On 25 July 2019, the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery Chamber) published a decision in respect of Sussex Independent Financial Advisers Limited (Sussex). Sussex sought to challenge a Supervisory Notice issued by the FCA which removed all of the firm’s permitted regulatory activities with effect from 8 July 2019. It also imposed requirements restricting Sussex’s … Continue Reading
On 31 July 2019, the Bank of England (BoE) published a speech given by Miles Bake (PRA Head of Legal, Enforcement & Litigation Division). In his speech, Mr Bake outlined the PRA’s approach to enforcement providing an overview of recent PRA enforcement actions and explained the enforcement department’s agenda going forward. In terms of recent … Continue Reading
On 9 July 2019, the FCA published its Anti-money Laundering (AML) Annual Report for 2018/2019. The report echoes Mark Steward’s comments in a speech earlier this year in relation to the FCA’s increasing focus on criminal investigations for money laundering. The newly published Report states that ‘some’ of the FCA’s current AML investigations are now … Continue Reading
On 4 July 2019, the UK’s fifth Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) was approved. The DPA is between the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Serco Geografix Limited (SGL), a subsidiary of Serco Group PLC, and relates to fraud and false accounting offences. The offences relate to a scheme to dishonestly mislead the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) … Continue Reading
On 8 July 2019, in the case of N v the Royal Bank of Scotland plc, the High Court (the Court) handed down a judgment which provides guidance on how banks respond to alleged money laundering activities. N, an authorised payment institution, issued proceedings for an interim mandatory injunction against the bank after it decided … Continue Reading
On 22 May 2019, the UK Government presented to Parliament its final Report following the conclusion of the Independent Review of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (the “Act”). The Independent Review was launched in July 2018 by Frank Field MP, Maria Miller MP and Baroness Butler-Sloss. The Review focused on the following four areas relevant … Continue Reading
The First-Tier Tax Tribunal (FTT) has recently held that HMRC can issue third party information notices to non-UK residents under paragraph 2 of Schedule 36 to the Finance Act 2008 (Schedule 36). The FTT in Mr and Mrs PQ v HMRC[1] held that the residency status of individuals will not in itself determine HMRC’s ability … Continue Reading
The Law Commission has today published its report on the SARs regime following its consultation paper. Amongst wide-ranging recommendations to improve the regime, it has recommended that the government consider the need for guidance in relation to transactions involving the legal cannabis industry in Canada and elsewhere. Such guidance would certainly be useful to the … Continue Reading
The FCA has decided to fine a premium listed issuer, Cathay International Holdings Limited (Cathay) £411,000 for a number of breaches of the Listing Principles and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules. In addition, the FCA has decided to fine Cathay’s CEO £214,300 for being knowingly concerned in those breaches and its Finance Director £40,200 for … Continue Reading
London Capital & Finance (LC&F), which collapsed in January 2019, was authorised by the FCA in relation to its promotional activities. However, the actual sale of mini-bonds by LC&F was not a regulated activity and so not typically protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which has called into question the scope of protection … Continue Reading
On 30 May 2019, the London Stock Exchange (the Exchange) announced a public censure and £300,000 fine for a PLC in relation to breaches of a number of AIM Rules for Companies (AIM Rules) arising from a variety of failings including misleading announcements, non-disclosure of related party transactions and inadequate board level challenge. The fine … Continue Reading
On 8 April 2019, the UK Supreme Court granted KBR Inc. leave to appeal against a decision that allows the SFO to compel certain foreign companies to hand over documents held overseas. The Supreme Court’s decision was published on 23 May 2019 (see here). KBR Inc. is appealing the judgment in R (on the application … Continue Reading
On 23 May 2019, the FCA published a Notice of Undertaking against the debt management firm, stating that it was concerned that: two of the terms in the firm’s standard form contracts had the potential to give the firm discretion to charge consumers unspecified amounts should a consumer cancel the contract, which could lead to … Continue Reading
The complainant suffered loss after she invested in a firm which was later identified as a clone. Before investing, the complainant had contacted the FCA to ask whether the firm (also regulated in Austria) was a regulated entity. The FCA confirmed that the firm was legitimate based on its registration number. The FCA also recommended … Continue Reading
On 9 May 2019, the FCA published an undertaking given by an investment management firm in relation to a term in its standard client contracts which allowed the firm to terminate the contract without the requirement to provide prior written notice. The FCA considered that the term was likely to be considered unfair under the … Continue Reading
In the recent case of Jimenez, the Court of Appeal held that HMRC has the power to send an information notice to a UK national and former UK resident who was at the time of sending the notice living in Dubai. This is part of a recent trend for English courts to support UK authorities’ … Continue Reading
On 23 April, the London Metal Exchange (LME) launched a formal market-wide consultation on the introduction of responsible sourcing standards for all traded metals. Under the new rules, all LME listed brands will be required to undertake a phased approach, starting with a Red Flag Assessment based on the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published ‘A Framework for OFAC Compliance Commitments’* in order to provide organizations subject to US jurisdiction, as well as foreign entities that conduct business in or with the United States or US persons, or that use US-origin goods or services, with a … Continue Reading
On 17 April, the European Parliament adopted new rules to protect whistleblowers. The rules are designed to encourage the reporting of breaches of EU law by offering to whistleblowers EU-wide protection from dismissal, demotion and other forms of retaliation in areas including public procurement, financial services, money laundering, product and transport safety, nuclear safety, public … Continue Reading
In a recent speech, FCA Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight Mark Steward again made clear that the FCA is prepared to use its power to bring criminal proceedings for breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) obligations set out under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (MLRs … Continue Reading
Summary This landmark judgment from the UK Supreme Court means that the claim brought by 1,826 Zambian villagers against UK-based Vedanta and its Zambian subsidiary KCM can proceed to a trial of the substantive issues in the English courts. One of the issues that now falls to be examined is the controversial question of whether … Continue Reading
In this on-demand webinar, members of our Regulatory, Compliance and Investigations team in London, France, the US and Hong Kong give their thoughts on likely regulatory enforcement and sanctions trends for the rest of this year based on recent enforcement cases and forward looking statements from the regulators. Topics discussed include individual accountability, anti-money laundering … Continue Reading
In a speech earlier this week Lisa Osofsky announced that the SFO will shortly publish guidance on its expectations in relation to self-reporting and cooperation. The speech suggested that waiver of privilege over internal investigations material will be seen by the SFO as a strong indicator of, if not a precondition to, cooperation for the purposes … Continue Reading
On 1 April 2019, the FCA announced that there will be an independent investigation into the failure of London Capital & Finance (LC&F). The FCA stated that the investigation should cover: whether the existing regulatory system adequately protects retail purchasers of mini-bonds from unacceptable levels of harm; and the FCA’s supervision of LC&F. LC&F was … Continue Reading
