Last year, we wrote about ClientEarth’s application to the High Court of England and Wales for permission to bring a judicial review claim, alleging that the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) unlawfully approved the IPO...more
1/18/2024
/ Capital Markets ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Judicial Review ,
Sustainability ,
UK
The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) new package of sustainability disclosure requirements (SDR) and investment labelling rules is a key pillar of the UK government’s efforts to introduce an economy-wide SDR regime. All...more
12/20/2023
/ Climate Change ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
EU ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Greenwashing ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sustainability ,
Sustainable Business Practices ,
UK
The new Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 (the Act) is the latest step in the UK Government’s attempts to address economic crime and improve transparency over corporate entities. Whilst most of the key...more
10/30/2023
/ Corporate Counsel ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Entities ,
Corporate Fraud ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Liability ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Crimes ,
Investigations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
UK
As part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, there are two new 'pay-away' exceptions to the need for a firm in the regulated sector to file a Defence against Money Laundering -
Previously a firm in...more
10/27/2023
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Corporate Crimes ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Transparency Act ,
Enforcement ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Authority ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Money Laundering ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
UK
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has assessed the systems and controls relating to sanctions compliance for over 90 firms across a range of sectors and summarised its findings of good and poor practice. Acknowledging...more
9/21/2023
/ Economic Sanctions ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Know Your Customers ,
Military Conflict ,
Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Risk Management ,
Russia ,
Third-Party Service Provider ,
UK ,
Ukraine
Quicker and easier sharing of customer information relating to economic crime concerns between firms in the UK financial sector is being encouraged by provisions in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill which is...more
ClientEarth (an environmental charity) is challenging a decision by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) to approve a prospectus of an energy company on the basis that it contains inadequate climate-related...more
A recent English court ruling has shed light on the approach of UK enforcement authorities to the question of money laundering risks where there is potential forced labour / modern slavery in a supply chain. The ruling will...more
2/22/2023
/ Due Diligence ,
Forced Labor ,
Human Rights ,
Human Trafficking ,
International Criminal Court ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
Money Laundering ,
National Crime Agency (NCA) ,
NGOs ,
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) ,
Supply Chain ,
UK ,
Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA)
Although, the FCA’s press release announcing its enforcement action against Sigma Broking Limited (Sigma) refers to “market abuse reporting failures”, some of the most interesting points in this case do not relate to the...more
The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has published its annual overview of insights from the Cyber Coordination Groups (CCG). Firms face an increasing threat of cyber attacks, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic and...more
With remote and hybrid working arrangements now the norm for many firms in the wake of the pandemic, risks of misconduct have become heightened by the increased use of unmonitored and/or encrypted communication applications...more
As part of its crackdown on dirty money, the UK Government has published a second Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill. The 250 page Bill covers a wide range of proposed reforms. This post focusses on the proposed...more
"Profound forces are reshaping financial services", according to the UK's Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA). In a recent speech, Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the FCA, echoes many of the future challenges and priorities set out in...more
The UK Government issued new guidance in July 2021 on how it considers companies and individuals should approach the question of disclosure of suspicious activity reports (SARs) in English civil litigation. The guidance...more
The FCA is extending its existing annual financial crime reporting obligation (termed the “REP-CRIM” by the FCA) to a broader range of firm types. The change is expected to impact approximately 4500 firms who were previously...more
A clause stating that a reduction in room size by more than 3% would be “deemed material” related only to the materiality of the variation from the contract drawings, rather than the materiality of the resulting breach of...more
In Gaia v Abbeygate, Abbeygate, a development company, was required to pay to Gaia GBP1.4m, for failure to use reasonable endeavours to enable a commercial site to be redeveloped: Gaia Ventures Ltd v Abbeygate Helical...more