The UK Supreme Court has significantly reformulated the scope of duty test that applies in cases of professional negligence. It handed down its decision in the case of Manchester Building Society v Grant Thornton UK LLP [2021] UKSC 20 on 18 June 2021. SPB acted for the successful party, Manchester Building Society.… Continue Reading
Last month, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) published updated guidance regarding COVID-19 business interruption settlements and deductions made for Government support. The FCA first commented on this issue in August 2020, following reports that some insurers were making deductions for Government support received by policyholders, when calculating payments for business interruption insurance claims. The FCA’s … Continue Reading
The Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”) has published a ‘Dear CEO’ letter to insurers following the recent decision made in the Supreme Court test case on non-physical damage business interruption (“BI”) insurance. The FCA is determined to make the next steps on the recent ruling as clear as possible.… Continue Reading
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (“FCA“) test case on non-physical damage business interruption (“BI”) insurance has been the focal point for policyholders suffering from BI financial losses as a result of Covid-19.… Continue Reading
At the end of last week, the FCA announced that it had commenced a consultation exercise on a piece of draft guidance it has prepared to assist policyholders, insurers and insurance intermediaries to prove the presence or otherwise of COVID-19 in a particular area, which is a requirement of some Business Interruption (BI) policies.… Continue Reading
The Director of Strategy at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Richard Monks, recently spoke on the increasing appetite for Environmental Social Governance (ESG) focused financial products and building trust in sustainable investments.… Continue Reading
The FCA has just updated on the work that it had stopped or postponed in order to allow it to focus on the more urgent work that has been required of the regulator as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the resultant economic turmoil.… Continue Reading
In the recent case of Patel v Barlow’s Solicitors and others [2020] 2753 (Ch) the High Court found that a Quistclose Trust arose in a situation where solicitors were forwarded monies by a third party for a specific purpose.… Continue Reading
Last night the FCA announced that the Supreme Court had granted permission to appeal the High Court’s judgment in the business interruption (“BI”) insurance test case to all those who had applied for that permission.… Continue Reading
In another ruling on the issue of post-Lockdown claims under business interruption (BI) insurance policies, the High Court last week summarily dismissed an action brought by a London crêperie, holding that its reliance on its policy with Allianz Insurance plc (Allianz) could only be triggered by physical loss of property as opposed to merely temporary … Continue Reading
The latest instalment of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (“FCA“) test case on business interruption (BI) insurance took place last Friday, with a “consequentials” hearing that dealt with the effect of the judgment, ‘leapfrog’ certificates and an application from a proposed new party.… Continue Reading
The High Court ruled yesterday in favour of the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) on what the FCA describes as the “majority of the key issues” in its test case on insurance cover for business interruption (“BI“) losses incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent Government imposed lockdown. The decision means that insurers may now have … Continue Reading
In a “Dear CEO” letter published on 4 September 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out its supervisory strategy for insurance intermediaries in personal and commercial lines, warning of “significant risks of potential harm” within the insurance sector.… Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the International Underwriting Association (“IUA“), the body representing underwriters in London that are separate from Lloyd’s, penned an open letter calling on the legal industry to allow insurers to cancel professional indemnity policies when lawyers fail to pay their premiums in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.… Continue Reading
Earlier this week the FCA announced proposals to extend anti-money laundering reporting requirements in its financial crime controls to include virtual currency exchanges, such as all cryptoasset exchange providers and custodian wallet providers. The aim of the change is to strengthen AML defences.… Continue Reading
The Work and Pensions Committee (“WPC”) has launched an investigation into pension scams in the UK and what more can be done to prevent them. This is the first part of a three-stage inquiry that will examine the impact of pension freedoms and protecting pension savers.… Continue Reading
The FCA has been reviewing temporary measures that came into force in the insurance and premium finance markets on 18 May 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement released last week, the FCA announced its proposal to extend the series of temporary measures designed to help those policyholders, “who may be in temporary … Continue Reading
Following its intervention in the trade credit insurance market back in May, the UK Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has just announced the launch of a Government-backed scheme worth £500 million pounds for domestic film and TV productions that are struggling to get COVID-19 related insurance. The inability of producers to access such insurance through the … Continue Reading
In the recent decision of A v B and another [2020] EWHC 1491, the High Court decided that where an auditor is required to provide documents to a regulator, and the auditor’s client asserts privilege over such documents, it is for the auditor to decide whether the documents are in fact privileged and therefore should not … Continue Reading
The FCA has just provided a further update on the progress of its High Court test case concerning business interruption (“BI”) insurance.… Continue Reading
In a recent letter, Transparency Task Force (“TTF“) founder, Andy Agathangelou, wrote to chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee (“Committee“) to formally request an investigation into the growing concern of pensions’ scams as a major public interest issue.… Continue Reading
Earlier this week, the Pensions Regulator (“tPR“) published a strategy paper (“Corporate Plan“) outlining that its focus for the 2020-2021 financial year would be protecting long-term savers.… Continue Reading
Earlier this month, in Carillion Plc (in liquidation) (“Carillion“) v KPMG LLP & Anor (“KPMG“) [2020] EWHC 1416, the Commercial Court dismissed Carillion’s application for pre-action disclosure by KPMG. The Court confirmed that to obtain an order for pre-action disclosure in the Commercial Court, the circumstances must be outside the “usual run” and the case … Continue Reading
There have been further developments in the FCA’s test case concerning business interruption (“BI”) insurance. Details have just been published on the FCA’s website.… Continue Reading
