Civil case over £237m collapse of London Capital & Finance opens – with counsel leaving – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted February 20th, 2024 in barristers, fees, insolvency, legal representation, news, unfair commercial practices by tracey

‘Counsel for a defendant in a civil case concerning the £237m collapse of mini bond issuer London Capital & Finance excused themselves from court on the first hearing day this morning – stating that there was no prospect of their fees being paid.’

Full Story

Law Society's Gazette, 19th February 2024

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

A practical guide to unfair prejudice petitions – St John’s Chambers

‘This guide provides an overview of the principles relating to unfair prejudice petitions. It is not legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Businesses and individuals should seek bespoke legal advice in respect of their particular positions. This guide is an updated version of a similar guide published in 2019.’

Full Story

St John's Chambers, 3rd July 2023

Source: www.stjohnschambers.co.uk

UK competition court halts class action claim against Meta – OUT-LAW.com

‘The UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has paused the progress of a class action against Facebook’s parent company, Meta, amid concerns over the validity of the methodology used to calculate potential damages.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 1st March 2023

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Writing fake online reviews could be made illegal – BBC News

‘A plan to crack down on online rip-offs including making it illegal for people to write or host fake reviews has been outlined by the government.’

Full Story

BBC News, 19th July 2021

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

UK Trade Remedies Authority begins operating – OUT-LAW.com

‘A new regulator, with powers to investigate and address unfair trade practices and subsidies, has begun operating in the UK.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 2nd June 2021

Source: www.pinsentmasons.com

Solicitor tried to take unfair advantage of other lawyer’s error – Legal Futures

‘A solicitor discarded an undertaking he had given and tried to take advantage of a mistake made by the law firm on the other side of a conveyancing transaction, it has emerged.’

Full Story

Legal Futures, 15th November 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Co-operative Group repays £500,000 as it faces probe for mistreating suppliers – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 9th, 2018 in fines, news, unfair commercial practices by tracey

‘Regulators have launched a probe into the Co-operative Group that could force it to pay £70m of fines for mistreating its suppliers.’

Full Story

Daily Telegraph, 8th March 2018

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Asda forced to repay suppliers after breaching fair dealing code – The Guardian

Posted September 6th, 2017 in codes of practice, contracts, news, repayment, unfair commercial practices by sally

‘Asda has been forced to pay back hundreds of thousands of pounds to dozens of suppliers after breaching an industry code governing fair dealing.’

Full Story

The Guardian, 4th September 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Court of Appeal: HMRC did not act unfairly in withdrawing guidance only for taxpayers with ‘open’ affairs – OUT-LAW.com

‘HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) could withdraw previous guidance in relation to losses arising from the exercise of share options, even though other taxpayers whose affairs could not be reopened had benefited from the treatment, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’

Full Story

OUT-LAW.com, 28th July 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

City watchdog battles to ban ‘reckless’ payday lender – Daily Telegraph

Posted July 15th, 2016 in financial regulation, loans, news, unfair commercial practices by tracey

‘The City watchdog faces a legal battle in its attempts to ban a payday lender from the industry, as financier Andrew Barry Hart fights claims he “took a reckless approach” to lending and “failed to address unfair business practices”.’

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 14th July 2016

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Payday lender Cash Genie to pay £20m compensation – BBC News

Posted July 27th, 2015 in compensation, complaints, fees, interest, loans, news, unfair commercial practices by sally

‘Payday lender Cash Genie faces a £20m compensation bill after charging customers £50 to transfer them to the firm’s debt collection business.’

Full story

BBC News, 27th July 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Regulator opens investigations into transparency of paid online endorsements – OUT-LAW.com

‘The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating whether a number of businesses have broken consumer protection laws by failing to disclose that they have paid others to endorse their company online.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 19th June 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills v PLT Anti-Marketing Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted February 18th, 2015 in consumer protection, law reports, unfair commercial practices, winding up by sally

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills v PLT Anti-Marketing Ltd [2015] EWCA Civ 76; [2015] WLR (D) 63

‘Where a court was considering whether a commercial practice amounted to a misleading omission by the omission of material information for the purposes of regulation 6 of the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, the court had to consider, particularly where the information omitted concerned alternative products, whether the average consumer could be said to have needed to obtain that information from the trader rather than from elsewhere.’

WLR Daily, 10th February 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Skyscanner: CAT quashes commitments in the online booking sector – Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers

‘In a judgment handed down on Friday, the Competition Appeal Tribunal has quashed the Office of Fair Trading’s decision to accept commitments in the online hotel booking sector. As the first case to consider such commitments, Skyscanner Ltd v CMA [2014] CAT 16 contains some helpful guidance, albeit that Skyscanner’s success actually hinged on a fairly narrow point of regulatory law.’

Full story

Competition Bulletin from Blackstone Chambers, 28th September 2014

Source: www.competitionbulletin.com

Energy price riggers to face jail under new proposals – BBC News

‘Anyone found guilty of rigging wholesale gas and electricity prices faces up to two years in jail, under new proposals by the government.’

Full story

BBC News, 6th August 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Wonga chased debt with fake lawyers, says FCA – BBC News

Posted June 25th, 2014 in compensation, debts, loans, news, unfair commercial practices by sally

‘Payday lender Wonga must pay £2.6m in compensation after sending letters from non-existent law firms to customers in arrears.’


Full story

BBC News, 25th June 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Scotland and another v British Credit Trust Ltd – WLR Daily

Scotland and another v British Credit Trust Ltd [2014] EWCA Civ 790; [2014] WLR (D) 252

‘When determining whether negotiations between a debtor and a supplier were “antecedent negotiations” within section 56(1)(c) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, so that the supplier was deemed to have been acting as an agent of the creditor, the court had to inquire whether all the negotiations formed part of one transaction as a matter of fact.’

WLR Daily, 10th June 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

4finance UAB v Valstybinė vartotojų teisių apsaugos tarnyba and another – WLR Daily

4finance UAB v Valstybinė vartotojų teisių apsaugos tarnyba and another (Case C-515/12); [2014] WLR (D) 156

‘Annex I, point 14, of Parliament and Council Directive 2005/29/EC meant that a pyramid promotional scheme constituted an unfair commercial practice only where such a scheme required the consumer to give financial consideration, regardless of its amount, for the opportunity to receive compensation that was derived primarily from the introduction of other consumers into the scheme rather than from the sale or consumption of products.’

WLR Daily, 3rd April 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

UK firm fined £25,000 for failure to monitor, supervise and manage its appointed representatives – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 10th, 2014 in financial regulation, fines, insurance, news, unfair commercial practices by tracey

‘A firm has been fined £25,000 by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for the misconduct of two of its sales staff acting as its ‘appointed representatives’ (ARs). Amongst other cases of misconduct, the ARs were found to have used “high-pressure sales tactics and misleading information” to push vulnerable customers into buying insurance policies.’

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 8th January 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

CHS Tour Services GmbH v Team4 Travel GmbH – WLR Daily

CHS Tour Services GmbH v Team4 Travel GmbH (Case C-435/11); [2013] WLR (D) 355

“If a commercial practice satisfied all the criteria set out in article 6(1) of Parliament and Council Directive 2005/29/EC (‘the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’) for being categorised as a misleading practice in relation to the consumer, it was not necessary to determine whether such a practice was also contrary to the requirements of professional diligence as referred to in article 5(2)(a) of the Directive in order for it legitimately to be regarded as unfair and, therefore, prohibited in accordance with article 5(1).”

WLR Daily, 19th September 2013

Source: www.iclr.co.uk