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Insurance UK
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May 07, 2024
Banks, Regulators Holding Back SMEs, Lawmakers Say
A parliamentary committee urged the financial watchdogs on Wednesday to review their approach to helping small and midsized businesses gain access to money, arguing that banks are making it "needlessly tougher" to take out loans and unfairly closing accounts of legitimate companies.
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May 07, 2024
Ombudsman Wants Pressure On Gov't On Female Pensions
The public sector ombudsman said Tuesday that it took the unusual step of issuing its report on systemic failures on women's state pension to Parliament because it was concerned that more retirees would die before the government acted on compensation.
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May 07, 2024
Pension Schemes Weigh Halting Employer Contributions
Sustained improvements in funding levels for private sector pensions in the U.K. means that many defined benefit schemes are considering stopping contributions from sponsors to avoid overfunding, PwC has said.
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May 07, 2024
EU Watchdog Mulls Opening Funds To Riskier Investments
The European Union's markets watchdog called Tuesday for market views on whether to expand the range of assets in which the most widely used type of investment fund can legally invest, to include crypto-assets as well as risky shares and bonds.
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May 07, 2024
FCA Bans Investment Firm's Ex-CEO For Misleading Clients
The Financial Conduct Authority has fined the former chief executive of a London-based investment firm for misleading clients about cash held by the group and handed him a ban, according to a statement published Tuesday.
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May 07, 2024
PwC, EY Hit With Fines Over LC&F Audit Failures
The Financial Reporting Council said Tuesday that it has handed out fines totaling approximately £10 million ($12.5 million) to PwC, EY and a third accounting firm for failures during audits they carried out on London Capital & Finance before the investment company's high-profile collapse.
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May 03, 2024
SRA Warns Law Firms On Improper Practices In Mass Claims
The Solicitors Regulation Authority voiced concerns on Friday about law firms and legal professionals that handle mass claims involving financial services or products, saying that some are running up costs before they have even been instructed to act.
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May 03, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
The past week in London has seen rapper Ivorian Doll hit with a copyright claim, private members club Aspinalls file a claim against a Saudi sheikh, and Motorola Solutions file a claim against the British government on the heels of its dispute over losing a £400 million ($502 million) government contract. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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May 03, 2024
EU Regulators To Report AML Suspects To Central Database
The European Union's banking watchdog has said that national regulators can start reporting information on named individuals to the bloc's centralized anti-money laundering database from May, in a step further strengthening the fight against financial crime.
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May 03, 2024
Pensions Watchdog Targets More Scheme Consolidation
The Pensions Regulator detailed on Friday 22 "priority outcomes" that will drive its work for the next three years, with policies reflecting its vision of "fewer, larger schemes" in the market, which a trade body described as ambitious.
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May 03, 2024
Hiscox To Begin Second Tranche Of $150M Share Buyback
Hiscox Ltd. said on Friday that it has launched the second portion of a $150 million share buyback program as it aims to return excess cash to its investors after the global insurer reported record profits for 2023.
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May 03, 2024
Reed Smith Steers £136M Pension Deal For Savings Plan
Insurer Just Group has taken on £136.3 million ($171.2 million) in liabilities from a retirement savings plan, advisers said, in a transaction steered by Reed Smith LLP.
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May 03, 2024
Motor Insurance Complaints Surge 18% In A Year
Complaints to Britain's finance watchdog about car and motorcycle insurance jumped by 18.2% during the second half of 2023 compared with the same period a year earlier, a consultancy group said on Friday.
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May 03, 2024
Financial Adviser Convicted In Axiom Legal Fund Fraud Case
A former financial adviser was convicted on Friday of siphoning £5.8 million ($7.3 million) from an investment fund using secret commission payments as part of a legal financing fraud.
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May 02, 2024
Insurers Don't Have To Cover Deal Soured Over Bribery Woes
A London appeals court on Thursday rejected a holding company's bid to overturn a ruling that found its insurers were not liable for losses it suffered when its acquisition of a construction contractor went south after bribery and corruption allegations.
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May 02, 2024
Financial Watchdog Boss Summoned Over Plan To ID Targets
The head of the Financial Conduct Authority has been summoned to explain to lawmakers why he has not responded to their request to pause the watchdog's controversial plan to name the firms it probes amid mounting criticism that doing so could harm those later found innocent.
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May 02, 2024
PPF Says Norton's Pensions Top-Up Payments Starting Soon
The pensions compensation program has confirmed that former employees of Norton Motorcycles will get top-up payments soon, after they were left financially disadvantaged when an executive siphoned off funds from a staff retirement savings plan.
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May 02, 2024
Hiscox, Lancashire Predict Loss From Baltimore Bridge
British-listed insurers Hiscox and Lancashire Holdings confirmed Thursday they will likely face a financial hit from the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
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May 02, 2024
Engineering Co. Fights For $10M Insurance Payout On Appeal
A French engineering company relaunched its fight on Thursday for a $10.4 million insurance payout to cover damage caused when a ship crashed into an oil platform, arguing on appeal that a lower court misinterpreted the wording of its policy.
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May 01, 2024
FCA Opposes Paying Ex-Julius Baer Manager's Legal Costs
The U.K.'s Financial Conduct Authority urged a London appellate court Wednesday to overturn a tribunal's decision to make it pay part of a former Julius Baer employee's legal costs, saying the tribunal unfairly ruled that the FCA had unreasonably not called witnesses who were overseas.
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May 01, 2024
Trade Body Amends Insurer Comms Guide After FCA Rules
The Lloyd's Market Association said Wednesday it has amended its guidance for how its trade body members should communicate insurance concepts to consumers to reflect recent regulatory changes, including advice around the Financial Conduct Authority's new consumer duty regime.
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May 01, 2024
Industry Dissatisfaction Grows Over Pension Policy Reform
Two-thirds of pension professionals have been unhappy with the direction of retirement savings policy in the past six months, finance experts said Wednesday, adding that an "influx of policies" is overwhelming industry resources.
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May 01, 2024
Pension Scam Group's Future Hit By Lack Of Volunteers
A voluntary body that works against pensions scams said on Wednesday that it is considering winding up its operations and is concerned that a fall in volunteer numbers might jeopardize its effectiveness.
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May 01, 2024
FCA's Investigation Regime May Tarnish Unnamed Individuals
Financial Conduct Authority proposals to name companies early in investigations will damage the careers of many individuals involved, according to lawyers, with some unnamed employees coming under suspicion that puts them at risk of losing their jobs.
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May 01, 2024
Pension Body Warns On Gov't Equity Investment Plan
U.K. government plans to impose public disclosures on pension funds would increase the burden on the industry and harm savers by encouraging investment in low-return businesses, according to an industry paper published Wednesday.
Expert Analysis
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What EU Oil Spill Insurance Ruling Means For UK Arbitration
A recent European Court of Justice opinion in an insurance dispute related to the 2002 sinking of oil tanker MV Prestige provides clarity on the priority of cross-border judgments and arbitral awards, and indicates that EU member state civil judgments will be given precedence over U.K. arbitral awards — with exceptions, says David Vaughan at Collyer Bristow.
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UK Claim Limitation Ruling Is A Tentative Win For Insurers
A U.K. county court's recent decision in Rashid v. Direct Savings reduces the limitation period for third parties to make direct claims against insurers, potentially providing insurers with a defense that was not previously apparent, if the decision is upheld on appeal, says Robert Morris at RPC.
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Why Risk-Based Employee Conduct Policies Are Advisable
In establishing employee conduct policies, companies should consider the extent to which they are exposed to certain types of risk, such as bribery and corruption, as establishing clear written standards offers a step toward avoiding criminal liability, says Steve Melrose at Bellevue Law.
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A Trusted Cybersecurity Framework Is Imperative For Lawyers
The recent increased risk of cyberattacks has a number of profound implications for law firms, and complying with government guidance by embedding a cyber-savvy culture and adhering to a security framework will enable lawyers to add extra layers of defense and present their clients with higher levels of protection, says Marion Stewart at Red Helix.
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The New EU Data Act Proposal Raises Several Questions
In its aim to improve users' rights to access industrial data, the proposed Data Act demonstrates the European Commission’s awareness of the competitive advantage this can bring, but there are concerns as to how it would work in practice, and it appears unlikely that the U.K. will follow a similar framework, say Nick Phillips and Selina Clifford at Edwin Coe.
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Preparing For FCA's New Appointed Representative Rules
The Financial Conduct Authority's new rules make authorized financial firms acting as principal more responsible for their appointed representatives and take effect in less than three months, so firms must understand the changes and undertake a gap analysis of current policies against the requirements as soon as possible, say attorneys at Herbert Smith.
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Opinion
A Better Gov't Response To Pensions Misselling Is Needed
To finally clamp down on the pensions misselling we have seen emerge of late, such as the recent scandal involving a Qualifying Recognized Overseas Pension Scheme, a robust regulatory regime is needed to put an end to inadequate enforcement and unwise legislative innovation in U.K. pensions law, says Ben Rees at Keller Postman.
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A Review Of The New UK Financial Services And Markets Bill
In revoking retained EU law and replacing it with U.K.-specific legislation, the new Financial Services and Markets Bill should mean a less cumbersome and more accessible regulatory regime than the existing patchwork of requirements, with provisions that address consumers’ concerns that they were not adequately protected, say attorneys at Ashurst.
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How Greenwashing Litigation Is Affecting Financial Services
A rising demand for sustainable investment is likely to lead to an increase in claims of greenwashing, where a company's marketing falsely portrays its output as producing positive environmental outcomes, which carries risks for investors and insurers, says Kirsty Finlayson at Browne Jacobson.
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FCA Consumer Duty Shows Shift In Retail Financial Services
The Financial Conduct Authority’s newly published guidance on consumer duty sets higher expectations of the standard of care that financial firms give retail customers, meaning boards and senior management should expect to be held accountable for embedding a culture in which consumers' needs come first, say Claire Carroll and Sumitra Subramanian at Eversheds Sutherland.
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Pandemic Rent Ruling Is A Blow To Commercial Tenants
The recent U.K. Court of Appeal decision in London Trocadero v. Picturehouse demonstrates that even exceptional COVID-19-related circumstances will not induce courts to interfere with a previously considered allocation of risk between parties or imply terms in a contract, says Gurpreet Sanghera at Simkins.
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Building Inspector Insurance And Its New Relaxed Rules
The U.K. government recently opened up the market for approved building inspector insurance in the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy, but it does not appear to have considered the impact this may have on homeowners and developers, say Alan Stone and Jonathan Carrington at RPC.
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New Corporate Insolvency Data Reveals Unexpected Results
For a variety of reasons there has been a slower than anticipated increase in U.K. corporate insolvency figures in recent months, although there may be a time lag between economic difficulties and sentiment among investors, lenders and business owners, and it is likely that numbers will rise in the autumn, says Jeremy Whiteson at Fladgate.
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How The Latest Trends In Litigation Funding Are Developing
With investors looking for alternative assets that can achieve returns and claimants likely to be cash poor in the current economic downturn, the signs are that the litigation funding market is not only here to stay, but is set to expand, says Simon Thomas at Baker & Partners.
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Pros And Cons Of Regulating Finance Sector's Third Parties
Recent proposals by the U.K. Treasury could lead to regulation of those designated as critical third parties in finance, and legislation will be needed to ensure technology suppliers are not deterred from participating in the financial services markets, say attorneys at Addleshaw Goddard.