Financial Services UK

Emerging ESG Compliance Obligations For Private Funds

In the absence of U.S. regulation of environmental, social and governance investments, private funds should be aware of two new EU regulations that will apply to all sponsors managing or marketing funds in Europe, says Debbie Klis at Rimon Law.

Perspectives

Law Commission's New Idea For Confiscation Orders Is Unfair

The recent proposal by the Law Commission of England and Wales to recall prisoners who fail to settle their confiscation orders when they have already served a sentence for nonpayment would, in effect, punish them twice for the same act, says Brian Swan at Stokoe Partnership.

UK Pandemic Recovery Offers Opportunities For Green Cos.

The U.K. government's plans to use regulations and funding to accelerate the transition to a green economy after the COVID-19 pandemic promise significant opportunities for companies and investors focused on clean technologies, says Samantha Deacon at Goodwin.

2 High Court Cases Highlight Comity Principles

High Court decisions in National Bank of Kazakhstan v. Bank of New York Mellon and Riverrock Securities v. Bank of St. Petersburg serve as a useful reminder that the principle of comity may require English courts to exercise judicial restraint, even where their assistance has been sought by foreign courts, say Egishe Dzhazoyan and Kabir Bhalla at King & Spalding.

Enforcement Numbers Offer Insight Into FCA Priorities

Financial crime, insider dealing and whistleblowing figured prominently in the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's recent enforcement report, suggesting these areas may be a critical focus for the regulator going forward, say Tracey Dovaston and Michael Jacobs at Boies Schiller.

Why Cum-Ex Tax Fraud Probes Are On The Rise

​​​​​​​Neil Williams at Rahman Ravelli outlines why European regulatory investigations into cum-ex — a 1990s-era dividend arbitrage trading practice involving tax rebate claims worth tens of billions of euros — are gaining momentum years after the activities that sparked them, and who should be concerned.

Key Points From New Blockchain Legal Guidance

Mark Dawkins and Jenny Arlington at Akin Gump analyze the Law Society and Tech London Advocates' recent guidance on blockchain, smart legal contracts, crypto assets and other advanced technologies, and explain why legal practitioners should familiarize themselves with it.

Competing Libor-Transition Proposals Create More Problems

While the U.S., U.K. and EU have proposed legislation in anticipation of the approaching Libor end date, the multiplicity of their approaches gives rise to uncertainty for market participants rather than eliminating it, say Anne Beaumont at Friedman Kaplan and Janine Alexander and Audrey Favreau at Collyer Bristow.

Leveraged Trading, Margin Calls And The 'Retail Client'

A rise in margin losses due to pandemic-related market turbulence could lead to disputes in the context of leveraged trading products, and retail investors involved in such disputes should pay particular attention to recent additions to the Financial Conduct Authority Handbook, says Katherine Harper at Forsters.

Comparing UK's Foreign Investment Bill To US Law

The U.K.'s forthcoming National Security and Investment Bill differs significantly from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' framework for reviewing potentially dangerous foreign investment transactions by establishing nonmandatory notifications and a six-month time limit for formal review, say Angella Castille and Jonathon Gunn at Faegre Drinker.

Creditors Welcome UK Supreme Court's Reflective Loss Decision

The U.K. Supreme Court's recent Sevilleja v. Marex decision benefits creditors and other stakeholders by excluding their claims from the reflective loss principle, which precludes third-party complaints that merely reflect company loss, say Robert Fidoe and Jack Moulder at Watson Farley.

Parsing The DOJ's Flawed Spoofing Theory

In U.S. v. Vorley, the U.S. Department of Justice has signaled it may present high-frequency traders as victims of a spoofing scheme, but analysis of testimony from two similar cases reveals flaws in this approach, says Joshua Ray at Rahman Ravelli.

Challenging The Use Of Anchor Defendants In UK Litigation

With the merits test for anchor defendants in U.K. litigation involving European Union defendants back before the English courts this summer, the London High Court's recent decision in Tsareva v. Ananyev provides useful precedent for jurisdictional challenges to anchor defendants' inclusion, say Egishe Dzhazoyan and Kateryna Frolova at King & Spalding.

How Credit Card Fee Antitrust Cases Fare In UK Versus US

When compared with the U.S. Supreme Court’s Ohio v. American Express opinion, two recent U.K. Supreme Court rulings holding that credit card companies' payment schemes violated antitrust law suggest that corporations operating two-sided platforms are much more likely to win an antitrust case in the U.S., say Allison Gorsuch and Lauren Weinstein at MoloLamken.

Wirecard Class Action Raises Regulator Immunity Questions

Investors in German payment processor Wirecard are suing the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, calling attention to whether allegations of gross failings can overcome regulator immunity, say Anna Battams and Isobel McNaught at Collyer Bristow.