HMRC’s Covid fraud taskforce to leave billions unaccounted for November 14, 2022 An HMRC unit set up to tackle Covid fraud is set to leave £3.3bn outstanding when it winds down in March 2023, campaigners have warned. The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce, which was set up by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in March 2021, will be phased out, despite having collected less than 25 per cent of the money [...]
British barrister to represent democracy activist Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong trial November 11, 2022 A Hong Kong appeals court has upheld a decision to let British barrister Tim Owen KC represent newspaper owner Jimmy Lai in an upcoming trial of the entrepreneur over alleged breaches of the Hong Kong’s controversial national security law. Jimmy Lai is set to face trial in December over claims his publication of his pro-democracy [...]
Frozen Russian assets should act as ‘wake up call’ for UK government, campaigners say November 10, 2022 The billions in Russian assets frozen by UK authorities since the start of the war in Ukraine should act as a “wake up call” to the British government, to ensure it never allows a “kleptocratic regime” access to the country’s economy again, campaigners have said. The record £18.39bn in assets frozen by the UK’s [...]
BP oil trader loses employment lawsuit after being stripped of whistleblowing protection November 10, 2022 A BP oil trader has lost an employment lawsuit against the firm after a tribunal ruled he was not entitled to whistle-blower protections. Jonathan Zarembok, who was fired from his job after flagging concerns about potential bribes being paid to Nigerian middlemen, claimed he was forced out unfairly. He raised concerns about “abnormally large” fee [...]
Barclays faces court over £40m breast implant scandal November 9, 2022 Barclays today faced claims it helped a private healthcare company avoid paying compensation to women given faulty breast implants by a private healthcare firm. The bank is accused of working with Midlands law firm The Wilkes Partnership to restructure Hospital Medical Group (HMG), in order to help it avoid paying compensation to women given faulty [...]
Lisa Osofsky to step down as SFO director in August 2023 November 9, 2022 Lisa Osofsky is set to leave her position as director of the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in August 2023 after completing a five-year stint at the fraud investigation agency. Osofsky told staff she will serve her full tenure before leaving the agency, according to an internal message sent out by the SFO chief. In [...]
Barclays told to pay £1m to more than 1,000 mortgage customers over PPI breaches November 9, 2022 The UK’s competitions watchdog has ordered Barclays to pay up to £1m in compensation to at least 1,000 of its mortgage customers, over its failure to comply with rules around Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) policies. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said Barclays should pay compensation to as many 1,306 of its mortgage customers, [...]
Johnson & Johnson to face UK class action lawsuit over talc asbestos claims November 9, 2022 Johnson & Johnson is set to face a class-action lawsuit brought forward by high-profile Houston litigator Mark Lanier’s new UK-based firm. The Houston litigator’s new law firm is launching a British class-action lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over claims the New Jersey pharma giant’s talc products caused UK customers to develop cancer. The lawsuit is [...]
Law firms avoid layoffs amid fears of repeating mistakes of 2008 crisis November 8, 2022 Law firms are avoiding making widespread layoffs, as they seek to wait out the current crisis, due to fears of repeating the mistakes made during the financial crash of 2008, analysts have said. The world’s top law firms are continuing hiring and holding back on making redundancies, despite declining profitability, new analysis from Thomson Reuters [...]
JP Morgan settles with trader fired over wrongful allegations of market spoofing November 8, 2022 JP Morgan has settled with a trader, who was wrongly fired from his job for market spoofing, after the bank failed to pay a £1.58m sum awarded to him by an employment tribunal in January. Ex-trader Bradley Jones was awarded £1.58m after an employment tribunal ruled he was wrongly fired from his £220,000 a year job [...]