Financial Services UK

4 Things To Watch As UK Releases Budget

The U.K.'s Labour government is set to release an autumn budget Wednesday that faces a test of balancing a pledge not to raise working people's taxes with an expected need to boost revenue to meet fiscal rules. Here are four things to watch for as the budget is issued.

Blocks featuring binary code with locks on dark blue background as illustration of blockchain technology.

SFO's Crypto Probe Marks Shift In Tackling Blockchain Fraud

The launch by the Serious Fraud Office of its first cryptocurrency investigation signals an appetite for using new resources to crack down on fraud, part of a wider move by U.K. law enforcement agencies to treat blockchain as a mainstream threat, lawyers say.

Individual cryptocurrency coins on view on a black surface.

How Mishcon Helped Uncover £5.6B Money Laundering Plot

Law360 examines here how a suspicious activity report raised by Mishcon de Reya about a client's attempted transactions served as the catalyst for one of the biggest cryptocurrency seizures in British history.

FCA Oversight Spells Tougher AML Scrutiny For Law Firms

The Financial Conduct Authority's new powers to police lawyers and other professionals could place law firms under a heightened supervisory regime similar to that of banks and other high-risk financial institutions, experts say.

December 01, 2025
Spain, Zimbabwe Urge Top UK Court To Ax Arbitration Awards

Spain and Zimbabwe urged the U.K.'s highest court Monday to throw out a ruling that they could not use state immunity to dodge enforcement of multi-million-dollar arbitration awards, saying that they had not explicitly waived immunity in the international agreement.
December 01, 2025
Capita Faces Legal Action Over 2023 Data Breach Failures

Capita faces a London claim on behalf of as many as 6.6 million people over the distress and financial loss caused by a 2023 cyberattack on the outsourcing giant that exposed their personal data.
December 01, 2025
AmTrust Fights Sompo For £59M At Trial Over Legal Funding

AmTrust argued on the first day of trial on Monday that the insurer of two defunct law firms is liable to pay it £59 million ($78 million), in the latest development in the battle of who should cover the costs of a failed litigation-funding scheme.
December 01, 2025
Credit Suisse Charged With Laundering Over Tuna Bond Case

Swiss prosecutors have charged UBS and Credit Suisse over alleged money laundering failures linked to the transfer of almost $7.9 million as part of a corrupt $2 billion scheme to tie Mozambique into loans to finance a tuna fishing fleet.
December 01, 2025
Investor HICL Pulls Out Of £5.3B Infrastructure Biz Merger

HICL Infrastructure and the Renewables Infrastructure Group said Monday that they will not go ahead with their £5.3 billion ($7 billion) planned merger weeks after disclosing plans for the deal.
December 01, 2025
Eversheds Leads Fertilizer Biz On £265M Pension Deals

Savings and investment group M&G PLC said Monday that the U.K. arm of global ammonia manufacturing giant CF Industries has completed two bulk purchase annuities worth a combined £265 million ($350 million).
December 01, 2025
FCA Proposes ESG Ratings Regime To Boost Transparency

The Financial Conduct Authority proposed a regulatory regime for ESG ratings on Monday, a move to improve transparency and handling of conflicts of interest, which would support government ambitions for the U.K. to become a sustainable finance global hub.
December 01, 2025
Partners& Enters Lloyd's Market With Broker Buy

Partners& Ltd. has bought a Lloyd's broker that focuses on property insurance, marking what it called the first step in building its broking business in the specialist marketplace.
November 28, 2025
ECJ Allows Portugal's Tax Checks On Foreign Pension Funds

Portugal could impose stricter requirements on non-resident pension funds that claim a tax exemption when proportionate, despite the European Union's rules on freedom of movement for capital, the bloc's top court has ruled.
November 28, 2025
Financial Analysts' Body Suffers Blow In Fight Over 'CEFA' TM

The European Federation of Financial Analysts Societies has lost its bid to register a trademark for "CEFA EFFAS Certified European Financial Analyst" as a European court ruled that examiners had correctly found it was too similar to an existing sign.
November 28, 2025
Private Prosecutors Eye Victims' Assets Amid SFO Probe

Lawyers and a fintech claims manager said Friday that they have begun efforts to help victims of an alleged $28 million fraud recover their money after a fraud-enforcement agency opened a criminal investigation into the "crypto hedge fund" scheme.
November 28, 2025
UK Still Mulling Tax Regime For Pension Surplus Release

The government has said it is still considering the tax regime for one-off payments to pension plan members under its controversial surplus release reforms.
November 28, 2025
Odey Libel, Sex Assault Claims To Reach Trial In June

Former hedge fund manager Crispin Odey's £79 million ($104 million) libel claim against the Financial Times, alongside claims from five women accusing him of sexual abuse, will reach trial in 2026, a judge said at a London court on Friday.
November 28, 2025
PrivatBank Pursues $3B Fraud Judgment Against Ex-Owners

PrivatBank has said that its former owners have failed to pay more than $3 billion ordered by a London court after it found that they had orchestrated an elaborate money-siphoning scheme of sham loans tied to fictitious commodity trades.
November 28, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen the National Crime Agency target an Azerbaijan politician and a subsidiary of Withers over a disputed £50 million ($66 million) property portfolio, the eldest son of a British aristocratic family challenge the trustees of their multimillion-pound estate, and a sports lawyer suspected of dishonesty face action by the Solicitors Regulation Authority following his firm's closure.
November 28, 2025
Gupta Denies Hiding $600M Nickel Fraud From Trafigura

A businessman told the High Court on Friday that he did not attempt to hide the true contents of metal sold to Trafigura in an alleged $600 million nickel fraud, arguing that the trading firm could have inspected the shipments at any time without his involvement.
November 28, 2025
Lawmakers To Probe UK Gov't Financial Inclusion Strategy

Lawmakers on the influential Treasury Committee unveiled a new investigation into the government's financial inclusion strategy on Friday, cautioning against treating Prime Minister Keir Starmer's plan as a "box-ticking exercise."
November 28, 2025
Deutsche Börse In Talks To Buy Wealth Tech Biz For €5.3B

Shares marketplace Deutsche Börse Group has entered into exclusive talks to acquire Allfunds Group PLC, a U.K.-based European wealth technology platform, in a cash-and-shares deal worth €5.3 billion ($6.1 billion).
November 28, 2025
Orrick Hires 4 Corporate Lawyers From Norton Rose In Munich

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has hired a group of four lawyers from Norton Rose Fulbright in Germany to boost its services to clients in mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions.
November 27, 2025
Osborne Pro Fights To Reverse SDT's Zahawi SLAPPs Ruling

An Osborne Clarke partner urged a court on Thursday to overturn a ruling by a disciplinary tribunal that he had wrongly attempted to prevent a tax policy journalist from disclosing that he was being threatened with a defamation claim by former chancellor Nadhim Zahawi.
November 27, 2025
Citibank Sues Santander Over $90M Mozambique Bond Row

The London branch of Citibank N.A. and a company behind the development of a major energy project in Mozambique are seeking declarations from the High Court that Santander owes $90 million under two bond contracts.
November 27, 2025
Payment Providers Face Liability Under New EU Fraud Rules

The council and parliament of the European Union agreed on Thursday that payment service providers will be held liable if they do not use modern and improved methods for preventing the sector from facilitating fraud.
November 27, 2025
Pension Reforms Bill Set For December Report Stage

The U.K. government has confirmed lawmakers will scrutinize proposed changes to its flagship pension plan legislation on Dec. 3.
November 27, 2025
Trader Hid Fraud As Nickel Prices Soared, Trafigura Says

A metals trader denied allegations on Thursday that he tried to cover up his alleged nickel fraud against Trafigura when prices shot up in 2022, repeating his accusation that the commodities supplier knew it was trading in sham metal and was in on the scheme.
November 27, 2025
UK Budget Will Cause 'Poorer Retirements,' Insurers Warn

The government risks pushing millions of people into poorer retirements through its plan to cap salary sacrifice arrangements, an insurance trade body has warned.

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

OFSI Proposals Signal Greater Focus On Enforcement Activity

The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation’s proposed financial sanctions reforms, with risks of higher penalties and more stringent disclosure requirements for U.K. banks and companies, reflect the agency’s evolution into a more sophisticated and robust enforcement regulator, says Irene Polieri at Gibson Dunn.
How Restructuring Reforms Will Streamline Insolvency Plans

The recently published revised practice statement on schemes of arrangement and restructuring plans promises midmarket businesses efficiency without diluting safeguards, positioning schemes as inclusive tools rather than elite options, say lawyers at Addleshaw Goddard.
How 2nd Circ. Decision Extends CFTC's Extraterritorial Reach

The Second Circuit recently concluded in U.S. v. Phillips that the Commodity Exchange Act extends to entirely foreign conduct if a victim of the conduct is based in the U.S., suggesting there is a heightened risk that foreign swap transactions will be susceptible to U.S. regulation when U.S. counterparties are involved, say attorneys at Skadden.
EBA Proposals Signal Overhaul Of EU 3rd-Party Risk Rules

The European Banking Authority’s plans to extend third-party risk controls to non-ICT services, which may be finalized by the end of the year, will place a significant compliance and operational burden on in-scope entities, which should not be underestimated, say lawyers at Travers Smith.
FCA Proposals Reduce Consumer Duty Compliance Burden

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent proposals to streamline the consumer duty regime represent a pragmatic response to industry concerns, with a move toward sector-specific supervision and potentially narrowing its scope for wholesale and cross-border business, say lawyers at Simmons & Simmons.
How New Companies House ID Rules Affect Businesses

Lawyers at Shepherd & Wedderburn discuss the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act’s new mandatory identity verification requirements for all company directors and persons with significant control, set to go live next week, which aim to curb fraud by improving the reliability of information held by Companies House.
What EU Securitization Proposals Signal For Risk Transfers

If implemented, recent amendments to the European Union securitization framework are expected to have an unambiguously positive effect on significant risk transfer markets, providing greater consistency and necessary flexibility, say lawyers at McDermott.
Role Of UK Investment Act Is Evolving In M&A Deals

With merger and acquisition activity likely to increase in light of the government’s new defense industrial strategy, the role of the National Security and Investment Act will come into sharper focus, and its recent annual report confirms that scrutiny is intensifying, say lawyers at Kingsley Napley.
What To Know About EU's Reimposition Of Sanctions On Iran

Lawyers at Steptoe discuss the European Union’s recent reimposition of trade and financial sanctions against Iran, which will introduce legal and operational constraints that affect EU companies' commercial activities in the region.
FCA Crypto Proposals Herald Tougher Oversight For Firms

The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent proposals to extend regulation to crypto-asset activities will bring parity, but implementation of the operational resilience requirements and enhanced financial crime controls will present compliance challenges, says Michelle Kirschner at Gibson Dunn.
EU Investment Reporting Rules Letup Signals Pragmatic Shift

While investment companies remain subject to far-reaching disclosure obligations under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation, new guidance from the European Commission on reporting passive limited partner commitments represents a drastic simplification and burden reduction, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.
SFO's 2-Year Transformation Signals Crackdown On Fraud

Two years after Nick Ephgrave’s appointment as director of the Serious Fraud Office, the introduction of new corporate criminal offenses and strengthened investigative methods sends a clear message to corporations that the agency is delivering on its promise to be bolder and more proactive about tackling fraud, say lawyers at BCL Solicitors.
How EU And UK Consumer Loan Protections Are Shifting

As market evolution and digitalization motivate both the European Union and the U.K. to revamp consumer protections around lending, the potential for divergence between these rules will pose new challenges for cross-border consumer credit lenders, say lawyers at Skadden.
EBA Guidance Shakes Up EU Securitization Market Practices

Although the European Banking Authority’s recent questioning of the common use of conditional sale agreements to season assets when setting up securitizations has come as an unwelcome surprise, competent regulators are expected to follow the EBA guidance, even though as a Q&A response it is not legally binding, say lawyers at Debevoise.
Landmark VAT Ruling Should Shift HMRC Reply On Guidance

The recent decision in Hotelbeds Ltd. v. Revenue and Customs Commissioners on the recovery of input tax, confirming that HMRC is bound to comply with its own guidance, will make the agency rethink its usual response to allegations that the policy was not law, say lawyers at Kennedys.