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FCA marks principal firms’ homework on appointed representatives – must try harder

The FCA says principal firms need to do more to comply with enhanced appointed representative rules… Continue Reading

APP fraud – might banks have a “retrieval duty” ?

By Christian Toms on April 4, 2024 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime

Following on from our Blog post and article from November of last year that looked at the potential liabilities of banks and related parties in the context of authorised push payment (“APP”) frauds, the recent decision of Master Brown in CCP Graduate School Ltd v National Westminster Bank PLC & Anor [2024] EWHC 581 (KB) … Continue Reading

Anatomy of a fraud series – Powers afforded by search and imaging orders

By Maria Shorter and Christian Toms on January 25, 2024 Posted in Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime, Investigations

Search orders Search orders are a form of interim, mandatory injunction which require a respondent to allow the applicant’s representatives to enter the respondent’s premises and search for, copy and remove documents or material for the purpose of preserving evidence and/or property which is or may be subject to an action. Search orders are, therefore, … Continue Reading

The Rise of the Pig Butcher

By Ian Debbage on November 24, 2023 Posted in Crypto-Assets, Fraud and Financial Crime

The “pig butchering” scam is not new but has enjoyed a rapid rise in recent years. So much so, that virtually everyone reading this blog will have been an intended mark at some point, probably without knowing it. Indeed, if you have ever received a message from an unknown number with a random message that … Continue Reading

WHO PAYS THE PRICE OF AUTHORISED PUSH PAYMENT FRAUD?

By Christian Toms on November 22, 2023 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime

Following on from our recent Blog post about UK Finance’s half-yearly fraud update, in an article published today with the International Banker we look at the increasingly common authorised push payment (APP) fraud and consider what can be done and who might be liable?… Continue Reading

UK Finance – Fraud Update

By Ian Debbage on October 27, 2023 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime

UK Finance has recently published its half yearly fraud update for the first half of 2023, its findings are based on data reported to it by its members, which include financial providers, credit, debit and charge card issuers and card payment acquirers.… Continue Reading

Push-ed Back – Supreme Court Considers Quincecare Duty for Authorised Push Payment (“APP”) Fraud Victims

By Chris Webber, Katherine Wakeham and Assad Bishara on July 17, 2023 Posted in Banking, Dispute Resolution, Fraud and Financial Crime

On 12 July 2023, the Supreme Court delivered its widely anticipated judgment in Philipp v Barclays Bank UK PLC. In doing so, the Court has gone back to basics to explain the basis for and scope of a bank’s duty to its customers, and has brought the Quincecare duty back to a narrower footing. By … Continue Reading

Is the FCA catching on to its AFrO and AFO powers?

By Chris Webber on September 28, 2022 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Investigations, Regulation

My colleague Ben Ticehurst, a Director in our UK Government Investigations and White Collar team, recently shared a timely insight on increased use by the Financial Conduct Authority of Account Freezing Orders (“AFrOs”) and Account Forfeiture Orders (“AFOs”) on our Anticorruption Blog. He reports on the recent decision for the FCA to secure its first … Continue Reading

Banks’ Quincecare duty in APP fraud Cases potentially extended

By Chris Webber and Maria Shorter on May 4, 2022 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime

In March the Court of Appeal overturned an earlier High Court judgment and held that the application of Quincecare duty does not depend on the fact that the bank is instructed by an agent of the customer of the bank. In principle, the Quincecare duty could now arise where a non-corporate customer falls victim to … Continue Reading

DWP sets out “Stronger Nudge” regime to protect savers and rein in Pension Freedoms

By Mariyam Harunah and Charlotte Farnsworth on November 2, 2020 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Pensions

Following successful trials, the Department of Work and Pensions (“DWP”) announced proposals last Wednesday to introduce a “Stronger Nudge” regime, as part of a package of measures aimed at helping savers make better-informed decisions when it comes to accessing their pension savings, and to further protect them from scams.… Continue Reading

Pension scams’ inquiry launched by Parliamentary committee

By Squire Patton Boggs on August 3, 2020 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Pensions, Regulation

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

Lack of Data Impacts Efforts to Fight Pensions Scams

By Mariyam Harunah on May 28, 2020 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Pensions

The Pensions Policy Institute (“Institute“) has said that a lack of comprehensive data on the number and scale of pensions scams, places limitations on the industry’s ability to effectively protect savers. According to the Institute, “victims of pension scams [are] losing more than £80,000 on average.” There is growing concern from the Institute that during the COVID-19 … Continue Reading

FCA publishes business plan for 2020/21

By Squire Patton Boggs on April 8, 2020 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Insurance, Investment Management, Pensions, Regulation

The FCA yesterday set out its business priorities for the years ahead, focussing in part on the unique challenges presented to the financial services industry by the Covid 19 pandemic. In this blog we look at three issues that the FCA’s Business Plan for 2020/21 pays special attention to, the regulatory response to the Covid-19 … Continue Reading

SFO in the dock again as former Barclays’ executives cleared of Qatari fraud charges

By Squire Patton Boggs on March 10, 2020 Posted in Banking, Fraud and Financial Crime

On 28 February, former senior Barclays executives Roger Jenkins, Tom Kalaris, and Richard Boath were all acquitted of conspiracy to commit fraud contrary to section 1(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1997, and fraud by false misrepresentation, contrary to section 1 of the Fraud Act 2006. The case is the latest in a series of … Continue Reading

Beware of Quincecare – an update from the Supreme Court

By Squire Patton Boggs on November 19, 2019 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Money Laundering

In February 2018, we reported here that the Court of Appeal had rejected a stockbrocker’s (Daiwa Capital Markets Europe Ltd (“Daiwa“)) appeal against the High Court’s decision that it owed a client (Singularis Holdings Limited (“Singularis“)) a Quincecare duty.… Continue Reading

FCA voices concerns about “epidemic” levels of fraud in the UK

By Squire Patton Boggs on September 17, 2019 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Regulation

In a recent speech given at the Cambridge Economic Crime Symposium, the Chairman of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), Charles Randell, discussed the growing “epidemic” of fraud across the UK, and the need for collaboration in both the public and private sectors to fight more effectively against investment fraud.… Continue Reading

FCA found partially liable for loss caused by errors in Financial Services Register

By Squire Patton Boggs on May 24, 2019 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Regulation

The Financial Regulators Complaints Commissioner has recommended that the Financial Conduct Authority makes an ex gratia payment of £6,500 to an individual complainant. The recommended payment represents 50% of the total loss suffered by the Complainant as a result of errors in the Financial Services Register. The Complaints Commissioner acknowledged that the FCA should not … Continue Reading

Highlights from the Financial Ombudsman Service’s 2018/2019 Annual Review

By Mariyam Harunah on May 20, 2019 Posted in Banking, Fraud and Financial Crime, Pensions

On 15 May 2019, the Financial Ombudsman Service (“FOS“) published its 2018/2019 Annual Review and some key messages for the industry emerge from that Review which we highlight in this post.… Continue Reading

English Court refuses permission for collateral disclosure of evidence to the FBI

By Mariyam Harunah on March 8, 2019 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime

In ACL Netherlands BV and others v Lynch and another [2019] EWHC 249 (Ch) (“ACL“), the High Court said that an applicant is unlikely to be granted permission for collateral use of evidence disclosed in English civil proceedings, unless there are special circumstances amounting to ‘cogent and persuasive reasons’.… Continue Reading

A step towards UK crypto-asset regulation? Treasury Committee Report finds current status “clearly not sustainable”

By Chris Webber and Katherine Wakeham on October 18, 2018 Posted in Fintech, Fraud and Financial Crime, Money Laundering

Last month, the House of Commons Treasury Committee published its report on crypto-assets. The report expresses serious concerns about the risks of consumer harm and financial crime and calls for regulation “as a matter of urgency“.… Continue Reading

Breathe easy, the SFO calls it a day in privilege battle

By Squire Patton Boggs on October 5, 2018 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime

Last month we reported that the Court of Appeal (The Director of the SFO v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 2006) had reversed the High Court’s controversial and troubling decision from 2017 that concerned the extent to which litigation privilege could apply to documents generated in the context of internal investigations https://www.finance-disputes.co.uk/2018/09/litigation-privilege-sense-prevails-in-the-court-of-appeal/. It was announced … Continue Reading

Litigation privilege: sense prevails in the Court of Appeal

By Squire Patton Boggs on September 10, 2018 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Regulation

Last week the Court of Appeal (The Director of the SFO v Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation Limited [2018] EWCA Civ 2006) reversed the High Court’s controversial and troubling decision from 2017 that concerned the extent to which litigation privilege could apply to documents generated in the context of internal investigations. ENRC successfully argued that legal professional … Continue Reading

Crypto-fraud: digital currency scams on the rise

By Katherine Wakeham on September 3, 2018 Posted in Crypto-Assets, Fraud and Financial Crime

It seems it’s difficult to look anywhere right now without an advert staring back at you for cryptocurrency investments or investment products including a crypto-asset feature: they are on the side of taxis, tube platforms, and the pages of the daily papers. After the semi-meteoric rise (and fall) that was Bitcoin at the end of … Continue Reading

Financial Action Task Force publishes report on professional money launderers

By Chris Webber and Maria Shorter on August 14, 2018 Posted in Fraud and Financial Crime, Money Laundering

The Financial Task Force (FATF) has recently published a report that looks at the techniques and tools used by professional money launders (PMLs). This is the first time the FATF has undertaken a project which concentrates on PMLs that specialise in enabling criminals to evade anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing safeguards and sanctions in … Continue Reading