Financial Services UK

  • September 02, 2025

    Textor Cites Missing Docs To Fight $93M Share Buyout Claim

    The owner of a portfolio of professional football clubs told a London court he wasn't obliged to pay $93.6 million for an investment vehicle's stake in his company, arguing that it failed to provide documents needed for the transaction.

  • September 02, 2025

    Payments Co.'s NFT Patent Denied Over 'Flawed' Fraud Claim

    U.S. payments company Blackhawk Network Inc. has been denied a U.K. patent for a method of buying non-fungible tokens using a scannable code, after officials found that the system does not prevent fraud as the business had claimed.

  • September 02, 2025

    Slaughter And May Guides Shawbrook On Acquisition Deal

    Retail bank Shawbrook Group PLC said on Tuesday that it will acquire ThinCats, a lender to small and midsized companies, to help to deliver "a highly attractive return on invested capital."

  • September 02, 2025

    Monte Dei Paschi Sweetens Mediobanca Bid To €13.5B

    Monte dei Paschi said Tuesday that it has increased its takeover offer for rival Italian lender Mediobanca with a €750 million ($872 million) cash sweetener in an attempt to win shareholders' approval, as the proposed deal reaches a value of €13.5 billion.

  • September 02, 2025

    Wealth Manager Rathbones Launches 1st Share Buyback

    Rathbones Group PLC rolled out its first stock repurchase program, which will be worth as much as £50 million ($67 million), on Tuesday after it recently reported a boost in its cash reserves.

  • September 01, 2025

    Top Commercial Dispute Rulings Of 2025: Midyear Report

    England's courts have dealt in the first half of 2025 with a multibillion-dollar legal dispute with insurers over planes stuck in Russia, slashed the exposure faced by banks over motor finance claims and set out how the proceeds from a landmark class action against Mastercard should be distributed.

  • September 01, 2025

    Utah Bank Sues Insurer For $10M Over Aircraft Engine 'Loss'

    Bank of Utah has sued Russian insurance company AlfaStrakhovanie for up to $10 million over a jet engine allegedly stuck in Russia since the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

  • September 01, 2025

    Insurers Urged To Address Gap In Europe's Net Zero Coverage

    A trade body for European risk managers urged insurers on Monday to close gaps in coverage for technologies that are critical to the bloc's transition to net zero emissions.

  • September 01, 2025

    Crédit Agricole Unit Gets Regulatory Nod For Swiss Bank Buy

    French banking giant Crédit Agricole said Monday that its subsidiary Indosuez has finalized the acquisition of Banque Thaler after winning regulatory approval, bringing the unit's total assets under management to almost €220 billion ($258 billion).

  • September 01, 2025

    Day Trader Brothers Avoid Prison For Insider Dealing

    Two sibling day traders were handed suspended prison sentences on Monday for using insider information to trade for four years, taking more than £60,000 ($81,200) in profits, as a judge said they were "dishonest operators" who harmed the efficacy of the markets.

  • September 01, 2025

    DLA Piper Steers £1M Philippine Bank Pension Buy-In

    The pension plan of the U.K. arm of private lender Philippine National Bank has agreed a £1 million ($1.35 million) full-scheme buy-in with Just Group, the financial services company said Monday.

  • September 01, 2025

    CPS Says New Economic Crime Plans Could Land This Year

    New plans to tackle economic crime by creating an environment in which criminals "fear both detection and prosecution" will land later in 2025, a senior British prosecutor said Monday.

  • August 29, 2025

    UK Bank Shares Sink After Report Calls For Windfall Tax

    Bank stocks sank Friday in the U.K. after a think tank said the government should adopt a windfall tax on profits directly tied to the Bank of England's quantitative easing program, which is costing HM Treasury about £22 billion ($30 billion) annually.

  • August 29, 2025

    New Fraud Law Crackdown Will Take Years, Lawyers Warn

    Anti-fraud enforcement agencies will soon fire the starting gun on major reforms that will hold companies criminally liable for fraud — but the race to court will be slow, and it will take years before prosecutors can claim success, lawyers say.

  • August 29, 2025

    Ocean Wilsons Rebukes Shareholder Concern On £900M Deal

    Bermudian investor Ocean Wilsons said Friday that it will go ahead with its proposed all-stock merger with local rival Hansa that will create a company with total net assets of more than £900 million ($1.2 billion), despite a shareholder's concerns.

  • August 29, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen Prosecco DOC Consortium bring an intellectual property claim against a distributor, the Serious Fraud Office bring a civil recovery claim against the ex-wife of a solicitor jailed over a £19.5 million fraud scheme, and law firm Joseph Hage Aaronson & Bremen LLP sue its former client, the bankrupt Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • August 29, 2025

    Man Gets 10 Years In Prison For £8M Conveyancing Fraud

    A man who scammed a total of more than £8 million ($11 million) from victims using multiple false identities was sentenced to a decade of imprisonment at a London court on Friday as the judge said he is a "thoroughly dishonest individual."

  • August 29, 2025

    Women's State Pension Redress Decision Gets Court Date

    Campaigners fighting the government over its decision not to launch a compensation program for historic failings over the women's state pension said Friday that the High Court would hear its case in December.

  • August 29, 2025

    Ex-Barclays Traders Push For Review After SFO Admits Errors

    Three former traders convicted of rigging benchmark interest rates said Friday they will try to get their cases referred to an independent commission as soon as possible after the Serious Fraud Office admitted their convictions may be unsound.

  • August 29, 2025

    US Tariffs Spur Asset Allocation Review By UK Pension Funds

    Volatility in markets caused by Donald Trump's Liberation Day tariffs has prompted U.K. pension funds to reassess their long-term U.S. equity allocations, a consultancy said Friday.

  • August 29, 2025

    FCA Urged To Shield Firms Offering Targeted Support

    Financial services companies could be held back from offering "targeted support" to customers, out of concern they could be ordered to fork out compensation down the road, a financial adviser warned.  

  • August 29, 2025

    Finance Sector 'Risks Losing Talent' Over Class Ceiling

    Just two in five young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds believe the financial services industry is "open to them," according to research by an insurance company.

  • August 29, 2025

    White & Case-Led JTC Rejects Fund Manager Permira's Offer

    Jersey-based fund and corporate services provider JTC PLC said Friday it has rejected a "preliminary and conditional non-binding" takeover proposal from British investment company Permira Advisers LLP.

  • August 29, 2025

    UniCredit To Boost Stake In Greek Lender Alpha To 26%

    Italy's UniCredit SpA has agreed to increase its stake in Alpha Bank SA to approximately 26% in a move to "better reflect the positive contribution" the Greek lender has made to the partnership.

  • August 28, 2025

    Prosecutors Seek Prison For Man In £8M Conveyancing Scam

    Prosecutors told a London court Thursday that a man convicted of scamming more than £8 million ($11 million) through real estate swindles was well above the threshold to merit the highest level of sentence for fraud.

Expert Analysis

  • EU Anti-Greenwashing Guide Analyzed For Fund Managers

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    Anna Maleva-Otto and Matthew Dow at Schulte Roth explain how the European Securities and Markets Authority’s new guidelines on sustainability-related terms in fund names aim to protect European Union investors from unsubstantiated claims, and how they provide quantifiable criteria for determining which terms can be used to promote their funds.

  • FCA 'Finfluencer' Trial Exposes Social Media Promo Risks

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    The upcoming Financial Conduct Authority prosecution of nine individuals for Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 violations is the first time an online influencer will be tried for using social media to promote investments, demonstrating the need to be wary of the specific legal requirements surrounding financial product promotion, says David Claxton at Red Lion.

  • A Look At US-EU Consumer Finance Talks' Slow First Steps

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    The unhurried and informal nature of planned discussions between the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the European commissioner for justice and consumer protection suggests any coordinated regulatory action on issues like AI and "buy now, pay later" services is still a ways off, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • FCA Doubles Down On New Priorities With Target ID Plan

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    Respondents to the Financial Conduct Authority’s recent consultation on its plan to publicly name subjects under investigation are concerned that the regulator’s cost-benefit analysis has not adequately considered the risks, but the FCA is holding firm, and it seems likely the changes will be implemented, says James Tyler at Peters & Peters.

  • Examining Senior Managers' Accountability For AI Use

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    With the Financial Conduct Authority's artificial intelligence update and the Prudential Regulation Authority’s letter to the government offering key guidance on the Senior Managers and Certification Regime, Senior Managers in these organizations need to show they have taken steps to prevent breaching requirements in order not to be held personally accountable, says Jennifer Holyoake at DLA Piper.

  • FCA Brokerage Changes Offer Asset Managers Wider Options

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    The Financial Conduct Authority’s fast-tracked plan to lift its controversial ban on joint payments to broker-dealers for third-party services will be welcomed by many asset managers wishing to return to a soft commission structure, say Richard Frase and Simon Wright at Dechert.

  • What Cos. Should Know About The EU Greenwashing Rules

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    The EU's recently proposed Green Claims Directive introduces new rules to improve the transparency and honesty of environmental claims in advertising, which will help ensure that consumers receive accurate and reliable information to make informed purchasing decisions, says Daja Apetz-Dreier at Morgan Lewis.

  • Sanctions Ruling Opens Door For Enforcer To Clear Up Rules

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    In Vneshprombank v. Bedzhamov, the High Court recently argued against a broader interpretation of the test on reasonable suspicion for asset freezes, offering the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation an opportunity to clarify when freezes should be applied and respond to judicial criticism of its guidance on financial sanctions, says Tasha Benkhadra at Corker Binning.

  • 'Debanking' Complaints Highlight Need For Flexibility In AML

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    The House of Commons' Treasury Committee's concerns about bank account closures have highlighted certain counterproductive features of anti-money laundering laws, and the review offers the opportunity for a more flexible approach, says John Binns at BCL Solicitors.

  • Mitigating Incarceration's Impacts On Foreign Nationals

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    Sentencing arguments that highlighted the disparate impact incarceration would have on a British national recently sentenced for insider training by a New York district court, when compared to similarly situated U.S. citizens, provide an example of the advocacy needed to avoid or mitigate problems unique to noncitizen defendants, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: The Benefits Of Non-EU Venues

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    In Spain v. Triodos, a Swedish appeal court recently annulled an intra-EU investment treaty award, reinforcing a growing trend in the bloc against enforcing such awards, and highlighting the advantages of initiating enforcement proceedings in common law jurisdictions, such as the U.K., says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • How Proposed Platforms For Unlisted Co. Trading May Work

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    The U.K. government is continuing development of its proposed private intermittent securities and capital exchange system to facilitate secondary share trading in private companies through a regulatory sandbox while ironing out details, representing an innovative step for unlisted company liquidity, say lawyers at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Experian Ruling Helps Cos. Navigate GDPR Transparency

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    In Information Commissioner v. Experian, the Upper Tribunal recently reaffirmed the lawfulness of the company's marketing practices, providing guidance that will assist organizations in complying with the GDPR’s transparency obligations, say lawyers at Jenner & Block.

  • Clarity Is Central Theme In FCA's Greenwashing Guidance

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    Recent Financial Conduct Authority guidance for complying with the U.K. regulator's anti-greenwashing rule sends an overarching message that sustainability claims must be clear, accurate and capable of being substantiated, say lawyers at Cadwalader.

  • How New FCA Rules Strengthen Borrower Protections

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    The Financial Conduct Authority’s recently published final rules, aimed at strengthening protections for borrowers in financial difficulty by regularizing good practices across the industry, put its previous guidance on a permanent footing and send a clear message to firms that this issue remains a regulatory priority, say James Black, Julie Patient and Mark Aengenheister at Hogan Lovells.

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