Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Financial Services UK
-
April 09, 2024
Gov't Urged To Ban Cash Incentives For Pension Switching
The government should ban pension providers from offering cash incentives for savers to switch plans because the practice encourages people to ignore the "fine print" and move over to a worse option, new research by a provider of retirement savings plans suggests.
-
April 09, 2024
HSBC To Take $1B Hit From Sale Of Argentina Unit
HSBC said Tuesday that it will book a $1 billion loss on the sale of its business in Argentina to local lender Grupo Financiero Galicia, as the London-based bank continues to shift its focus to Asia.
-
April 16, 2024
Charles Russell Speechlys Hires Banking And Finance Lawyer
Charles Russell Speechlys LLP has appointed Philip Withey, a lawyer from Womble Bond, as partner in its banking and finance practice in a move the firm believes will boost its business.
-
April 08, 2024
Ex-Autonomy Exec Says Boss's Invoice Ask Caused Concern
A former Autonomy finance employee took the stand Monday in the criminal fraud trial of ex-CEO Michael Lynch and finance director Stephen Chamberlain, telling a California federal jury that he was "not comfortable" with one of Chamberlain's invoice requests and was sacked after raising concerns about accounting irregularities.
-
April 08, 2024
Canada's High Court Enforces Award In Greek Defense Suit
The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed the enforcement of an arbitral award in a dispute over a contract between aircraft manufacturer Bombardier Inc. and Greece's Ministry of National Defence, saying a Canadian bank had to refuse payment to the beneficiary of a letter of credit because of fraud.
-
April 08, 2024
£54M Claimed From Failed Financial Services Last Year
The U.K.'s lifeboat scheme said Monday it has recovered £54 million ($68 million) in the financial year ended March 31 from the estates of failed financial services companies.
-
April 15, 2024
Kirkland Hires Leveraged Finance Pro From Allen & Overy
Kirkland & Ellis LLP has recruited a debt finance specialist from Allen & Overy LLP as it continues to rebuild in the United Kingdom after undergoing a string of departures to rival U.S. law firm Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in late 2023.
-
April 08, 2024
Attwells Denies Breaking Promise In £1.2M Loan Dispute
Attwells Solicitors LLP has denied promising that it was acting on behalf of a man who, the law firm says, was probably fraudulently posing as the owner of two properties in a move to borrow £775,000 ($980,000) from a finance company.
-
April 08, 2024
Gowling, Osborne Clarke Steer £60M Tech Co. Pension Deal
Insurer Just Group said Monday it has completed a £60 million ($75.7 million) buy-in of a pension scheme sponsored by technology companies Epson (UK) Ltd. and Epson Europe BV, in a deal guided by Gowling WLG and Osborne Clarke.
-
April 08, 2024
Pension Schemes Considering Alternatives For End Goal
Pension plans need to carefully weigh a range of options for their end game strategies, a professional services firm said, as retirement savings scheme funding continues to hover around near record levels.
-
April 08, 2024
Grant Thornton Fined For Audit Compliance Breaches
The Financial Reporting Council said Monday it has fined accounting firm Grant Thornton £40,000 ($50,500) for failing to comply with audit regulations in its work on a local authority's pension fund.
-
April 15, 2024
Hill Dickinson Hires 2 Teams From Irwin Mitchell
Hill Dickinson LLP has recruited two groups of real estate specialists from Irwin Mitchell LLP for its new office in Birmingham after a corporate team made a similar move earlier in the year.
-
April 05, 2024
High Court Limits Use Of Confidential Info In $3.7B Asset Fight
Relatives of a dead Russian oligarch and an investment company accused of international fraud on Friday partially succeeded in obtaining an order to prevent the alleged misuse of their confidential information.
-
April 05, 2024
UK Urges Delay In Claiming Pensions Until Rules Change
The U.K. tax authority has warned people to delay claiming their pensions until after Saturday, when the lifetime allowance is abolished, while the government clarifies technical changes to the legislation.
-
April 05, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen the BBC sued by former Georgian defense minister David Kezerashvili, Russian businessman Ildar Sharipov file a defamation claim against the publisher of the Liverpool Echo newspaper, MEX Group Worldwide sue Barclays and NatWest, and a climbing gear company hit retailer Next with a claim of copyright infringement. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
-
April 05, 2024
6 Questions For Paul Hastings' Stuart Alford KC
Paul Hastings LLP's new partner, Stuart Alford KC, is a former senior official at the Serious Fraud Office and has worked at two heavyweight U.S. firms, Kirkland & Ellis and Latham & Watkins. Here, he talks to Law360 about his career and about white-collar crime.
-
April 05, 2024
18 Crime Gangs Specialize In VAT Fraud, Europol Says
Eighteen major criminal gangs in the European Union specialize in value-added tax fraud, having end-to-end control over the entire criminal process, the EU's law enforcement agency said Friday.
-
April 05, 2024
Allens-Guided Experian To Acquire Peer Illion For $540M
Experian PLC has agreed to buy Australasian rival credit analyst illion for up to $820 million Australian dollars ($540 million), as the Ireland-based global financial data specialist moves to bolster its presence in the region's growing credit reporting market.
-
April 05, 2024
Retired Rabbi To Return £2.3M To Charities After NCA Probe
A retired rabbi will return £2.35 million ($3 million) to two charities after he kept the money rather than distribute it for its intended legitimate causes, the National Crime Agency said on Friday.
-
April 05, 2024
UK Pension Schemes Maintain Near-Record Surpluses
The aggregate surplus of the U.K.'s defined benefit pension sector remained at near-record levels of around £151 billion ($190.8 billion) in March, a consultancy has said.
-
April 19, 2024
Fieldfisher Expands Pensions Practice With 4 PwC Hires
European law firm Fieldfisher LLP has announced it is bolstering its U.K. pensions practice by hiring a partner, two directors and an associate from PwC UK.
-
April 04, 2024
UK Billionaire Lewis Avoids Prison For Insider Trading
A New York federal judge on Thursday sentenced British billionaire Joe Lewis to three years of probation for feeding his girlfriend and private-jet pilots nonpublic stock tips about his private equity firm's portfolio companies, saying a prison term would put the 87-year-old at "serious risk" of death.
-
April 04, 2024
Mayer Brown Adds Former KPMG Tax Specialist In London
Mayer Brown has added a former KPMG tax professional to its London office to advise clients on asset management and fund matters in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, the firm announced.
-
April 04, 2024
Investors Hit Agent For £2.3M Over Failed Care Home Scheme
Care home investors have sued an investment agent for £2.3 million ($2.9 million) in a London court over claims they promoted a "fundamentally flawed" property development scheme as a safe and reliable investment.
-
April 04, 2024
Law Firm Defeats Adviser's Unfair Redundancy Claim
A Scottish law firm didn't unfairly cull one of its financial advisers during a redundancy process because bosses scored candidates with a reasonable checklist, an employment tribunal has ruled.
Expert Analysis
-
New Guidance Offers Clarity For Charities On ESG Investing
The need for charities to understand investing in line with environmental, social and governance aspirations has never been more pressing, and recently updated U.K. Charity Commission guidance should give trustees confidence to make decisions that are right for their organization, says Robert Nieri at Shoosmiths.
-
US And EU Poised For Closer Ties In Tech Financial Market
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the European Commission are both concerned about the challenges posed by the increasing digitalization of financial products, such as the use of AI and new forms of credit, and by working together, the two regulators can share information and best practices, says Yulia Makarova at Cooley.
-
FCA Case Failures Highlight Value Of Robust Investigation
The recent U.K. upper tribunal judgment in Seiler, Whitestone and Raitzin v. The Financial Conduct Authority, criticizing the regulator for accepting a narrative advanced by the firm, makes clear that such admissions must not get in the way of a proper investigation to enable agencies to target the correct individuals, say Tom Bushnell and Olivia Dwan at Hickman & Rose.
-
UK Shares-Tax Proposals Offer Long-Awaited Modernization
The U.K. government's recent consultation on the introduction of a new tax on transactions in securities raises detailed legal and practical issues, but the prospect of a single digital stamp tax offering both streamlined legislation and administration will be welcomed, say Zoë Arnautov and Mark Sheiham at Simmons & Simmons.
-
Directors Should Beware Reinvigorated UK Insolvency Service
The recent lengthy disqualification of Carillion directors serves as a salutary lesson to executives on the level of third-party scrutiny to which their actions may be exposed, and a reminder that the directors’ fiduciary duty to creditors is paramount once a company is irretrievably insolvent, says Ben Drew at Fladgate.
-
The New Accountability Landscape For Financial Regulators
The preliminary-stage success of a group of U.K. lawmakers in a case against the Financial Conduct Authority highlights the significant hurdles for review of regulatory actions, but the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 creates additional visibility into the regulators' decision making, which may lead to an increase in judicial review activity, say attorneys at Cleary.
-
Director Responsibilities Amid Russian Asset Seizures
Following Russia's recent takeover of several companies, shareholders may argue that directors failed to properly guard the companies' assets and choose to bring derivative claims or unfair prejudice petitions, say lawyers at Collyer Bristow.
-
Investors Should Prepare For Possible EU Energy Treaty Exit
Following the European Commission’s recent call for the European Union and Euratom to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty, investors in the energy sector should assess the legal structure of their existing investments and consider restructuring to ensure adequate protections, says Philipp Kurek at Kirkland.
-
EU Raw Materials Initiative Vital For Sustainable Value Chains
The European Commission’s recent steps toward developing partnerships with the U.S. and Argentina to ensure a secure supply of critical raw materials are a welcome recognition of the importance of mining to the European Union's sustainable transition, say lawyers at Watson Farley.
-
UK Top Court Ruling Spells Uncertainty For Litigation Funders
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision in Paccar Inc. v. Competition Appeal Tribunal has called litigation funding agreements impermissible, causing astonishment in the legal industry and raising questions over how funders should now approach litigation, say Mohsin Patel at Factor Risk Management and Imran Benson at Hailsham Chambers.
-
Gender Diverse Boards May Reduce Corporate Fraud Risk
Following the recently proposed "failure to prevent fraud" offense, companies should focus on diversity in leadership as research shows that an increase in women's representation on boards is associated with a decreased probability of fraud, say Anoushka Warlow and Suzanne Gallagher at BCL Solicitors.
-
Trustees Should Take Caution After UK Pension Tap Plan
The U.K. government's recent plan to boost technology startups by tapping into pension sector funds may risk the hard-earned savings of members, so trustees need to be mindful of the proposals in light of their fiduciary duties, say Beth Brown and Riccardo Bruno at Arc Pensions.
-
Factors Driving Increased Litigation Against European Cos.
European government regulation and enforcement, economic inflation and litigation funding are driving an increase in litigation, especially class actions, against corporations in Europe, a trend that seems to be here to stay, says Henning Schaloske at Clyde & Co.
-
New UK Offense Will Help Law Firms Tighten AML Compliance
By allowing for larger fines and introducing a failure to prevent fraud offense, the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, currently passing through Parliament, will further motivate law firms to improve their anti-money laundering compliance process, says Richard Simms at AMLCC.
-
What Venezuelan Gold Fight Means For UK One Voice Doctrine
The Court of Appeal's judgment in Deutsche Bank v. Central Bank of Venezuela clarifies the application of the "one voice" doctrine to foreign court judgments, highlighting that the reasoning depends on the recognition or nonrecognition of a head of state or government that is contrary to the U.K. government's position, say lawyers at Latham.