Council
The audit watchdog said Thursday it has banned the former chief financial officer of a bankrupt English local authority from the accounting profession for five years for overseeing a risky investment strategy worth £1 billion ($1.3 billion).
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May 07, 2025
Finance Trade Body Warns AI Can Amplify Misconduct Risk
A U.K. trade body for financial firms warned a group of members of Parliament at a hearing Wednesday that artificial intelligence amplifies the risk that banks could screen out unwanted customers without anyone knowing, in defiance of the Consumer Duty.
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May 07, 2025
UK Supreme Court Boosts Creditor Protection In Fraud Cases
Britain's highest court has handed administrators more power to pursue businesses that turn a blind eye to fraud, with a ruling on Wednesday that will bolster protection for creditors and could raise the stakes for companies flying too close to the wind, lawyers say.
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May 14, 2025
Squire Patton Adds To EY Law's Woes With 5-Lawyer Hire
Squire Patton Boggs LLP said Wednesday that it has hired a team of five specialists in financial regulation from EY's legal services arm in Britain, adding to the division's woes as it continues to go through a period of turbulence.
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May 07, 2025
EU Agrees Position On One-Day Securities Settlement
The executive arm of the European Union approved its plan to halve the time it takes to settle transactions in transferable securities to one business day on Wednesday, as the bloc seeks to strengthen its financial sector and align it with international markets.
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May 07, 2025
FCA Seeks Industry Input To Simplify UK Mortgage Rules
The Financial Conduct Authority launched a consultation with lenders on Wednesday to examine how the watchdog can help simplify its mortgage framework to make homeownership in the U.K. "easier, faster and cheaper."
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May 07, 2025
EU Watchdog To Advise Tightening Insider Dealing Rules
The EU markets watchdog specified on Wednesday in advice to the European Commission on insider dealing rules for companies listing shares that profit warnings must be disclosed immediately rather than delay until accounts are produced.
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May 07, 2025
Accounting Firm MHA To Buy Baker Tilly Unit For €24M
Accounting company MHA PLC said Wednesday that it plans to buy the southeast Europe subsidiary of tax adviser Baker Tilly in a cash and shares deal worth up to €24 million ($27.3 million) as it eyes growth in the region.
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May 07, 2025
Top UK Court Expands Fraud Liability In Carbon Credits Case
Britain's highest court ruled Wednesday that a major brokerage firm can be held liable for millions of pounds owed to Britain's tax collector from a carbon credits tax fraud, a decision that could expand the reach of insolvency proceedings.
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May 06, 2025
Trade Body Calls For Swift Action On Pension Surplus Plan
The U.K. must act swiftly in developing a new regime to allow businesses to tap into well-funded pension plans to invest in themselves or the wider economy, a trade body urged Tuesday.
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May 06, 2025
Financial Complaints Skyrocket After Motor Finance Ruling
The U.K.'s financial complaints watchdog said Tuesday that it received more than 140,000 reports about financial businesses in the last six months of 2024, up almost 49% on the same period a year earlier, after a landmark ruling that requires motor finance lenders to disclose commissions.
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May 06, 2025
HSBC Settles Reporting Whistleblowing Fight With Ex-Exec
HSBC Bank PLC on Tuesday settled its dispute with a former senior employee who had accused the retail banking giant of firing him for making protected disclosures about the lender's alleged capital reporting failings.
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May 06, 2025
Money Laundering Surges To £377M In UK Amid Fall In Fraud
Money laundering was the biggest source of fraud and economic crime by value in the U.K. in 2024, with the average value of individual cases increasing 10-fold compared with 2023, a professional services firm reported Tuesday.
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May 06, 2025
Marsh Blamed For $143M Loss On Greensill As Trial Opens
The investment firm White Oak said it would never have invested in a financial scheme set up by now-collapsed Greensill Capital if it had not relied on misleading statements provided by the insurance broker Marsh about its cover, the firm's lawyers said at the opening of an almost $143 million trial Tuesday.
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May 06, 2025
Bahamas Businessmen Challenge £2.7M Yacht Sale Verdict
Two Bahamas businessmen told the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council Tuesday that the undervalued sale of a yacht intended to pay off their loan to a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc. left them unfairly liable for the extra cash that the deal should have covered.
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May 06, 2025
EU Watchdog Proposes New Rules For ESG Ratings Firms
The European Union's markets watchdog has proposed new rules for providers of ESG ratings in a move to prevent conflicts of interest and improve their disclosures.
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May 06, 2025
Greensill, Gupta Get 2027 Trial Date Over $400M Row
Administrators overseeing part of the collapse of Lex Greensill's empire will head to trial in October 2027 to seek $400 million from a Swiss insurance giant that has accused the financier and one of his major former clients, Sanjeev Gupta, of fraud.Â
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May 06, 2025
Freshfields-Led Fintech Alpha Snubs Bid From Payments Biz
U.K. financial services provider Alpha Group International PLC said Tuesday that it has "unanimously rejected" a takeover offer from Corpay Inc., an American business payments company.
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May 02, 2025
Santander Wins Bid To Narrow AML Whistleblower Allegations
Santander succeeded in trimming a former financial crime policy manager's employment claim on Friday, when a tribunal judge dismissed several whistleblowing allegations but refused to ax other claims that Santander argued the ex-employee had already unsuccessfully sought to advance.
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May 02, 2025
Law Firm Can't Ax €213M Action Over Claim Form Blunders
A London court ruled Friday that an asset manager can amend its €213 million ($241 million) professional negligence claim against the London arm of an international law firm, as it would be unjust to strike out the action merely because the claim form had been prepared with "a remarkable lack of care."
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May 02, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Premier League football club Newcastle United FC sue the owner of the land next to its stadium, Laurence Fox face a defamation claim by TV presented Narinder Kaur and a further sexual assault claim filed against actor Kevin Spacey.
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May 02, 2025
FCA Proposes Curb On Purchase Of Crypto-Assets On Credit
The Financial Conduct Authority proposed on Friday to restrict how far cryptocurrency companies could go in allowing consumers to buy crypto-assets on credit, part of its planned regulatory regime for the sector.
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May 02, 2025
EY Can Reveal $9.7B Settlement At UAE Health Biz Fraud Trial
EY won an attempt on Friday to reveal a $9.66 billion settlement inked by a United Arab Emirates health care business and senior company officers accused of a $4 billion fraud as it defends itself against allegations it failed to stop the alleged wrongdoing.
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May 02, 2025
US Tariffs Spark Concerns for Unhedged Pension Assets
European pension funds that have significant unhedged dollar assets could be in trouble, experts warned Friday, as unprecedented market volatility was sparked imposition of U.S. trade tariffs.
Expert Analysis
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Key Takeaways From EU's Coming Digital Act
The European Union's impending Digital Operational Resilience Act will necessitate closer collaboration on resilience, risk management and compliance, and crucial challenges include ensuring IT third-party service providers meet the requirements on or before January 2025, says Susie MacKenzie at Coralytics.
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Cross Market Drill Highlights Operational Resilience Priorities
The U.K.’s recent cross-market major infrastructure failure simulation exercise, demonstrates that operational resilience of the financial sector is high on the regulatory agenda, and the findings should ensure that the sector develops collective capabilities to deliver improvements, say lawyers at Taylor Wessing.
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What Partners Should Know About Net Asset Value Loans
The increasing popularity and evolution of net asset value facilities means they continue as an important financing tool to generate liquidity for funds’ portfolios, so general partners looking to capitalize on this expanding market should be mindful of their limited partners' concerns to maximize their value, says Anthony Lombardi at Dechert.
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What The Future Of AI In Financial Services Looks Like
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the global financial services industry, with a hybrid model likely to evolve where AI handles routine tasks and humans focus on strategy and decision-making, so financial institutions should work with regulators to establish ethical standards and meet regulatory expectations without stifling innovation, say lawyers at Womble Bond.
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FCA Survey Results Reveal Rise In Nonfinancial Misconduct
After a Financial Conduct Authority survey recently reported a significant rise in nonfinancial misconduct, there are a number of preventive steps firms should take to create a healthy workplace environment and mitigate the risk of increased regulatory scrutiny, say lawyers at WilmerHale.
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When Investigating An Adversary, Be Wary Of Forged Records
Warnings against the use of investigators who tout their ability to find an adversary’s private documents generally emphasize the risk of illegal activity and attorney discipline, but a string of recent cases shows an additional danger — investigators might be fabricating records altogether, says Brian Asher at Asher Research.
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What UK Security Act Report Indicates For Future Gov't Policy
Following the recent publication of the National Security and Investment Act report on the scrutiny of proposed investments, it will be interesting to see how the act’s powers fit into a government policy that plans to cut regulatory obstacles, while maintaining a hard line on national security, say lawyers at Katten Muchin.
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Examining UK And EU Approaches To Sanctions Enforcement
In light of the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent £28.9 million fine of Starling Bank for its lax sanctions screening processes, businesses should understand both the U.K.’s and the European Union’s enforcement approaches, the larger sanctions landscape and the importance of cooperation, says Angelika Hellweger at Rahman Ravelli.
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Factors Driving EU Competition Policy For The Next 5 Years
Teresa Ribera RodrÃguez’s recent nomination as the new European Union commissioner for competition prompts questions about policy and enforcement, with goals to enhance competition in business, implement stronger and faster enforcement, and promote and fund decarbonization likely in her sights during a five-year term, say lawyers at Linklaters.
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What UK Procurement Act Delay Will Mean For Stakeholders
The Procurement Act 2023’s delay until February 2025 has sparked debate among contracting authorities and suppliers, and the Labour Party’s preference for a broader reform package demonstrates the challenges involved in implementing legislative changes where there is a change in government, say lawyers at Shoosmiths.
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How Energy Scheme Is Affecting Large Co. Fund Investment
The latest phase of the Department of Energy and Climate Change's Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme implicates funds with investments in large companies by establishing significant and complex changes to the reporting cycle for mandatory assessments, say lawyers at Macfarlanes.
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How Companies House Enforcement Powers Are Growing
Companies House's recently increased ability to assess what material is submitted to the U.K. register of companies, and to proportionately enforce where violations have occurred, may require some degree of cultural shift within many companies, say lawyers at Greenberg Traurig.
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How New Sanctions Office Will Affect UK Trade Landscape
The recent launch of the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation will help to create a more comprehensive civil enforcement terrain, but the potential for multiple investigations means businesses should reassess their systems to ensure they do not inadvertently incur civil liability, says Julia Pearce at Robertson Pugh.
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FCA Savings Update Focuses On Good Customer Outcomes
The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent cash savings update emphasizes its expectations of firms to deliver fair value to consumers by documenting the rationale for actions at each stage, considering customer communications and demonstrating that potential harms are acted upon, say Matt Handfield, Charlotte Rendle and Caroline Hunter-Yeats at Simmons & Simmons.
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5 Takeaways From UK Justices' Arbitration Jurisdiction Ruling
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent judgment in UniCredit Bank v. RusChemAlliance, upholding an injunction against a lawsuit that attempted to shift arbitration away from a contractually designated venue, provides helpful guidance on when such injunctions may be available, say attorneys at Fladgate.