City watchdog vows to pursue retrial in collapsed insider trading case June 22, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has said it will seek a retrial against two men accused of insider trading, after a jury was unable to reach a verdict last month. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will pursue a retrial against plastics company exec Stuart Bayes and his friend Jonathan Swann. The FCA accused [...]
UK watchdog fines London insurer JLT Speciality Ltd £7.9m for involvement in bribery scandal June 22, 2022 The UK’s financial watchdog has fined London insurance broker JLT Specialty Ltd (JLTSL) £7.9m over its involvement in a multi-million-dollar bribery scandal. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) hit the London broker with a £7.9m fine for failing to prevent financial crime, after an “introducer” working for the firm in Panama paid $3m in bribes to [...]
Insurers calls on government to expand pensions ‘auto-enrolment’ scheme June 21, 2022 The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has called on the government to to expand its pensions “auto-enrolment” scheme, following a review of the policy’s successes since it came into force a decade ago. The ABI said the government should set out plans to expand its auto-enrolment policy, which requires employers to automatically enroll all staff [...]
London solicitors’ body calls on members to join barristers’ strike June 21, 2022 The London criminal solicitors’ trade body has called on its members to back the barristers strike, after criminal barristers voted in favour of plans to stage series of court walkouts, starting from next week. The London Criminal Courts Solicitors’ Association (LCCSA) called on its members to support the barristers strike by joining their colleagues in [...]
KPMG strikes deal with Cambridge University to study workplace wellbeing June 21, 2022 KPMG has struck a deal with Cambridge University to let researchers come into the Big Four firm to study the impacts of its mental wellbeing initiatives. The Big Four accountancy firm’s partnership will see Cambridge University researchers allowed into the company to study workplace wellbeing – with a view to developing strategies to boost productivity, [...]
EY partners could get $8m in shares each following Big Four firm’s split June 21, 2022 Partners at EY could be in line to receive windfalls worth $8m (£6.5m) each, if the accountancy firm pushes forwards with plans to split out its audit and advisory operations into two separate firms. Thousands of the Big Four firm’s partners could receive millions in windfall payments each, as part of EY’s plans to break [...]
Criminal barristers vote to strike over legal aid June 20, 2022 Criminal barristers yesterday voted in favour of plans to strike against the government, following a long-running dispute over legal aid fees. Barristers who work in criminal law are set to stage a series of court walkouts, after 81.5 per cent of the 2,055 barristers who voted in the Criminal Bar Association’s ballot came out in support of [...]
Value of litigation funders’ war chests hits record highs as investors seek to bankroll UK class actions June 20, 2022 THE value of UK litigation funders “war chests” has hit record highs of £2.2bn, as investors are increasingly bankrolling class-action lawsuits in a bid for higher returns. The value of assets held by third-party litigation funders, for use in bankrolling cases, has increased ten-fold over the past decade, having doubled in the past three [...]
UK watchdog met with BNP Paribas’ HR team over handling of sexual discrimination complaint June 20, 2022 FRENCH Bank BNP Paribas came under active scrutiny from the UK’s financial watchdog over its alleged mishandling of complaints from one of its brokers that she was subject to years of sexual discrimination and bullying at the firm’s London offices. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) held a series of meeting with senior members of [...]
Hackers delay Vladimir Putin’s opening speech at Russia’s version of Davos June 19, 2022 Hackers on Friday halted the start of Vladimir Putin’s opening speech to the St Petersburg conference dubbed ‘Russia’s version of Davos,’ as part of ongoing cyberwar between Russia and Ukraine. The Russian president’s opener was held up for more than an hour, after pro-Ukrainian hacktivists overloaded the St Petersburg International Economic Forum’s (SPIEF’s) servers with [...]