05/04/2022
The Chancellor announces a £25 million “fraud squad” to recover £5 billion
There has been recent criticism of the UK’s role in illicit finance and the UK Government’s efforts to tackle serious fraud.
Legal, Regulation & Compliance
05/03/2022
Bank of England poised to raise interest rates further to curb inflation
Most economists predict a 0.25 percentage point increase as central bank tries to avoid exacerbating economic slowdown
05/03/2022
FCA stops advice firm from disposing of assets
The firm will now have to seek written consent from the regulator before selling any assets.
05/03/2022
FCA serves Terry Smith’s Fundsmith Section 166 order
Smith’s £28bn fund firm was ordered to conduct a skilled person review in the first quarter, according to reports.
05/03/2022
Canton rejects proposal to abolish GLKB's state guarantee
As a result, the current Cantonal Bank Act remains in force. The canton retains its majority stake and the state guarantee continues to apply. The bank also retains its legal form as a special-law stock corporation.
05/03/2022
FSB launches consultation on supervisory and regulatory approaches to climate-related risks
The report includes recommendations on the identification of authorities’ information needs, reliability of data, use of common definitions and coordination towards common regulatory reporting requirements.
05/03/2022
Deutsche Bank headquarters searched by German authorities
Deutsche Bank is fully cooperating with the authorities.
05/03/2022
Contentious Trusts – Can the recipient of assets from a trust end up with a claim against them?
This decision dismissed SICL’s long-running claim that Saudi National Bank was liable in “knowing receipt” of trust property - by the time of the judgment the trust property had a market value in excess of £320 million - comprising
05/03/2022
Financial Regulation: Daily Update
The European Banking Authority (EBA) has published a Discussion Paper (DP) on the role of environmental risks in the prudential framework
05/02/2022
Herbert Smith Freehills Financial Regulation Daily Update
The PRA will publish a Policy Statement on the definition of a simpler-regime late 2022 or early 2023.
04/30/2022
Cardinal Pell praises Pope Francis’ curial reform after financial scandals
‘We cannot afford to lose another 500 million though incompetence or corruption in the next 40 years,’ said Cardinal George Pell.
04/30/2022
Proposed Russian law puts ‘unfriendly’ assets at risk
The draft law defines assets widely, to include movable and immovable property, cash, bank deposits, securities, corporate rights and other intangible assets such as data.
04/30/2022
HSBC set to be accused of greenwashing
The UK advertising authority judged the effect of the campaign was to lead customers to believe the bank was making "a positive overall environmental contribution as a company," a ploy that could influence decisions around financial products.
04/30/2022
FCA launches consultation on Russia side pockets
Closes 16 May 2022
04/29/2022
Protecting investors in authorised funds following the Russian invasion of Ukraine
We are consulting on rules which will allow Authorised Fund Managers to create separate unit classes (side pockets) for retail investment funds affected by the invasion of Ukraine.
04/29/2022
UK’s digital watchdogs take a closer look at algorithms
Every day, we access services that process data using a wide variety of automated systems.
04/29/2022
Sanctions licensing in the United Kingdom Overseas Territories
The only exception to the prohibition on the asset freeze and to allow a Territory person to deal with the frozen funds or economic recourses would be to apply to the competent authority of the United Kingdom Overseas Territories for a financial sanctions
04/29/2022
Russian sanctions: the impact of UK, EU and US sanctions for UK and EU businesses
In addition, formal guidance from the regulatory authorities on the meaning and practical application of the sanctions is either not issued, is not comprehensive or is issued weeks after the law came into force.
04/29/2022
Financial Regulation: Daily Update
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published its Annual Concurrency Report.
04/29/2022
Fund Liquidity – An Overview of Key Guidance Issued
In this update we provide an overview of this and other guidance and proposals issued on this topic as highlighted in the timelines on the right-hand side of these pages.