08/30/2012
FSA publishes guide to financial advice charges
Under the changes, from the start of 2013, financial advisers will have to agree a fee with their clients.
Legal, Regulation & Compliance
08/30/2012
Short Selling Regulation Update: Market Maker & Primary Dealer Exemption Notification Procedure
The SSR becomes applicable from 1 November 2012, but allows participants to notify securities regulators of their intention to use the exemption from 1 September 2012.
08/30/2012
Uncovered: Trial of the oligarchs
For the romantic Mr Berezovsky, this case at the commercial court here in London was about betrayal - a father and son relationship soured, a beautiful business partnership severed.
08/29/2012
Russell Collins and Boston Consulting Group Appointed to Support Barclays Review
Russell Collins has agreed to undertake the deputy role, acting as the Executive Leader of the Review.
08/29/2012
DLA Piper bulks up in France with Paris corporate merger
The merger, which will take effect on 1 October, will see DLA's lawyer headcount in the French capital rise to more than 30 partners and 40 further lawyers.
08/28/2012
Athens Closes in on Wealthy Tax Evaders
Modelled on Switzerland's agreements with Germany, Great Britain and Austria, the deal is aimed at the billions of euros Athens estimates that wealthy Greeks have parked in the Alpine country to avoid taxes back home.
08/28/2012
Swap mis-selling staff offered pay worth more than £200,000 a year
Banks are offering recruits up to £900 a day to work on interest rate swap mis-selling claims.
08/28/2012
Baker & McKenzie Retains Global Top Spot With Record Revenues
Baker’s profit per partner fell 9 percent to a three-year low of $1.09 million, however, with the firm’s profit margin dropping 4 percentage points to 34 percent.
08/28/2012
Barclays Said to Face Possible U.K. SFO Probe Over Qatar Fees
The Serious Fraud Office, which prosecutes bribery and white collar crime, may inform the London-based bank about its decision on a probe this week, according to the people, who declined to be identified because the discussions are private.
08/27/2012
DLA Piper set for Paris expansion with local merger
The firm is understood to be in advanced discussions with Frieh Bouhenic, a 26-lawyer boutique established in January last year by ex-Linklaters rainmaker Michel Frieh and Pierre-Alain Bouhenic, formerly of Weil Gotshal & Manges.
08/27/2012
France To Clamp Down On 'Unfair' ISF Tax Breaks
France’s solidarity tax imposed on wealth currently serves to generate in the region of EUR4bn a year for the state.
08/27/2012
French banks investigate potential breach of U.S. sanctions
Neither would confirm whether the inquiries concerned U.S. sanctions against Iran, which have led to investigations at rival banks such as UniCredit and RBS and have already cost Standard Chartered a hefty fine.
08/27/2012
Standard Life: Advisers struggle to explain post-RDR charges
Survey of insurer’s ‘account managers’ suggests disclosure is key RDR concern for advisers.
08/26/2012
US investigates UniCredit over sanctions
Unicredit has confirmed it is co-operating with a US investigation into a possible breach of sanctions.
08/26/2012
Zero Tolerance For Helping Tax Evaders, Says UBS
"The bank requires that all employees in the cross-border asset management business abide by legal fundamentals, including the German-Swiss tax deal […] Whoever transgresses is severely sanctioned”, Mr Weber told German newspaper Handels
08/23/2012
JPMorgan "London Whale" hires lawyer in France
The trader at the center of the criminal investigation surrounding JPMorgan's $5.8 billion trading loss has hired a lawyer in Paris, two sources familiar with the investigation said on Thursday.
08/23/2012
Intesa Luxembourg banker probed in tax evasion case
The magistrates have now put the chief executive of Intesa's Luxembourg unit Societe Europeenne de Banque (SEB), Marco Bus, and an Italian broker and former Intesa employee, Alessandro Jelmoni, under investigation.
08/23/2012
Three platforms to accept US-taxpayer business post-Fatca
The reporting requirements have led platforms to reassess whether they will continue to hold assets for existing US investors and whether they will accept new business from US taxpayers.
08/23/2012
Germans raid Julius Baer clients in tax crackdown
German tax inspectors have raided clients of Swiss bank Julius Baer, the latest development in a dispute over untaxed money held in secret Swiss accounts, a German magazine reported.
08/22/2012
German Windfall Wealth Tax Said To Be Constitutional
According to legal expert Joachim Wieland, the deciding factor in the matter is whether or not the state has an exceptional financial need for such a one-off levy, for example to save the country’s banks, to bail out other countries, or to reduce bo