City watchdog told to review London Capital & Finance collapse – The Guardian
‘Government orders FCA inquiry into £236m scandal surrounding investment firm.’
The Guardian, 1st April 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
Category: financial regulation
Financial ombudsman clarifies Equality Act powers – OUT-LAW.com
‘The head of the UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has confirmed that the body has the power to require financial services firms to make reasonable adjustments for consumers with disabilities or to stop discriminating against people with other ‘protected characteristics’ where it considers they have not been treated fairly, and has already done so on occasion.’
OUT-LAW.com, 29th March 2019
Source: www.out-law.com
City watchdog fines Goldman Sachs £34.4m for misreporting – The Guardian
‘Goldman Sachs has been fined £34.4m by the City regulator for misreporting millions of transactions over a decade.’
The Guardian, 28th March 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
FCA to focus on affordability and culture in regulation of consumer credit – OUT-LAW.com
‘The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out its priorities for the future regulation of the consumer credit sector, including the impact of the Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SMCR).’
OUT-LAW.com, 27th March 2019
Source: www.out-law.com
‘Mortgage prisoners’ given help by City regulator – BBC News
‘A change of rules aimed at helping lower the housing costs of thousands of so-called “mortgage prisoners” has been proposed by the City watchdog.’
BBC News, 26th March 2019
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
AML oversight body finds legal regulators coming up short – Legal Futures
‘Nearly half of legal regulators do not have undertake enough supervision of anti-money laundering (AML) efforts, according to the organisation set up to scrutinise them.’
Legal Futures, 14th March 2019
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
FCA confirms new ombudsman service award limit – OUT-LAW.com
‘Financial firms could be ordered to pay up to £350,000 in compensation by a UK ombudsman in response to complaints raised about their acts or omissions from April this year.’
OUT-LAW.com, 11th March 2019
Source: www.out-law.com
Hedge fund use of private exit polls attracts City watchdog – The Guardian
‘The City watchdog is considering fresh guidelines around the sale of private polling data to hedge funds looking to profit from major political events such as Brexit.’
The Guardian, 15th January 2019
Source: www.theguardian.com
Change in regulation of claims management companies – OUT-LAW.com
‘The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will become responsible for the regulation of claims management companies in Great Britain from April this year in a move broadly welcomed within the insurance sector. Legislation implementing the reforms provides some details on how the new regime will work.’
OUT-LAW.com, 7th January 2019
Source: www.out-law.com
Review calls for new powers for corporate governance regulator – OUT-LAW.com
‘The UK needs a new corporate governance regulator, with a new mandate and enhanced powers to hold company directors to account, an independent review has concluded.’
OUT-LAW.com, 20th December 2018
Source: www.out-law.com
Financial Conduct Authority brings in new push payment complaints rules – OUT-LAW.com
‘The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed it is to make it easier for victims of authorised push payment (APP) fraud to make a complaint about a transaction.’
OUT-LAW.com, 18th December 2018
Source: www.out-law.com
FCA under fire over Lloyds compensation scheme – BBC News
‘The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been criticised for allowing Lloyds Banking Group to set up a “flawed” compensation scheme for victims of a massive fraud.’
BBC News, 17th December 2018
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Multiplicity of legal regulators “not helping AML fight” – Legal Futures
‘The “multiplicity” of legal and accountancy regulators in the UK is not helping the fight against money laundering, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has complained.’
Legal Futures, 12th December 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
Where are we now with the Criminal Finance Act 2017 – The New Tax Evasion Offence – Drystone Chambers
‘The Criminal Finance Act 2017 introduced two new offences: some eighteen months on I consider below how it is being used. The offences were first mooted after the panama papers scandal, prompted by the then Prime Minister’s involvement in it. Due to this the offences were considered to be largely politically motivated and the practicalities of using them were not really considered. In my view they will very rarely be used, if at all, but that does not mean that companies do not have to monitor the measures they have put in place to comply with the legislation. The majority of prosecutions are going to come from self disclosures or whistle blowers, if at all.’
Drystone Chambers, November 2018
Source: drystone.com
Privilege and Maxwellisation – what can we learn from recent FRC cases? – 4 New Square
‘The same issues often crop up across an array of regulatory work. Legal professional privilege is the most obvious example, with a number of high profile cases arising out of SFO investigations. A second example concerns the rights of third parties to prevent the publication of adverse comment about them in regulatory reports and decisions (‘Maxwellisation’). In this article, Jamie Smith QC and Helen Evans explain how these two issues have arisen in the context of disciplinary investigations and proceedings undertaken by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), which plays an important role in the regulation of accountants.’
4 New Square, 11th December 2018
Source: www.4newsquare.com
Amenability to judicial review – Law Society’s Gazette
‘When is a private appointment a matter of public law? In an important case on this issue, R (on the application of Holmcroft Properties Ltd) v KPMG LLP [2018] EWCA Civ 2093, the Court of Appeal recently upheld the Divisional Court’s decision that KPMG was not amenable to judicial review when acting as an independent reviewer, whose appointment by a bank was approved by the Financial Services Authority.’
Law Society's Gazette, 10th December 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
City watchdog steps up its inquiries into ‘crypto’ firms – Daily Telegraph
‘As the price of the controversial “cryptocurrency” Bitcoin plunges, new figures show that the City watchdog is stepping up its investigations into the murky sector.’
Daily Telegraph, 25th November 2018
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Price cap plan to clamp down on high rent-to-own fees – The Guardian
‘The City watchdog has proposed a price cap on rent-to-own companies in a clampdown on “excessive charges” expected to save 300,000 vulnerable customers up to £22.7m a year.’
The Guardian, 22nd November 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
MPs call for tribunal to bring ‘misbehaving banks’ to justice – The Guardian
‘A cross-bench group of MPs is gaining traction in its fight for a financial services tribunal that would bring misbehaving banks to justice, ahead of a key meeting with the chancellor this week.’
The Guardian, 20th November 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
