On 8 February 2024, the FCA published a statement confirming that the Upper Tribunal (UT) had decided not to suspend restrictions that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has placed on e-money firm Nvayo Limited (Nvayo). These restrictions, which appear on the FCA’s register, include restrictions on the business the firm can do. They were imposed … Continue Reading
On 5 March 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) issued a warning to firms about common failings it has identified in firms’ financial crime controls. It wrote to CEOs of Annex 1 firms, setting out the findings from its recent assessments of how firms are complying with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. The letter warns that … Continue Reading
In the latest episode of our Decisions Decoded podcast series, we discuss the key points from the Final Notice issued against Floris Huisamen, former director of London Capital & Finance plc (LCF). In October 2023, LCF was publicly censured for its unfair and misleading financial promotions of minibonds. In connection with this, Mr Huisamen has … Continue Reading
In March 2022, a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Treasury Committee published a report regarding the development, implementation and impact of economic sanctions on Russia (the 2022 Report). In brief, the 2022 Report found that: The UK’s sanctions framework has continued to evolve, with businesses left to navigate the increasing complexity of implementing … Continue Reading
A number of the members of our Financial Services team in London have experience of working at the Financial Conduct Authority and in our latest briefing note, they discuss the insights that their different experiences at the regulator have provided and how we translate that to advising clients across the full spectrum of financial services … Continue Reading
On 30 January 2024, the Bank of England (the Bank) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) published Policy Statement PS1/24 which sets out a revised approach to enforcement for both PRA firms and financial market infrastructure firms. It followed Consultation Paper CP9/23 published in May 2023. There is now a new consolidated Bank enforcement approach which … Continue Reading
In our latest Regulation Tomorrow podcast, Senior Knowledge Lawyer Catherine Pluck is joined by Senior Associate Rebecca Dulieu and Associate Lizzie Cox, both of whom specialise in regulatory investigations and enforcement, to discuss reporting obligations under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), in particular how to draft and submit good quality suspicious activity reports. … Continue Reading
With a record number of enforcement cases resolved in recent years, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is continuing to show its determination to hold firms and individuals to account for serious accounting and audit failures. In our latest briefing, we set out five key themes for relevant firms and individuals to be aware of as … Continue Reading
The UK’s Industry and Economic Security Minister, Nusrat Ghani, today announced the creation of a new civil enforcement unit, the Office of Trade Sanctions Implementation (OTSI). OTSI is expected to become operational early next year, and will focus on the civil enforcement of trade sanctions, including in relation to the circumvention or evasion of the current … Continue Reading
The response to, and the management of, a skilled person review can be challenging, costly and time consuming for firms. In our latest briefing note we set out some key points for firms to consider when dealing with a skilled person review requirement imposed by the FCA or PRA, from the initial stages of negotiating … Continue Reading
Summary On 17 November 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced that it has censured the holding company of the largest private healthcare operator in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), NMC Health Plc (in administration) (NMC), for misleading the market about its debt, and failing to declare related party transactions, which was found to be … Continue Reading
Last month the FCA announced that it had fined Equifax Limited £11,164,400 for failing to manage and monitor the security of UK consumer data it had transferred to its parent company based in the US, Equifax Inc, for processing. In our latest podcast in this series, Catherine Pluck discusses with Katie Stephen and Rosie Nance … Continue Reading
Introduction As anticipated in our previous horizon scan (see here), the end of 2023 has brought about significant developments in financial crime enforcement and a real focus on fraud. Looking ahead to 2024, we predict that developments affecting organisations doing business in the UK will include: a focus from organisations on fraud, in particular preparing … Continue Reading
Introduction Following the unprecedented levels of sanctions activity in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in companies dealing with the most significant and complex sanctions regimes across multiple jurisdictions, authorities in the US, UK and EU are now turning their attention to enforcement of those sanctions. Sanctions authorities have indicated that they … Continue Reading
This podcast is the first in our new series, Decisions Decoded, focussing on decisions and themes in regulatory investigations and enforcement. In this episode, Senior Knowledge Lawyer Catherine Pluck talks to Financial Services Partner Katie Stephen about the recent FCA Final Notice concerning ADM Investor Services International Limited, which has been fined £6,470,600 for inadequate … Continue Reading
Background The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on 13 October 2023 that it had fined Equifax Limited (Equifax), a credit reference agency and data, analytics and technology business, £11,164,400 for failing to manage and monitor the security of UK consumer data it had transferred to its parent company based in the US, Equifax Inc, for … Continue Reading
A new “failure to prevent fraud” offence has been introduced as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (the Act). The Act has received Royal Assent, and although timing for implementation is unclear, it is expected that the new offence could come into force during early 2024. This forms part of broader reforms of UK corporate … Continue Reading
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (the Act), which includes the failure to prevent fraud offence (the FTPF Offence), has received Royal Assent. Overview The FTPF Offence will make an organisation liable if it fails to prevent a specified fraud offence from being committed where: (i) an employee or agent commits the fraud; … Continue Reading
The next round of the consideration of the new failure to prevent fraud offence (the FTPF Offence), proposed as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill), saw the House of Lords push back again on restricting application of the offence to large organisations only. The proposal, which the House of Lords … Continue Reading
Earlier this month members of our Contentious Financial Services Group hosted an investigations webinar as part of our firm-wide In-house legal forum series. This webinar is now available on demand and the On24 audience link can be found here. The session covers the key practical steps to take at the outset of an investigation … Continue Reading
On 6 October 2023, the English Court of Appeal (Court of Appeal) handed down its judgment in Mints v PJSC National Bank Trust [2023] EWCA Civ 1132. The judgment considered the English High Court’s decision in PJSC National Bank Trust and another v Boris Mints and others [2023] EWHC 118 (Comm), and concerned a claimant’s … Continue Reading
Introduction On 28 September 2023 the FCA released a webpage setting out its analysis of the data and information collected from principal firms in 2021 and 2022 including from firms’ responses to information requests following the implementation of the new Appointed Representatives (AR) regime which came into effect in December 2023. The purpose of the … Continue Reading
The recent Patisserie Valerie charges against four individuals provide a preview of the type of scenario in which companies could be investigated under the new failure to prevent fraud offence as well as the expanded test for corporate criminal liability. In this blog, we outline the charges brought by the SFO, provide an update on … Continue Reading
Background On 4 September 2023, the UK House of Commons debated the House of Lords’ amendments to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (the Bill). The House of Commons voted to include an exemption for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and remove the extension of the proposed offence to failure to prevent money laundering. … Continue Reading