Barclays to be investigated over claim they misused loan scheme – The Guardian

Posted September 21st, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, guarantees, loans, news, small businesses by tracey

“A government business lending specialist is to investigate a loan made by Barclays that turned sour and allowed the bank to collect nearly £70,000 in taxpayer guarantees.”

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The Guardian, 20th September 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

HBOS banker Peter Cummings fined by regulator – BBC News

Posted September 13th, 2012 in banking, disqualification, financial regulation, fines, news by tracey

“A former HBOS executive has been fined £500,000 by the UK financial regulator over his role in the bank’s collapse.”

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BBC News, 12th September 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

FSA calls for clampdown on sales commissions – BBC News

Posted September 5th, 2012 in banking, consumer protection, financial regulation, insurance, news by sally

“The UK’s financial watchdog will call for a clampdown later on commissions paid for selling insurance, loans and bank accounts.”

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BBC News, 5th September 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Serious Fraud Office investigating Barclays payments to Qatar – The Guardian

Posted August 31st, 2012 in banking, fees, financial regulation, fraud, news by tracey

“The Serious Fraud Office has launched an investigation into payments made after Barclays tapped Middle Eastern investors for emergency funds in 2008.”

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The Guardian, 30th August 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Treasury Committee suggests higher fines and criminal sanctions for LIBOR manipulation – OUT-LAW.com

Posted August 21st, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, fines, news, penalties, reports, select committees by sally

“Higher fines for firms that fail to co-operate with regulators and potential criminal sanctions for benchmark manipulation have been suggested by the Treasury Select Committee in a report responding to alleged manipulation of market rates by major banks.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 21st August 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Libor to be overhauled as part of reforms, says FSA – The Guardian

Posted August 10th, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, interest, news by tracey

“Martin Wheatley, FSA boss, says Libor is ‘no longer fit for purpose’ and intends to make Libor manipulation a criminal offence.”

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The Guardian, 10th August 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Jury in FSA’s iSoft trial fail to return a verdict – The Guardian

Posted August 9th, 2012 in company directors, financial regulation, juries, news, retrials by sally

“Three ex-company directors accused of helping the owner of Barnsley football club make millions by concocting ‘fairytale’ financial results for software firm iSoft are facing a retrial after a jury failed to return a verdict on Wednesday.”

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The Guardian, 8th August 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Insider fraud increases due to pay freezes – Daily Telegraph

Posted August 3rd, 2012 in financial regulation, fraud, news, remuneration by tracey

“Pay freezes, rising unemployment and inflation are to blame for rising levels of insider fraud, according to CIFAS, the UK fraud prevention service.”

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Daily Telegraph, 2nd August 2012

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

The City deserves a financial regulator with clout – The Guardian

Posted August 1st, 2012 in financial regulation, news, Serious Fraud Office, warrants by sally

“The language of the high court judgment in effect quashing search warrants against Mayfair property tycoon brothers Robert and Vincent Tchenguiz was not as critical of the Serious Fraud Office as might have been expected.”

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The Guardian, 31st July 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The Rule of Law and its Enemies: The Landscape of Law – Gresham College Lecture

Posted July 30th, 2012 in financial regulation, news, rule of law by sally

“The historian Niall Ferguson delivers a lecture, recorded at Gresham College in the heart of legal London, addressing the relationship between the nature of law and economic success. He examines the rule of law in comparative terms, asking how far the common law’s claims to superiority over other systems are credible. Are we living through a time of creeping legal degeneration in the English-speaking world?”

Transcript

Lecture by Professor Niall Ferguson

Gresham College, 3rd July 2012

Source: www.gresham.ac.uk

Six convicted of insider dealing by FSA – BBC News

Posted July 24th, 2012 in financial regulation, insider dealing, news by tracey

“Six people have been convicted of insider dealing in a case brought by the Financial Services Authority.”

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BBC News, 23rd July 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Farepak victims to get compensation of £8m – The Guardian

Posted July 6th, 2012 in compensation, credit unions, financial regulation, news by tracey

“Savers who lost money when the hamper firm Farepak collapsed are to receive compensation totalling £8m from Lloyds Banking Group.”

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The Guardian, 6th July 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Attorney general steps in to caution against speedy banking inquiry – The Guardian

Posted July 5th, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, inquiries, interest, news by sally

“Britain’s most senior law officer has appeared to undermine the government’s own argument that any inquiry into the current banking scandal needed to happen as quickly as possible.”

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The Guardian, 5th July 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

FSA finds banks guilty of mis-selling to small firms – BBC News

Posted June 29th, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, insurance, news, small businesses by tracey

“The Financial Services Authority says banks mis-sold specialist insurance known as interest rate swaps tied to thousands of small businesses.”

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BBC News, 29th June 2012

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Tax crackdowns threaten Channel Islands’ haven status – The Guardian

Posted June 27th, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, Guernsey, Jersey, news, tax avoidance by sally

“The Jimmy Carr tax avoidance case has thrown the spotlight on Jersey and Guernsey, where the days of aggressive tax loopholes may be numbered.”

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The Guardian, 26th June 2012

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Publishing names of individuals in breach of proposed new financial services laws may break data protection laws, EU watchdog says – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 21st, 2012 in data protection, EC law, financial regulation, news by sally

“Financial services regulators may breach data protection laws if they are forced to publish the details of individuals who breach proposed new EU rules affecting credit institutions, a privacy watchdog has said.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 21st June 2012

Source: www.out-law.com

Banking giant faces landmark mis-selling case – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 21st, 2012 in banking, financial regulation, news by sally

“Key defences relied on by banks in interest rate swap (IRS) mis-selling claims are set to be tested in court this October when the claim of business-owner Sara Pearson against Barclays comes to trial.”

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Law Society’s Gazette, 21st June 2012

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

The Verrier Prohibition Managing Regulatory Risk in High Court Proceedings – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in financial regulation, news by sally

“The regulatory risk inherent in High Court proceedings has always (rightly) been firmly on the radar of all litigators in financial services sector. For clients in this sector – be they Lloyds brokers, IDBs, or investment banks – any litigation which impugns their integrity or that of their executives may prove toxic. Fortunately it is relatively rare that these regulatory risks eventuate. This may be the result of careful strategic management, a (fortuitous) lack of regulatory interest, or because the FSA disposes of the concerns with a private warning.”

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11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com

Broken promises? Sale and rent back is no answer to a mortgage – Hardwicke Chambers

“Owner occupiers unable to afford their mortgages have sometimes entered into sale and rent back arrangements (‘SRBs’). Under a SRB, the house is sold, often at a discount, but the vendor remains in occupation under a lease granted by the purchaser. According to a 2008 OFT study, even though SRBs were a relatively new phenomenon there had been about 50,000 of them. At that time the SRB market was unregulated. The FSA began to regulate it in 2009. According to a recent FSA press release, ‘the entire SRB market is temporarily shut’. Nevertheless, it is apparent that many tens of thousands of SRBs must have taken place by now.”

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Hardwicke Chambers, 24th May 2012

Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk

Managing Regulatory Risk in High Court Litigation – FSA Prohibitions and Disciplinary Proceedings – 11 KBW

Posted June 7th, 2012 in financial regulation, news by sally

“The first point to note about the Verrier prohibition is that it was based squarely on findings made in litigation which was not criminal proceedings nor related directly to regulated activities. This may have been a ‘first’ for the FSA; it is not unprecedented in other regulated sectors. The FSA’s interest was perhaps predictable on the extreme facts of the Tullett litigation. This talk considers the risks from civil litigation more generally for FSA-regulated firms and persons and how their legal advisers can help to identify and manage those risks.”

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11 KBW, 1st June 2012

Source: www.11kbw.com