Financial Services UK

  • June 20, 2025

    EU Body Issues Warning On Anti-Greenwashing Regulation

    The European Union's markets regulator warned Friday that national authorities across the economic bloc will approach enforcement of anti-greenwashing reporting standards in different ways in an online statement.

  • June 20, 2025

    CMA Floats Simplified Phase 1 Merger Probe Changes

    The Competition and Markets Authority on Friday launched a public consultation on streamlining its merger control processes, intending to speed up investigations as part of a wider aim to make the U.K. more business-friendly.

  • June 20, 2025

    European Funds Call For More Competitive Tokenization Rules

    The trade body for European fund managers called Friday for harmonization of the fragmented rules on tokenization across member states in a regulatory reform strategy to stay ahead of competitors like Singapore and Switzerland.

  • June 20, 2025

    India Can't Block UAE Fund's $273M Metals Deal Arbitration

    India lost its bid Friday to fend off a claim that it caused a UAE investment fund to lose $273 million by ending an aluminum production deal, with a London court ruling that an arbitration tribunal has jurisdiction to hear the case.

  • June 20, 2025

    FSB Flags Risks For Property Investors Amid Rate Hikes

    The Financial Stability Board has warned about growing "vulnerabilities" among non-bank investors in the $12 trillion commercial real estate market, citing liquidity imbalances, high debt levels and a lack of transparency on lenders' exposure to the sector.

  • June 19, 2025

    E-Commerce Co. Denied 'Extraordinary' $40M Injunction

    An Indian e-commerce company has failed to secure an order to get $40 million it claims to need to complete the purchase of a software business, after a court said it was not prepared to grant the "extraordinary" relief before a trial.

  • June 19, 2025

    Top Banks Devise Programs For Disabled Entrepreneurs

    A trade body for financial firms said Thursday that Britain's top high-street banks had started supporting disabled entrepreneurs in line with the Consumer Duty and the government's plan for growth, but more work is needed.

  • June 19, 2025

    Trafigura Partly Blocks Changes To Gupta's $600M Defense

    Metals trader Prateek Gupta was partly blocked Thursday from making wholesale changes to his defense to a fraud claim worth more than $600 million from Trafigura by a judge who nevertheless permitted alterations that had been agreed and those that would not require disclosure. 

  • June 19, 2025

    Clear Group Expands UK Reach With Insurance Broker Buy

    Insurance broker Clear Group said Thursday that it has acquired CR Toogood & Co. Ltd., a commercial insurance broker based in the southeast of England, as the group strengthens its footprint in the region.

  • June 19, 2025

    AmTrust Wins Disclosure Appeal In £56M Claim-Funding Clash

    A London appeals court said Thursday that AmTrust should be able to see another insurer's communications with two law firms amid a £56 million ($75 million) battle over who should cover the costs of a failed litigation-funding scheme.

  • June 19, 2025

    Ex-Janus Henderson Analyst Convicted Of Insider Dealing

    A London jury convicted a former City hedge fund analyst and his sister of insider dealing and money laundering charges on Thursday over allegations that they traded off confidential information to illegally earn nearly £1 million ($1.35 million).

  • June 19, 2025

    Pension Trustees Told To Act Now On Incoming Reforms

    Pension plan trustees should act now to ensure they are prepared for recently announced reforms that will "fundamentally reshape" the market, according to Britain's retirement savings watchdog.

  • June 19, 2025

    Finance Advisory Biz Openwork Buys Partner Firm

    The Openwork Partnership, a U.K. financial advice network, said Thursday it has completed a transaction to acquire partner firm Milecross Financial Solutions Ltd. as part of its expansion plan.

  • June 19, 2025

    Presumed Alive, Fugitive Told To Repay £64M For Ponzi Fraud

    A judge ordered the fugitive mastermind behind a Ponzi scheme on Thursday to repay hundreds of conned investors £64 million ($86 million) after assuming that he might not have died despite suffering a reported heart attack in Mexico.

  • June 19, 2025

    Henderson, Fidelity European To Merge To Create £2.1B Trust

    Henderson European Trust, advised by Stephenson Harwood LLP, and Fidelity European Trust said Thursday that they plan to merge in order to create a combined London-listed entity with £2.1 billion ($2.8 billion) of net assets.

  • June 18, 2025

    Jurisdiction Up First In $1B Ukraine Bank Nationalization Case

    A more than $1 billion claim asserted against Ukraine by a Luxembourg-based banking group with ties to a Russian oligarch over the nationalization of Sense Bank will have to overcome jurisdictional hurdles before damages will be considered, an international tribunal has ruled.

  • June 18, 2025

    Intesa Sanpaolo Staffer Loses Bid For Reinstatement

    An employee on secondment in London from Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo has lost his bid to be reinstated until his hearing for unfair dismissal, with an employment tribunal finding he is unlikely to win his substantive case and therefore not entitled to reinstatement in the interim.

  • June 18, 2025

    EU Moves To Overhaul Payment Rules To Target Fraud

    A key committee of European Union member state representatives said Wednesday that it had agreed its position on improving payment services, an early step toward regulations that could fight fraud and boost consumer protections.

  • June 18, 2025

    PE Firm Says Forfeiting Tycoon's €1.5M Investment Was Valid

    A private equity firm has denied wrongfully forfeiting car tycoon Peter Waddell's €1.5 million ($1.7 million) investment in the company and alleged the move was "entirely reasonable," given he had failed to meet a request for money as part of the funding deal.

  • June 18, 2025

    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.

  • June 18, 2025

    EU Firms Warn UK Gov't Not To Ban Ransomware Payments

    A European financial markets trade body on Wednesday warned the U.K.'s Home Office that its proposed ban on paying ransomware demands to criminals could destabilize financial markets and lead to cross-border confusion.

  • June 18, 2025

    BoE Backs Innovation To Boost Financial Sector Resilience

    The Bank of England said Wednesday that its regulatory arm will support innovation to help companies become more resilient.

  • June 18, 2025

    Over 1M Gig Workers 'Can't Afford' To Save For A Pension

    More than a million "gig" workers in the U.K. cannot afford to save into a pension, a retirement savings company has said, amid growing fears that younger and more precarious workers will not have adequate savings in later life.

  • June 17, 2025

    Ex-Triton Exec Beats Post-Brexit Appeal To Nix Bias Claim

    An appellate tribunal has upheld a ruling that Brexit did not curtail the ability of a former Triton Partners investment adviser to bring discrimination claims against the Swedish private equity firm's executives, allowing him to pursue his claim in the U.K.

  • June 17, 2025

    Ex-Georgian PM Says Credit Suisse Ignored £600M Fraud

    Georgia's former prime minister told a U.K. appeals court Tuesday that Credit Suisse Life cannot skirt liability for his losses from an employee's fraud scheme, saying the life insurer had obligations to policyholders to ensure their assets were being managed responsibly.

Expert Analysis

  • Goldman Prosecution Delivers A Clear Sign Of FCA Strength

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    The recent successful prosecution of a former Goldman Sachs analyst for insider dealing and fraud is a reminder to regulated individuals that economic crime will never be tolerated, and that the Financial Conduct Authority is willing to bare its teeth in the exercise of its prosecutorial remit, says Doug Cherry at Fladgate.

  • The Good, The Bad And The New Of The UK Sanctions Regime

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    Almost six years after the Sanctions and Money Laundering Act was introduced, the U.K. government has published a strategy paper that outlines its focus points and unveils potential changes to the regime, such as a new humanitarian exception for financial sanctions, highlighting the rapid transformation of the U.K. sanctions landscape, says Josef Rybacki at WilmerHale.

  • A Look At Environment Agency's New Economic Crime Unit

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    Sophie Wood at Kingsley Napley explains how the Environment Agency’s newly established Economic Crime Unit will pursue criminal money flows from environmental offenses, and discusses the unit’s civil powers, including the ability to administer account freezing and forfeiture orders, says Sophie Wood at Kingsley Napley.

  • Opinion

    UK Whistleblowers Flock To The US For Good Reason

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    The U.K. Serious Fraud Office director recently brought renewed attention to the differences between the U.K. and U.S. whistleblower regimes — differences that may make reporting to U.S. agencies a better and safer option for U.K. whistleblowers, and show why U.K. whistleblower laws need to be improved, say Benjamin Calitri and Kate Reeves at Kohn Kohn.

  • 4 Legal Privilege Lessons From Dechert Disclosure Ruling

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    The Court of Appeal's recent decision in Al Sadeq v. Dechert LLP, finding that evidence may have been incorrectly withheld, provides welcome clarification of the scope of legal professional privilege, including the application of the iniquity exception, says Tim Knight at Travers Smith.

  • BT Case May Shape UK Class Action Landscape

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    The first opt-out collective action trial commenced in Le Patourel v. BT in the U.K. Competition Appeal Tribunal last month, regarding BT's abuse of dominance by overcharging millions of customers, will likely provide clarification on damages and funder returns in collective actions, which could significantly affect the class action regime, say lawyers at RPC.

  • Key Points From EC Economic Security Screening Initiatives

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    Lawyers at Herbert Smith analyze the European Commission's five recently announced initiatives aimed at de-risking the EU's trade and investment links with third countries, including the implementation of mandatory screening mechanisms and extending coverage to investments made by EU companies that are controlled subsidiaries of non-EU investors.

  • Following The Road Map Toward Quantum Security

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    With the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent publication of a white paper on a quantum-secure financial sector, firms should begin to consider the quantum transition early — before the process is driven by regulatory obligations — with the goal of developing a cybersecurity architecture that is agile while also allowing for quantum security, say lawyers at Cleary.

  • Why EU Ruling On Beneficial Ownership May Affect The UK

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    Following the EU judgment in Sovim v. Luxembourg that public access to beneficial ownership information conflicts with data protection rights, several British overseas territories and dependencies have recently reversed their commitment to introduce unrestricted access, and challenges to the U.K.’s liberal stance may be on the cards, says Rupert Cullen at Allectus Law.

  • Key Changes In FRC Code Aim To Promote Good Governance

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    The focus of the recently published Financial Reporting Council Corporate Governance Code on risk management and internal controls is to ensure the competitiveness of the U.K. listing regime while not compromising on governance standards, and issuers may wish to consider updating their policies in order to follow best practice, say lawyers at Debevoise.

  • Ruling In FCA Case Offers Tips On Flexible Work Requests

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    In Wilson v. Financial Conduct Authority, the Employment Tribunal recently found that the regulator's rejection of a remote work request was justified, highlighting for employers factors that affect flexible work request outcomes, while emphasizing that individual inquiries should be considered on the specific facts, say Frances Rollin, Ella Tunnell and Kerry Garcia at Stevens & Bolton.

  • Breaking Down The New UK Pension Funding Regs

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    Recently published U.K. pension regulations, proposing major changes to funding and investing in defined benefit pension schemes, raise implementation considerations for trustees, including the importance of the employer covenant, say Charles Magoffin and Elizabeth Bullock at Freshfields.

  • Predicting DeFi Regulations At Home And Abroad In 2024

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    Though decentralized finance has advocates on both sides of the Atlantic in figures like U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, DeFi in 2024 seems likely to be folded into existing regulatory frameworks in the U.K. and EU, while anti-crypto scrutiny may discourage DeFi’s growth in the U.S., say Daniel Csefalvay and Eric Martin at BCLP.

  • Consultation Docs Can Help EU Firms Prep For Crypto Regs

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    Firms providing crypto services should note two recent papers from the European Securities and Markets Authority defining proposals on reverse solicitation and financial instrument classification that will be critical to clarifying the scope of the regulatory framework under the impending Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, say lawyers at Hogan Lovells.

  • A Closer Look At Novel Jury Instruction In Forex Rigging Case

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    After the recent commodities fraud conviction of a U.K.-based hedge fund executive in U.S. v. Phillips, post-trial briefing has focused on whether the New York federal court’s jury instruction incorrectly defined the requisite level of intent, which should inform defense counsel in future open market manipulation cases, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.

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