Financial Services UK

Cryptocurrency coming out of a man's hand

FCA's Crypto Ban Reversal Unleashes Consumer Harm Risk

The Financial Conduct Authority's proposed reversal of its ban on crypto exchange-traded notes for retail investors has paved the way for immeasurable consumer harm, U.K. and U.S. lawyers have warned.

Pedestrians walk past the sign outside the headquarters of the white-collar agency in London.

SFO's Growth Push A 'Difficult Line To Tread' For Prosecutor

The Serious Fraud Office's recent promise to assist UK PLC with growth has raised eyebrows among former officials who question the optics of adopting political talking points that, on the surface, appear to distract from investigating and prosecuting economic crime.

Compliance in the workplace concept: photo of keyboard and cardboard files.

UK Growth Push Puts FCA Enforcement On Unfamiliar Footing

The government's demand that regulators should prioritize growth is "largely incompatible" with their duty to deter misconduct, say lawyers who are warning clients not to interpret the political messaging as a green light to engage in risky behavior.

American and Russian flags fly together in a breeze.

From Russia With Love? UK Lawyers Mull Sanctions U-Turn

Finance companies are enlisting white-collar lawyers to draw up plans for tapping back into Russia if the U.S. breaks with its Western allies and eases sanctions, although experts warn that unpredictable political winds mean there are as many risks as opportunities.

June 26, 2025
Restructuring Filings Surge Amid AI, Geopolitical Strains

The first half of 2025 has seen a surge in companies filing for restructuring plans amid increasing financial distress caused by geopolitical troubles and the advent of AI, according to a LexisNexis report published Thursday on the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the plans.
June 26, 2025
Qatar National Bank Beats £89M Claim Over Share Deal

A Qatari bank Thursday beat a Kuwaiti businessman's £89.4 million ($122.8 million) English claim over alleged breaches of a complex financing agreement, after a judge noted his reliance on "hallucinatory" references to cases that didn't exist through the inappropriate use of AI.
June 26, 2025
BoE Launches Forum For Financial Firms And Policy Body

The Bank of England said Thursday it has set up a forum for senior individuals in large financial services firms to liaise with the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates.
June 26, 2025
EU Strikes 'Milestone' Deal To Reform Bank Failure Rules

The European Union has agreed to radically reform the rule book for managing failures of small and midsized banks in the bloc by improving lenders' access to industry-funded safety nets.
June 26, 2025
Audit Watchdog Sets New Guidance For 'Black Box' AI

Britain's accounting watchdog warned Thursday in new guidance on using artificial intelligence in audits that the opacity of AI models makes it crucial for firms to document how they are controlled.
June 26, 2025
Gov't Mulls Mandated Climate Plans From Banks, Insurers

Large banks and insurance companies in Britain could be forced to develop and publish a strategy for how they plan to align their business with global climate targets under proposals floated by the U.K. government.
June 26, 2025
PIC Inks £900M Pension Deals For Energy Tech Biz

Pension Insurance Corp. PLC said Thursday that it has completed buy-ins with three plans sponsored by Baker Hughes Co., a global energy technology business, covering liabilities worth £900 million ($1.2 billion).
June 26, 2025
Staley Fails To Overturn FCA Ban Over Epstein Ties

Former Barclays boss James "Jes" Staley lost his bid to overturn the Financial Conduct Authority's ban for allegedly lying about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday as a London tribunal found he intentionally misled the watchdog's inquiry into their relationship.
June 25, 2025
Class Certified In Suit Over Oil Market's Historic Price Crash

A Chicago federal judge has certified a class of futures traders who claim Vega Capital London Ltd. and 12 of its traders caused a historic oil crash with an aggressive price manipulation scheme that resulted in oil futures going negative for the first time, saying the plaintiffs have met all the requirements for certification.
June 25, 2025
Sanctioned Co. Director Convicted Of Failing To Give Info

A sanctioned company director was convicted in a criminal court in London on Wednesday of failing to adequately respond to a request for information by the U.K.'s sanctions agency.
June 25, 2025
EU Watchdog Pushes To Expand Digital Asset Program

The European Union's market watchdog advised lawmakers Wednesday to make a pilot scheme for tokenizing securities on digital ledger technology more flexible for investors and permanent.
June 25, 2025
EU Insurers Push For Simplified Cybersecurity Regulation

A trade body for European insurers urged the European Commission on Tuesday to streamline the bloc's potentially counter-productive rule book on cybersecurity and digital resilience to help reduce duplication as the compliance burdens on the sector increase.
June 25, 2025
EFG Unit To Buy 75% Stake In NZ Investment Firm For $41M

Global private banking group EFG International AG said Wednesday that its Australian subsidiary Shaw and Partners Financial Services has agreed to acquire 75% of New Zealand-based investment firm Investment Services Group for 67.5 million New Zealand dollars ($40.6 million).
June 25, 2025
FCA Floats Mortgage Rule Changes To Aid Homebuyers

The Financial Conduct Authority suggested changes to its mortgage rules on Wednesday to make it easier to lend to first-time homebuyers and others, in a drive to boost property ownership.
June 25, 2025
Adviser Wren Sterling Expands In Scotland With Acquisition

Financial and pensions advisory business Wren Sterling said Wednesday that it has acquired City Financial (Aberdeen) Ltd., expanding its presence in Scotland.
June 25, 2025
Sweden Fines Diagnostics Co. $1.25M For Market Abuse

Sweden's financial watchdog has fined a medical diagnostics company 12 million Swedish kronor ($1.25 million) for breaching European Union regulations on market abuse following an investigation into its handling of insider information, the company revealed on Wednesday.
June 25, 2025
ECB Clears Monte Dei Paschi's €13.3B Mediobanca Deal

Italian lender Monte dei Paschi said Wednesday that the European Central Bank has waved through its €13.3 billion ($15.4 billion) proposed takeover of rival Mediobanca SpA, ramping up consolidation in the country's banking sector.
June 24, 2025
Irwin Mitchell Can't Ax Pension Fraud Negligence Claim

A London court on Tuesday denied Irwin Mitchell's bid to scrap a professional negligence suit against a firm it merged with in 2015, but ruled Irwin Mitchell itself is not liable for the advice given to a pensioner in the wake of alleged fraud.
June 24, 2025
Solicitor Denies Inducing Trust To Invest £5.8m In His Firm

A solicitor has denied fraudulently inducing a family trust into investing £5.75 million ($7.84 million) into a company he part owned that became insolvent, arguing the trust made its own assessment to become involved in the "low risk" project.
June 24, 2025
VietJet Air Loses Bid To Ax $181M Plane Lease Dispute Ruling

A Vietnamese budget airline lost its fight to overturn a decision that it is liable to pay an investment company $181 million for failing to make aircraft leasing payments when a London court ruled Tuesday that the notices served to terminate the leasing deals were valid.
June 24, 2025
Fintech Accuses JP Morgan Of Waging 'Proxy War' In Greece

Fintech company WeRealize accused J.P. Morgan on Tuesday of waging a legal "proxy war" against its directors in Greece to prevent it from purchasing the investment bank's stake in a payments startup joint venture.
June 24, 2025
Broker's Costs Cut By £3M Over 'Vague' Trade Secrets Case

A London court has slashed an investment broker's recoverable costs by half to £3.3 million ($4.5 million) despite previously upholding its claim that a hedge fund and consultant took its trade secrets, ruling that the firm increased costs "at every turn."
June 24, 2025
Groups Urge EU To Trim Sustainable Finance Reporting Rules

Top global financial services industry trade bodies have urged European lawmakers in its review of the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation to cut duplication with other sustainability reporting rules and reflect derivatives more clearly.
June 24, 2025
Treasury Official Tapped As Interim Pensions Regulator Chair

The government has revealed Civil Service veteran Kirstin Baker as the next interim chair of Britain's retirement savings watchdog.
June 24, 2025
Danish Pensions Fintech Biz Expands Into UK Market

Festina Finance, a Danish financial technology company, said it has begun fully operating its retirement savings platform for administrators of British pension plans.

Editor's Picks

5 Questions For Spencer West Partner Karl Foster

The Financial Conduct Authority's approach to enforcement and consumer protection has come up against government economic growth priorities and resistance from the sector to its proposals to "name and shame" companies early on during regulatory probes.
UK Draft Pay Fraud Rules Open Tricky Legal Liabilities

The government's new draft legislation, which will give banks longer to investigate suspicions of fraud before they send payments instructed by customers, will create a wave of new legal liabilities and lead to regulatory hurdles, according to lawyers.
FCA Fires Warning Shot Over City's Consumer Duty Failings

The Financial Conduct Authority has sent out a fresh warning to financial services companies highlighting how some of them are failing to comply with its Consumer Duty regime. But experts have told Law360 that the expectations are unclear.

Expert Analysis

How UK Law Firms Can Counter Money Laundering Threat

With figures released in May showing that money laundering was the biggest source of fraud in the U.K. last year, law firms should focus on internal identification and prevention strategies, considering the scale and nature of potential risk exposure depends on several business factors, says Niall Hearty at Rahman Ravelli.
Key Takeaways As EU And UK Impose New Russia Sanctions

The European Union and U.K.’s new sanctions on Russia, designating increasing numbers of non-Russian companies in the defense and shipping sectors, mean that organizations must examine from the outset whether a transaction has any nexus with the EU or the U.K., say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.
Pension Schemes Bill's Most Notable, Controversial Measures

The long-awaited Pension Schemes Bill recently introduced to Parliament creates a framework for harnessing money saved in U.K. workplace pension funds to grow the country’s economy, but provisions relating to local government pension scheme investment, and scale and asset allocation, are controversial, says Claire Dimmock at Squire Patton.
What New FCA Private Stock Market System Could Offer Cos.

While the Financial Conduct Authority’s new secondary private stock market system will bring more control and less ongoing regulatory compliance than a public market, but because the regime grants a significant degree of flexibility to operators it may be some time before a full operational picture emerges, says Iain Wright at Morgan Lewis.
Fraud Office Guidance Highlights Value Of Self-Reporting

New guidance from the U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office on corporate self-reporting, cooperation and deferred prosecution agreements provides a useful framework for companies navigating criminal investigations and their potential resolutions — and underscores that corporations that self-report are in a better position to obtain DPAs than those that do not, say lawyers at Skadden.
Open Questions As FCA Prepares Buy Now, Pay Later Rules

HM Treasury’s recent response to its consultation on buy now, pay later lending regulation is clear on policy, but with rules still to be set by the Financial Conduct Authority it is difficult for firms to plan for change, and they should take advantage now of the opportunity to liaise with the regulator, say lawyers at Hogan Lovells.
What End of Payment Systems Regulator Means For Biz

The U.K. government’s plan to abolish the Payment Systems Regulator and absorb its functions into the Financial Conduct Authority should eventually lighten the compliance burden for businesses under the PSR’s remit, which may in turn encourage growth, but the proposed changes will roll out slowly, say lawyers at Farrer & Co.
Compliance Lessons From Art Dealer's Terror Financing Plea

Regulated businesses can learn from the missteps of a recently convicted London art dealer, who failed to disclose sales to a suspected Hezbollah financier, by implementing compliance measures like anti-terrorism financing screenings as robust as their anti-money laundering policies and training staff to spot red flags, say lawyers at White & Case.
UK Securities Tax Reform Will Be Welcomed By Investors

The proposed reforms resulting from HM Revenue & Customs' recent consultation on modernizing stamp taxes on shares, suggesting a single digital tax on securities to replace stamp duty and stamp duty reserve tax, are expected to reduce complexity for investors transacting in U.K. securities, say lawyers at Ropes & Gray.
UK Capital Reforms May Help Startup Founders, VC Investors

Hidden in the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority's recent proposals on the definition of capital for investment firms are changes to the eligibility requirements for instruments to be included in a firm's regulatory capital — changes that may reduce the risk of investing, especially in early-stage fintech firms, says Andrew Henderson at Goodwin.
EU Watchdog's ESG Dashboard Raises Transparency Bar

The European Banking Authority’s recently introduced ESG dashboard is a key tool in aligning financial institutions with the European Union's sustainability policies, and fundamentally alters the risk environment by transitioning climate-related data from a compliance afterthought to a core component of strategic decision-making, says Kristýna Tupá at Schönherr.
What To Note As HM Treasury, FCA Plan New Crypto Regs

Taken together, HM Treasury’s recently proposed crypto-asset regulations and the Financial Conduct Authority’s new discussion paper on regulating crypto-asset activities provide key insights into the government's planned regime, which represents significant changes that will affect all firms providing related services, says Mark Chalmers at Davis Polk.
Tools For Effective Asset Tracking In Offshore Jurisdictions

In light of a technology company's recent allegations that its former CEO maintained an undisclosed interest in offshore companies, practitioners may want to refresh their knowledge of the tool kit available for tracing and recovering allegedly misappropriated assets from both onshore and offshore jurisdictions, say lawyers at Walkers Global.
FCA Review Highlights Valuation Standards For Private Funds

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent review of private funds valuation practices underscores the increasing importance of conducting robust and independent procedures, offering an opportunity for fund managers to strengthen their current valuation frameworks and improve investor confidence, say lawyers at Greenberg Traurig.
What Santander Fraud Ruling Means For UK Banking Sector

A London court's recent judgment in Santander v. CCP Graduate School held that a bank does not owe any duty to third-party victims of authorized push payment fraud, reaffirming the steps banks are already taking to protect their own customers from sophisticated fraud mechanisms, say lawyers at Charles Russell.