The Financial Conduct Authority’s recent proposals to create a more consistent and streamlined remuneration framework for solo-regulated firms will allow firms to design more flexible policies, but mean greater scrutiny of the firms’ decision-making, governance and recordkeeping, say lawyers at Birketts.

In Barclays Bank v. Financial Ombudsman Service, the High Court recently blocked the FOS from investigating consumer complaints that fall outside the legal time limit, demonstrating courts’ willingness to look at the ombudsman's approach to its own jurisdiction, says Rachael Healey at RPC.

The recent Court of Appeal ruling in R v. Osmond, the first appellate decision on the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 tipping off offense, confirms that even where a wider investigation is publicly known, disclosure of a nonpublic strand of the inquiry may engage the offense, say lawyers at Norton Rose.

Paul Denham, head of Morgan Lewis' London finance practice group, discusses why working with nurturing partners helped him understand what good leadership should look like, how a Formula 1 financing transaction allowed a personal interest to cross into his day job, and the importance of being willing to adapt as markets change.

Forced labor guidance documents recently issued by the U.S. and the European Union have meaningful differences, with the U.S. taking a documentary approach to compliance and the EU emphasizing human rights risks as a governance challenge, but one model will likely exert greater influence, say attorneys at Steptoe.

The Crime and Policing Act 2026 recently entered into force, highlighting a growing emphasis on governance and senior management oversight, the influence of compliance on commercial decision-making, and an overlap between legal and regulatory risk across jurisdictions, say lawyers at McDermott.

David Vaughan, international disputes lead at Shakespeare Martineau, discusses how a European upbringing and working across different firms have shaped his leadership abilities, the challenges of representing a sovereign in a foreign court, and how proper global networks are needed to deliver results in cross-border disputes.

In Qatar National Bank v. South Sudan and Bank of South Sudan, a D.C. federal court recently confirmed a $1 billion arbitral award, but the judgment itself remains only the entrance to the asset-recovery exercise, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

The recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling in Drelle v. Servis-Terminal that an unrecognized and unregistrable foreign judgment may found a bankruptcy petition presents a real risk for debtors, who could find themselves facing insolvency proceedings with very little warning, say lawyers at Dechert.

The New York State Department of Financial Services' consent order with Swedbank reflects the department's broad view of its investigative authority, emphasizes transparency, and underscores the risks of intrusive investigations that can occur if a regulator believes that it was misled, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

As the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to severely disrupt global commercial navigation, companies should understand the key claims likely to arise in emergency and expedited arbitration procedures — including force majeure, breach of contract and pricing disputes — and the contractual safeguards and protective measures to consider, say lawyers at McDermott.

James Duncan, Broadfield's head of U.K. funds, discusses how his journey to team leadership has had more twists than a Netflix thriller, how Brexit created a labyrinth of compliance, and why lawyers who thrive will be the ones who see change as both a challenge and an opportunity.

Although art gallery Hauser & Wirth was able to defeat criminal charges of breaching the U.K. Russia sanctions regime, the ruling illustrates that prosecution for those operating in high-value international markets is a real-world risk, say lawyers at Fieldfisher.

The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Ceiva v. Amazon crystallizes an informal U.S. heuristic, "a technological solution to a technological problem," rewarding emphasis of a traceable chain from a problem to a solution — a lesson similar to the European Patent Office's "technical character" terminology, says Brandon Theiss at AddyHart.

The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent landmark judgment in Saxon Woods sends a clear message to businesses that a director's conduct must withstand objective scrutiny, affirming that even if an individual believes they are acting in the company's best interests, they cannot deceive fellow board members, says Richard Clayman at Kingsley Napley.

With HM Revenue & Customs' recent settlement with Petrofac marking the first public naming of a company for breaches of U.K. trade sanctions, and regulators demonstrating an increasing emphasis on systems and controls, there is clearly a more complex landscape evolving that businesses need to navigate, says Alexandra Melia at Steptoe.

The U.K. Commercial Court’s recent decision in Various Claimants v. Entain PLC provides guidance for the first time for those navigating a court document filing pilot scheme, offering a practical template for parties to litigation involving sensitive issues by balancing transparency obligations with legitimate confidentiality concerns, say lawyers at HSFK.

Ronan Mellon, Mayer Brown's finance office practice lead, discusses how working in the City is like a parallel universe to growing up in rural Ireland, the challenges of working on a bond refinancing with a highly complex escrow arrangement, and why he is a fan of client secondments for junior lawyers.

The U.K. Supreme Court’s recent judgment in HMRC v. BlueCrest Capital Management clarifies the tax framework for assessing whether limited liability partnership members are genuinely operating as partners or should be treated as employees, which is likely to be significant far beyond the hedge fund sector, say lawyers at Stewarts Law.