Insurance UK

  • July 31, 2024

    Pension Plans Do Minimum ESG Compliance, Watchdog Says

    Too many retirement savings plans attain only minimum compliance with environmental, social and governance standards, The Pensions Regulator has said, and urged them to improve their approach.

  • July 30, 2024

    Eversheds-Led Greggs Lands £100M Pension Deal With Aviva

    Aviva PLC has insured the retirement savings plans of more than 600 members of British bakery and café chain Greggs PLC in a buy-in transaction of £100 million ($128.4 million), with the deal guided by Eversheds Sutherland.

  • August 06, 2024

    HSF Hires Former CMS Insurance Head In Madrid

    Herbert Smith Freehills LLP has hired an experienced insurance expert to join its team in the Spanish capital, as the firm looks to bolster its practice with added expertise in the sector.

  • July 30, 2024

    Regulator Highlights Quality Gaps Among Top Auditors

    The Financial Reporting Council said Tuesday that there is a widening gap between BDO LLP and Forvis Mazars LLP and the better performance of the Big Four accounting firms for high-quality audits of major U.K. companies.

  • July 30, 2024

    Pension Tax Reform Could Unlock £100B For UK Growth

    Changing how pensions are taxed in the U.K. could potentially unlock more than £100 billion ($128 billion) for domestic investment over the next five years, according to a recent analysis by a pensions consultancy.

  • July 30, 2024

    Pensioner Welfare Cuts Create 'Cliff Edge,' LCP Says

    The Labour government's decision to cut annual winter fuel payments worth up to £300 ($385) for retirees not on pension credit or other means-tested benefits will create an unwelcome "cliff edge" for savers, a consultancy has said.

  • July 30, 2024

    Pension Firms Meeting Equity Investment Goals, Insurers Say

    Pension firms that signed up to an agreement to allocate a minimum of 5% of defined contribution funds to unlisted equities by 2030 have laid "strong foundations" in line with the target, British insurers said Tuesday.

  • July 29, 2024

    ECJ Nixes Swedish Dividends Tax On Foreign Pension Funds

    Sweden can't collect a withholding tax on dividends distributed by Swedish companies to public pension funds abroad while exempting its own public funds because that is inconsistent with European Union law requiring the free movement of capital, the European Court of Justice said Monday.

  • July 29, 2024

    Gov't Consults On Tax Hikes For Fund Managers, Non-Doms

    Chancellor Rachel Reeves said Monday that an autumn Budget planned for Oct. 30 will include feature selected tax rises, a warning accompanied by strong hints from HM Treasury that fund managers and non-domicile taxpayers could take a bigger hit.

  • July 29, 2024

    New Defined Benefit Funding Code Laid Before Parliament

    Britain's pensions watchdog on Monday said its long-awaited funding code for defined benefit retirement savings plans has been laid before Parliament, marking what it called a "significant step."

  • July 29, 2024

    Zurich Invests $60M In Cyber Insurance Provider For SMEs

    Swiss insurance giant Zurich has invested $60 million in Cowbell, a provider of cyberinsurance for small businesses, the digital risk company said, amid growing industry concerns over cyberthreats.

  • July 29, 2024

    FCA Weighs Taking Protection From Some Insurance Clients

    The Financial Conduct Authority proposed on Monday a change to the criteria of classifying a small business as a commercial insurance client by removing consumer protection rules from some firms when they buy insurance products. 

  • July 29, 2024

    BMS To Acquire Rival UK Insurance Broker From PE Biz

    Independent insurance and reinsurance broker BMS Group said Monday that it is set to purchase David Roberts & Partners Insurance Brokers Ltd. from Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP.

  • July 26, 2024

    Virgin Loses Court Battle To Keep Pension Plan Changes

    An appeals court has ruled that regulations on contracted-out retirement savings plans require written confirmation from a scheme's actuary for changes affecting beneficiaries' future rights, not just past benefits, rejecting Virgin Media's challenge to a decision voiding decades-old changes to one of its pensions.

  • July 26, 2024

    Ellex-Led ERGO To Buy €80M Baltic Biz Of European Insurer

    European insurance heavyweight ERGO Group has agreed to acquire Norwegian nonlife insurer Gjensidige Forsikring ASA's Lithuania-based subsidiary ADB Gjensidige for €80 million ($87 million).

  • July 26, 2024

    FCA To Overhaul Prospectus Rules To Boost Capital Markets

    The Financial Conduct Authority set out plans to shake up the U.K.'s prospectus regime Friday, including new rules for public offers and risk disclosures, to help boost the country's ailing capital markets.

  • July 26, 2024

    EU Banks Must Improve Cyberattack Protection, ECB Says

    Lenders in the eurozone still suffer from "shortcomings" in fighting against and recovering from a severe — but plausible — cyberattack, the European Central Bank said Friday after it conducted a resilience stress test.

  • July 26, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen U.K. band The 1975 face action by Future Sound Asia after its performance in Malaysia resulted in a festival's cancelation, Spectrum Insurance hit by The Motoring Organization following their dispute over information misuse, and a former police constable pursue defamation against a colleague for allegedly instigating a campaign of harassment against her. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • July 26, 2024

    Fraudster Sentenced For Instagram Motor Insurance Scam

    A man who made almost £18,000 by operating as a "ghost broker" and selling invalid car insurance policies on Instagram has been handed a suspended prison sentence of 24 months at a London court, City Police has said.

  • July 25, 2024

    Insurer Can't Link Secrets Suit To $47M Claim, Ex-Worker Says

    A former worker for British insurance company Beazley urged a Florida federal court Thursday to toss claims alleging trade secrets theft, saying the company's suit doesn't show how he supposedly caused it to incur $47 million in damages from an arbitration case over a Brazilian thermoelectric plant.

  • July 25, 2024

    Audit Watchdog Sanctioned Firms £48M Last Year

    The Financial Reporting Council revealed Thursday that it fined firms a total of £48.2 million ($62 million) in the financial year ended March 31, including a £21 million fine against auditor KPMG related to its accounting for construction giant Carillion prior to its collapse in 2018.

  • July 25, 2024

    Insurance Trade Bodies Launch Sustainability Data Standard

    Two insurance trade bodies have released a resource designed to standardize the way underwriters ask clients about their sustainability data to address fragmented approaches across the industry.

  • July 25, 2024

    ITV Gets Regulatory Nod On Box Clever Pension Resolution

    The Pensions Regulator said Thursday that it has inked a preliminary agreement with British broadcaster ITV to provide full pension benefits to members of the Box Clever retirement savings plan after a lengthy legal tussle.

  • July 25, 2024

    Labour Gov't Faces 'Tricky Balancing Act' On Policy Priorities

    The Labour government faces a "tricky balancing act" in implementing policies that meet the financial needs of different generations, pensions provider Aegon said Thursday,

  • July 25, 2024

    Freeholders Face Homeowners' Action Over Insurance Fees

    Freehold owners are facing a class action from leasehold homeowners for allegedly charging hidden commissions on building insurance premiums for years, the law firm bringing the claim has said.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Law Schools Should Be More Like Medical Centers

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    Medical centers and their faculty matter to the practice of medicine. Law schools and their faculty do not matter to the practice of law, says J.B. Heaton of J.B. Heaton PC.

  • Opinion

    Courts Are Getting It Right On Litigation Funding Discovery

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    Earlier this month, a California federal court denied discovery into the identification of third-party funders with a financial interest in the outcome of an underlying patent infringement action. This decision in MLC v. Micron follows a long line of well-reasoned precedent across U.S. federal courts, say Matthew Harrison and Sarah Jacobson of Bentham IMF.

  • Worldwide Freezing Orders Can Backfire Without Proper Care

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    Worldwide freezing orders, which preserve a respondent's assets until the outcome of the substantive case, are an important weapon in the arsenal of a commercial litigant. However, as FSDEA v. Dos Santos demonstrates, courts lay heavy obligations upon WFO applicants, says Nicola McKinney of Grosvenor Law Ltd.

  • UK Litigation And Guidance Highlight Cybersecurity Risk

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    Recent developments in the United Kingdom emphasize the importance of companies implementing cybersecurity measures proactively both to prevent incidents and to argue in mitigation when, not if, the company does suffer a data breach, say Guillermo Christensen of Ice Miller LLP and Anupreet Amole of Brown Rudnick LLP.

  • 2 BVI Cases Explore Scope Of Proper Purpose Test

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    Two recent cases in the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal have presented British Virgin Island courts an opportunity to develop a local jurisprudence regarding the BVI Business Companies Act and provide guidance on how the proper purpose test is to be applied, says Rosalind Nicholson of Walkers Global.

  • Last-Minute Brexit Preparations For EU Financial Firms

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    As the deadline for a hard Brexit draws ever closer, financial firms operating in the United Kingdom or European Union must consider how possible outcomes will impact transactions and contractual relationships, and take steps to mitigate business interruptions, say Gilles Kolifrath and Linda Sharkey of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP.

  • What To Expect From Serious Fraud Office In 2019

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    The coming year looks to be an interesting one for the U.K. Serious Fraud Office. With new Director Lisa Osofsky firmly in post, expectations are high that she will shake things up in the next few months, say Anna Gaudoin and Alison Geary of WilmerHale.

  • UK Privacy Rules That Can Catch You Off Guard

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    The recent data breach scandal involving the Leave.EU campaign shows that the U.K. Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations is often overlooked by businesses, says Alexander Edwards of Rosling King LLP.

  • Autonomous Vehicles And UK Product Liability Law: Part 2

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    With autonomous vehicles expected to hit the streets of the United Kingdom soon, manufacturers, insurers and their legal counsel face the challenge of determining how the U.K.'s product liability laws will be applied to questions of negligence, evidence and contracts raised by self-driving vehicles, says Michaela Herron of Bristows LLP.

  • Autonomous Vehicles And UK Product Liability Law: Part 1

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    Autonomous vehicles present a number of challenges to the United Kingdom's product liability legal framework, especially with regard to the vehicles' heavy reliance on software, consumers' expectations of safety and the need for compliance with varying local traffic rules, says Michaela Herron of Bristows LLP.

  • A Victory For Legal Privilege In Cross-Border Investigations

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    The U.K. Court of Appeal's recent decision in Serious Fraud Office v. Eurasian Natural Resources is a substantial step toward confirming the application of legal privilege in internal investigations, and has significantly reduced the divergence in U.K. and U.S. privilege law, say attorneys with Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP.

  • UK And EU Crawl Toward Virtual Currency Regulation

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    The lack of a harmonized approach to regulation of initial coin offerings in the EU is leading to a piecemeal approach across member states that will hamper blockchain developments, say Jacqui Hatfield and Rebecca Kellner of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.

  • Is Equifax Data Breach Penalty A Sign Of Fines To Come?

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    Recently, the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office fined Equifax £500,000 for falling victim to a cyberattack — the highest penalty available. Some speculate that this decision is a sign that the ICO is already assuming a tougher stance following the commencement of the General Data Protection Regulation, say James Castro-Edwards and Eaven Prenter of Wedlake Bell LLP.

  • Ensure That Dispute Resolution Mechanisms Are Brexit-Proof

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    With only five months remaining for the U.K. to make a deal with the EU and the possibility of a "no-deal" Brexit looking increasingly plausible, now is the time to take proactive steps to protect your clients’ positions and to make sure that their contracts are effective and enforceable, say Claire Stockford and Caitlin McLean of Shepherd & Wedderburn LLP.

  • 5 Cyber Insurance Pitfalls To Avoid In The UK

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    Faced with the opportunity to purchase cyber risk insurance to mitigate the damage caused by cyber events, prospective policyholder companies need all the help they can get in order to navigate this increasingly complex part of the U.K. insurance market, says Richard Mattick of Covington & Burling LLP.

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