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Financial Services UK
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August 12, 2025
Insurer Utmost Group's Assets Grow To £107B After Rival Buy
Utmost Group said Tuesday that its gross cash inflows increased to £5.3 billion ($7.1 billion) in the first half of 2025 after the British insurer completed the acquisition of rival Lombard International in December.
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August 12, 2025
Gov't Bodies Urged To Assess Insurance Accounting Changes
The government warned its divisions and public sector bodies on Tuesday to check what impact changes to an accounting standard for insurance contracts might have on their financial reporting.
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August 12, 2025
EU Blocks Venture Fund's 'BSV' TM Over Bitcoin Confusion
European Union officials have refused an application by a Silicon Valley venture fund for a "BSV" trademark, citing a risk of confusion with the acronym of the "Bitcoin Satoshi Vision" cryptocurrency.
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August 11, 2025
Tweaks To AML Regs Offer Flexibility But Only Modest Change
Plans to reform the U.K.'s fight against dirty money promise to cut red tape and strengthen ties between enforcement bodies, but lawyers say they are not convinced the measures will reduce their compliance burden or fundamentally strengthen the regime.
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August 11, 2025
Freeths-Led Accounting Biz Buys Baker Tilly Unit For €24M
Accountancy business MHA PLC said Monday that it has completed its purchase of the southeast Europe subsidiary of tax adviser Baker Tilly in a cash and shares transaction worth up to €24 million ($28 million) in a bid to boost its growth ambitions.
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August 11, 2025
Nathaniel Rothschild Drops Claim Against Lars Windhorst
Nathaniel Rothschild has dropped a legal case against German financier Lars Windhorst and global investment company Tennor International AG over an allegedly unpaid personal loan.
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August 11, 2025
Royal London Secures £1B In Pension Deals Since Launch
The Royal London Mutual Insurance Society Ltd. said it has secured at least £1 billion ($1.34 billion) in pension scheme liabilities since entering the de-risking market last year.
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August 11, 2025
7 Local Gov't Pension Funds To Join Border To Coast
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership said Monday that seven local government pension scheme funds that manage approximately £45 billion ($60.5 billion) plan to join the pool, as part of the wider plan to consolidate the U.K.'s retirement pot.
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August 11, 2025
Gov't To Tighten Appointed Reps Regime To Stop Misconduct
The U.K. government said Monday it will empower the Financial Conduct Authority to refuse firms permission to use appointed representatives, in a tightening of the regime to stop misconduct.
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August 11, 2025
Most Pension Savers Under 65 Tap Funds Early, Data Shows
Approximately 70% of the three million savers in Britain who withdrew money from their retirement pots after government reforms in 2015 did so before they reached state pension age, a retirement specialist said Monday.
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August 11, 2025
Law Firm Sues NatWest Over Suspended Bank Accounts
NatWest is facing a High Court claim brought by a London law firm which alleges that the bank suddenly suspended access to its accounts without warning and has failed to give any explanation.
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August 11, 2025
Fintech Biz Plus500 To Return $165M To Investors
Trading platforms operator Plus500 unveiled plans on Monday to return $165 million to shareholders through dividends and a $90 million stock buyback program as it reported increased revenue.
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August 11, 2025
Addleshaw Helps PIC On £4.3B Rolls-Royce Pension Deal
Pension Insurance Corp. PLC said Monday that it has covered £4.3 billion ($5.8 billion) of pension liabilities for British aerospace and defense giant Rolls-Royce PLC to help streamline its business operations.
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August 08, 2025
FCA Finds Directors Breaching Policies On Unrecorded Calls
The Financial Conduct Authority has found in a review that wholesale banks are identifying breaches of internal policies on unmonitored communication, particularly by senior individuals.
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August 08, 2025
Private Sector Pension Savings Hit Record £25.5B In 2024
Private sector employees in the U.K. contributed a record £25.5 billion ($34.3 billion) to their pension pots in 2024, a consultancy said on Friday.
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August 08, 2025
Chelsea Group Claims Bribery Tainted $20M Greensill Deal
A Cyprus-based group of companies has denied owing $20.6 million to UBS' asset management unit from a supply chain finance deal with the now-defunct Greensill Capital, arguing that the deal was rescinded because it was tainted by bribery.
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August 08, 2025
UK Insurers Face Pressure To Offer Green Products
Over 40% of business executives consider it very important to offer green insurance products or services, GlobalData has said in a study.
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August 08, 2025
FCA Woodford Ban Signals Risks Of Star Fund Managers
The decision by the financial watchdog to provisionally fine and ban former fund manager Neil Woodford has sent a lesson to companies across the finance sector that the star status of some senior managers is up for review in the City.
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August 08, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission target a British investor over a $10 million microcap fraud scheme, Merck Sharp & Dohme move against Halozyme Inc. following a recent clash over its patented cancer medicine, and Birmingham City Council sue a school minibus operator years after ending its contract over DBS check failures. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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August 08, 2025
JPMorgan Denies Witholding €18M In VTB Sanctions Fight
JPMorgan has hit back at a VTB Bank subsidiary's claim that the American bank withheld €17.8 million ($21 million) from a liquidated trading account, arguing that sanctions have blocked it from paying the money.
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August 07, 2025
Former Soldier Convicted Of Running £1.3M Ponzi Scheme
A former British Army rifleman was convicted of running a £1.3 million ($1.7 million) Ponzi scheme in London on Thursday over allegations that he offered more than 200 investors impossibly high returns before the fund's collapse.
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August 07, 2025
Motor Finance Ruling Shifts Focus To Wider Broker-Fee Cases
The recent decision by the U.K. Supreme Court to limit the payouts available to many motor finance customers over hidden fees could switch legal attention to other sectors that routinely add brokers' commissions to bills, lawyers say.
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August 07, 2025
Accounting Co. Faces Trial In 1st FTP Tax Evasion Case
Accounting firm Bennett Verby Ltd. faced accusations on Thursday that it had failed to prevent tax evasion alongside six individuals charged with tax evasion and fraud offenses.
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August 07, 2025
IFX Ends £3M Bid For Argentex After Administration
Foreign exchange provider IFX Payments said Thursday it has formally terminated its plans to buy Argentex Group PLC two weeks after the troubled currency risk manager entered administration.
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August 07, 2025
FCA Boosts Payment Safeguards To Protect Consumers' Cash
The Financial Conduct Authority published new rules on Thursday to protect consumers better when they use payment companies, strengthening its ability to intervene when they fail to safeguard clients' money.
Expert Analysis
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How New Sanctions Office Will Affect UK Trade Landscape
The recent launch of the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation will help to create a more comprehensive civil enforcement terrain, but the potential for multiple investigations means businesses should reassess their systems to ensure they do not inadvertently incur civil liability, says Julia Pearce at Robertson Pugh.
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FCA Savings Update Focuses On Good Customer Outcomes
The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent cash savings update emphasizes its expectations of firms to deliver fair value to consumers by documenting the rationale for actions at each stage, considering customer communications and demonstrating that potential harms are acted upon, say Matt Handfield, Charlotte Rendle and Caroline Hunter-Yeats at Simmons & Simmons.
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5 Takeaways From UK Justices' Arbitration Jurisdiction Ruling
The U.K. Supreme Court's recent judgment in UniCredit Bank v. RusChemAlliance, upholding an injunction against a lawsuit that attempted to shift arbitration away from a contractually designated venue, provides helpful guidance on when such injunctions may be available, say attorneys at Fladgate.
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FCA's Broad Proposals Aim To Protect Customer Funds
The Financial Conduct Authority’s proposed changes to payments firms’ safeguarding requirements, with enhanced recordkeeping and fund segregation, seek to bolster existing regulatory provisions, but by introducing a statutory trust concept to cover customers’ assets, represent a set of onerous rules, says Matt Hancock at Greenberg Traurig.
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Takeaways From Upcoming Payment Fraud Delay Legislation
Lawyers at Hogan Lovells discuss what to know about new legislation that will allow payment service providers to delay payments when third-party fraud is suspected, and share pointers for providers to consider ahead of the Oct. 30 effective date.
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Modernizing UK Trade Settlement Standard: The Road Ahead
Andrew Tsang and Tom Bacon at BCLP consider the rationale and challenges of a potential U.K. trade settlement acceleration, part of an initiative to modernize the financial market infrastructure, and suggest that incorporating distributed ledger technology as a synchronized recording system would facilitate the move.
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Analyzing The Implications Of 1st FCA Crypto ATM Crackdown
The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent criminal prosecution of Olumide Osunkoya, its first enforcement action against a crypto-asset trading firm's owner, is an unambiguous sign of the regulator’s commitment to actively pursue transgressors, but may be a hindrance to the U.K. crypto industry, says Asim Arshad at Lawrence Stephens.
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Draft Merger Control Guidance Allows CMA To Cast Wide Net
The Competition and Markets Authority's recent draft merger control guidance, reflecting the regulator's strengthened powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Act, introduces extensive change and potential procedural improvements, specifically concerning reviews of private equity firms, say lawyers at Travers Smith.
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Key Points From Cayman's Beneficial Ownership Regime
While recent expansion of the Cayman Islands Beneficial Ownership Act's scope means it now encompasses many entities with previously minimal obligations, the changes ensure a welcome level playing field with workable alternative routes to compliance, says Lucy Frew at Walkers Global.
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HMRC Transfer Pricing Guide A Vital Resource For Businesses
HM Revenue & Customs' recent guidelines on common transfer pricing compliance risks should be required reading for affected businesses in indicating HMRC's expected benchmark for documents and policies, say Tomoko Ikawa and Kapisha Vyas at Simmons & Simmons.
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Insights From FRC's Report On Good Corporate Governance
Although the Financial Reporting Council’s recent report on private companies opting to follow the Wates principles has identified improvements, it is important for organizations to provide transparent disclosures and avoid boilerplate, tickbox filings, says Tessa Hastie at BCLP.
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What To Know About The UK Overseas Funds Regime
The U.K.’s overseas funds regime is now open for applications, providing a simplified way of offering a foreign fund to U.K. retail investors, and the Financial Conduct Authority's clear policy statement on implementation should ease the transition process from the existing scheme, say lawyers at Dechert.
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Takeaways From SRA Consumer Protection Review
While the Solicitors Regulation Authority prepares to announce its findings later this year following its consumer protection consultation, the topic of handling client funds is very much alive in the legal industry, with polarizing views on what should happen as a result of the review, says Claire Van Der Zant at Shieldpay.
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Reflecting On 12 Months Of The EU Foreign Subsidy Regime
New European Commission guidance, addressing procedural questions and finally providing clarity on “distortion” in merger control and public procurement, offers an opportunity to reflect on the year since foreign subsidy notification obligations were introduced, say lawyers at Fried Frank.
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What Updated Guide Means For Jersey's Private Funds
The Jersey Financial Services Commission's recent updates to the Jersey Private Fund Guide clarify existing provisions and introduce new requirements for fund managers, service providers and investors, demonstrating a clear commitment to maintaining Jersey's reputation as an attractive jurisdiction for investment, say lawyers at Walkers Global.