Hot on the heels of the Court of Appeal’s decision in SFO v ENRIC earlier this month, legal professional privilege has once been under the microscope in a recent High Court case, The Financial Reporting Council Limited v Sports Direct International Plc [2018] EWHC 2284 (Ch).… Continue Reading
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
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its annual Anti-Money Laundering Report on 19 July 2018, for the year ended 31 March 2018. In the report, the FCA reminded firms that due to the size and global nature of the UK financial industry, financial crime and AML remains a significant risk and is therefore one of … Continue Reading
Hot on the heels of the FCA’s recent “Dear CEO” letter, the PRA has sent its own reminder to regulated firms considering, or already holding, crypto-assets. Whilst the FCA focussed on mitigating the financial crime risks faced from use of crypto-assets, the PRA focussed on the risk of exposure to these developing assets which (in … Continue Reading
At the recent Banking Litigation and Regulation Forum, the FCA’s Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight, Mark Steward, discussed the measures implemented by the FCA to tackle the loss of confidence and trust in the financial industry following the Financial Crisis.… Continue Reading
Last week the FCA published for consultation a paper describing its approach to enforcement. It has invited feedback on the paper by 21 June 2018.… Continue Reading
In the recent case of FCA -v- Grout [2018] EWCA Civ 71, the Court of Appeal confirmed the restrictive approach to third party rights pursuant to FCA notices previously laid down by the Supreme Court in Macris -v- FCA [2017] UKSC 19. We previously reported on the Macris decision on its way to the Supreme Court and following the judgment.… Continue Reading
On 25 January 2018, the FCA fined Interactive Brokers (UK) Limited (“IBUK“) just over £1 million for “serious and systemic weaknesses” arising out of poor market abuse controls and failing to report suspicious client transactions during February 2014 to February 2015 (“Relevant Period“).… Continue Reading
The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has recently turned its attention to firms who may mis-sell contracts for difference (“CFDs”) to customers. The FCA says that it has a “serious concern” about the market. On 12 January 2018, following a 12 month review of the CFD market, the FCA issued an ominous warning in the form of a “Dear CEO” letter addressed … Continue Reading
During 2017, the FCA imposed fines for misconduct on regulated businesses and individuals totalling over £229,500, 000. Whilst 2017 did not see a return to the number or size of fines imposed by the FCA in 2014/2015 (when billions of pounds of fines were imposed following interbank rate and FX related misconduct), the year did see a tenfold increase in FCA fines from 2016 (total … Continue Reading
By Katherine Wakeham and Thomas Noble on Posted in Regulatory
Back in March 2017, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Financial Conduct Authority v Macris [2017] UKSC 19. We have previously reported on that decision on its way to the Supreme Court and following the judgment. In brief, Section 393 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA”) provides individuals identified in … Continue Reading
Last week the FCA announced that it had banned Mr John Chiesa and his wife Mrs Colette Chiesa from working in financial services for the “calculated way” that they deceived creditors after going into “sequestration” (the Scottish term for bankruptcy). Mrs Chiesa was also fined £50,000 for attempting to mislead the FCA during an FCA interview.… Continue Reading
Founded in 2005 with 140 members, MLROs.com lead the way in ensuring that that financial institutions and practitioners are educated, supported and empowered to stop financial criminals. The very first MLROs.com Northern conference took place in Birmingham on Wednesday 11th October 2017, hosted by Squire Patton Boggs’ Birmingham office. The conference saw a strong turnout … Continue Reading
On 14 September 2017, alleged “serious concerns” lead the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) to reveal its final decision to exercise its jurisdiction under Part 4, Section 131 of the Enterprise Act 2002 (“the Act”). The FCA subsequently referred investment consultancy and fiduciary management services to the Competition Markets Authority (“CMA”) for a Market Investigation Reference … Continue Reading
By now, most FCA regulated firms will be aware that the FCA intends to extend the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (“SM&CR”) so that it applies to all FCA regulated firms from an as yet unspecified date in 2018 (most likely mid to late 2018). The FCA consultation period (in respect of Consultation Paper CP17/25 – “Individual Accountability: … Continue Reading
Background Charles Palmer (“Mr Palmer”) was the CEO and majority shareholder of Standard Financial Group Limited and a director/de facto CEO of the adviser network which comprised of Financial Limited and Investments Limited (“Firms”). At its its hight (in 2011) the network boasted 397 appointed representatives (“ARs“) and 516 registered individuals (“RIs“), whom between them … Continue Reading
Background The Court of Appeal has this week handed down judgment in three linked appeals (CGL Group and Others v Royal Bank of Scotland Plc and Others). These concerned interest rate hedging products (“Hedging Products“) that certain smaller businesses (including the Appellants) allege they were required to buy as a condition of loans made to them by three banks (in … Continue Reading
Claims’ Management Companies (“CMCs”) offer legal claims and complaint management services to members of the public. Historically, CMCs work to bring large numbers of complaints against financial services companies and recent areas of focus have been PPI and interest rate hedging mis-selling complaints. Whilst some CMCs are reputable, others try to rally business through unsolicited calls/texts … Continue Reading
On 4 July 2017, the Prudential Regulation Authority (“PRA”) released a statement on consumer credit (“Statement”), following a review of consumer credit lending (“PRA Review”). The review included the examination of PRA regulated firms’ underwriting practices for credit cards, unsecured personal loans and motor finance. As readers will be aware, there has been a good deal … Continue Reading
In May the Serious Fraud Office persuaded a High Court judge to order Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation to hand over internal investigation documents it had claimed were privileged. The decision brings back into focus the vexed question of which documents produced in corporate internal investigations can be withheld in subsequent regulatory investigations and prosecutions.… Continue Reading
In a previous blog post, we discussed how the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA“) was backing a call by the banks for the introduction of a two year cut-off for PPI claims. Deadline The FCA has now announced that the final deadline for making a new PPI complaint will be 29 August 2019. Andrew Bailey (Chief … Continue Reading
“Skilled Person” reviews under section 166 of FSMA have become a major feature of the financial services regulatory landscape in recent years. FCA figures show that 51 reports were commissioned in 2016 alone, up from 47 in 2015. Under FSMA the regulators have wide powers to require financial services firms to commission skilled person reports … Continue Reading
In a previous blog I described how the FCA is facing a number of challenges from individuals complaining that they are identifiable from regulatory notices addressed to their employers. By way of recap, under section 393 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (“FSMA“), individuals are granted third party rights, meaning that if an … Continue Reading
