Publishing names of individuals in breach of proposed new financial services laws may break data protection laws, EU watchdog says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 21st, 2012 in data protection, EC law, financial regulation, news by sally

“Financial services regulators may breach data protection laws if they are forced to publish the details of individuals who breach proposed new EU rules affecting credit institutions, a privacy watchdog has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 21st June 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Banking giant faces landmark mis-selling case – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 21st, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, news by sally

“Key defences relied on by banks in interest rate swap (IRS) mis-selling claims are set to be tested in court this October when the claim of business-owner Sara Pearson against Barclays comes to trial.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 21st June 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

The Verrier Prohibition Managing Regulatory Risk in High Court Proceedings – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in financial regulation, news by sally

“The regulatory risk inherent in High Court proceedings has always (rightly) been firmly on the radar of all litigators in financial services sector. For clients in this sector – be they Lloyds brokers, IDBs, or investment banks – any litigation which impugns their integrity or that of their executives may prove toxic. Fortunately it is relatively rare that these regulatory risks eventuate. This may be the result of careful strategic management, a (fortuitous) lack of regulatory interest, or because the FSA disposes of the concerns with a private warning.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Broken promises? Sale and rent back is no answer to a mortgage – Hardwicke Chambers

“Owner occupiers unable to afford their mortgages have sometimes entered into sale and rent back arrangements (‘SRBs’). Under a SRB, the house is sold, often at a discount, but the vendor remains in occupation under a lease granted by the purchaser. According to a 2008 OFT study, even though SRBs were a relatively new phenomenon there had been about 50,000 of them. At that time the SRB market was unregulated. The FSA began to regulate it in 2009. According to a recent FSA press release, ‘the entire SRB market is temporarily shut’. Nevertheless, it is apparent that many tens of thousands of SRBs must have taken place by now.”

Full story

Hardwicke Chambers, 24th May 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Managing Regulatory Risk in High Court Litigation – FSA Prohibitions and Disciplinary Proceedings – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in financial regulation, news by sally

“The first point to note about the Verrier prohibition is that it was based squarely on findings made in litigation which was not criminal proceedings nor related directly to regulated activities. This may have been a ‘first’ for the FSA; it is not unprecedented in other regulated sectors. The FSA’s interest was perhaps predictable on the extreme facts of the Tullett litigation. This talk considers the risks from civil litigation more generally for FSA-regulated firms and persons and how their legal advisers can help to identify and manage those risks.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Managing Regulatory Risk in High Court Litigation – FSA Prohibitions and Disciplinary Proceedings Part II – The FSA Disciplinary and Enforcement Regime – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in financial regulation, news by sally

“The FSA issued the Verrier Prohibition under its powers under section 56 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the ‘FSMA’). Section 56 confers power, when ‘it appears to the [FSA] that an individual is not a fit and proper person to perform functions in relation to a regulated activity carried on by an authorised person’ to: ‘…make an order (“a prohibition order”) prohibiting the individual from performing a specified function, any function falling within a specified description or any function’.”

Full story (PDF)

11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

FSA decides to ban and fine hedge fund CEO Alberto Micalizzi £3 million – Financial Services Authority

Posted May 29th, 2012 in disqualification, financial regulation, fines, press releases by tracey

“The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has today published a decision notice indicating that it has decided to fine Alberto Micalizzi £3 million and ban him from performing any role in regulated financial services for not being fit and proper. This is the FSA’s largest fine for an individual in a non market abuse case.”

Full press release

Financial Services Authority, 29th May 2012

Source: www.fsa.gov.uk

Banks must “prominently display” what compensation arrangements apply to deposits from August – OUT-LAW.com

Posted May 29th, 2012 in banking, compensation, financial regulation, news, notification by tracey

“All banks, building societies and credit unions will have to ‘prominently display’ notices explaining what compensation arrangements apply to customer deposits, banking regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has announced.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 29th May 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

The FSA’s Approved Persons Regime and the Disciplinary and Dismissal Flashpoints – 11 KBW

Posted May 28th, 2012 in disciplinary procedures, dismissal, financial regulation, news by sally

The FSA’s Approved Persons Regime and the Disciplinary and Dismissal Flashpoints (PDF)

11 KBW, 22nd May 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Bootes and others v Ceart Risk Services Ltd – WLR Daily

Posted May 9th, 2012 in administrators, financial regulation, insolvency, law reports by sally

Bootes and others v Ceart Risk Services Ltd [2012] EWHC 1178 (Ch); [2012] WLR (D) 136

“A failure to comply with section 362A of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 in the appointment of administrators did not necessarily invalidate that appointment irreparably.”

WLR Daily, 25th April 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

New financial rules for football in England could lead to short-term increase in insolvencies of clubs, expert says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 30th, 2012 in financial regulation, fines, insolvency, news, sport by sally

“More football clubs in England may go into administration in the next few years if football authorities elect to fine clubs for spending beyond their means, a sports law expert has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 27th April 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

FSA “did not establish misconduct” from alleged CEO compliance failures, tribunal says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 26th, 2012 in appeals, financial regulation, fines, news, tribunals by sally

“The financial services regulator ‘did not establish its case’ that the former chief executive of a large investment bank had committed misconduct through his alleged failure to adequately supervise compliance issues.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 26th April 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Names of staff members who dealt with complaints are not necessarily personal data, Tribunal says – OUT-LAW.com

“The names of three junior members of staff who had handled complaints made to the financial services regulator should have been disclosed as part of a freedom of information request as disclosure ‘did not adversely affect their privacy’, a tribunal has ruled.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 18th April 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Banks failing to carry out anti-bribery measures, says FSA – The Guardian

Posted March 30th, 2012 in banking, bribery, financial regulation, news by tracey

“The City watchdog has warned that many banks are failing to provide proper controls to prevent bribery and corruption despite the high profile introduction of the Bribery Act last year.”

Full story

The Guardian, 29th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Credit Suisse salesman fined £210,000 by FSA – The Guardian

Posted March 14th, 2012 in banking, confidentiality, financial regulation, fines, news by sally

“A senior salesman at Credit Suisse has been fined £210,000 by the Financial Services Authority for playing a guessing game with clients to enable them to identify private information about a forthcoming bond issue.”

Full story

The Guardian, 13th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Investors launch legal action against RBS – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 13th, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, news, shareholders by sally

“A group of institutional and private shareholders has launched a multi-billion pound legal claim against the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), its former chief executive Fred Goodwin and 18 directors and non-executive directors.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 12th March 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Taxpayer owned Bank of Scotland escapes fine over “serious misconduct” during financial crisis – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 13th, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, fines, news by sally

“The corporate arm of the Bank of Scotland was guilty of ‘very serious misconduct’ in the way it loaned money to businesses which contributed to its need to be bailed out by the Government, the financial services regulator has confirmed.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 12th March 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Call for tighter controls on payday lenders – The Guardian

Posted March 7th, 2012 in consumer credit, debts, financial regulation, loans, news by sally

“Payday lenders should be forced to limit the rolling over of loans, stop allowing customers to switch from one lender to another, and to share information about their customers with other lenders, the business, innovation and skills committee has recommended.”

Full story

The Guardian, 7th March 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (in Administration) v CRC Credit Fund Ltd and Others (Financial Services Authority intervening) – WLR Daily

Posted March 2nd, 2012 in client accounts, financial regulation, insolvency, law reports, trusts by tracey

Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (in Administration) v CRC Credit Fund Ltd and Others (Financial Services Authority intervening): [2012] UKSC 6: [2012] WLR (D)  53

“The ‘client money pool’ to be distributed among former clients of Lehman Brothers’ London affiliate was not limited to money which had been placed in segregated client accounts, as required by the Financial Services Authority, but extended to identifiable client money which the company had failed to segregate and had retained in its own house accounts. The pool was to be distributed rateably among all clients who had a contractual entitlement to have money segregated and not just those in whose favour segregation had actually occurred.”

WLR Daily, 29th February 2012

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

‘Liquidity swaps’ beneficial in moderation, City regulator says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted March 2nd, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, insurance, news by tracey

“Insurers and banks can legitimately trade liquid and illiquid assets providing it is done on a ‘sensible scale,’ the City watchdog has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 2nd March 2012

Source: www.out-law.com