financial services

The Upper Tribunal has delivered a stinging assessment of the Financial Conduct Authority’s conduct and approach in an important decision relating to three former employees of Julius Baer International Limited (JBI). Background The case involved Thomas Seiler, Louise Whitestone and Gustavo Raitzin, who had roles at JBI’s London branch between 2011 and 2015. JBI, a […]

An increasingly common structure used in Private Funds (alongside other sectors) is the regulatory hosting model. However, the model has recently come under scrutiny from regulators, and decisions in the courts should also cause regulatory hosts and those using the models to be careful to ensure the structures and processes in place protect the fund […]

When continuation funds are used Typically, continuation funds are used in two situations: where a manager is unable or unwilling to realise assets at (or near) the end of a fund’s term, perhaps because those assets are problematic or distressed and there are no, or few, willing buyers prepared to pay the price being sought; […]

Some might say the FCA is late to the party, but there was a certain sense of inevitability when, in June 2023, the FCA announced its plans to bring cryptoassets within scope of the UK’s financial promotions regulatory regime. Whilst the announcement was no great shock, what is surprising is the speed with which this […]

Never a stranger to volatility, cryptocurrency has seen a number of ups and downs over the years since its inception back in 2009. The last year, however, has been a particularly eventful one. May 2023 marked six months following the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX. This proved to be a watershed moment for the […]

As part of its ongoing review of the UK funds regime, HM Treasury published on 27 April 2023 a consultation on the potential introduction, scope and design of a tax regime for a new unauthorised contractual scheme fund structure referred to as the Reserved Investor Fund (Contractual Scheme) (RIF) (the Consultation). Read the consultation here. […]

Sustainability Disclosure Requirements and investment labels: the UK’s take Summary The FCA has published its consultation on the Sustainability Disclosure Requirements (“SDR”) and investment labels for the UK market. The proposals would require UK asset managers making sustainability-related claims about their products to substantiate those claims. Read our full SDR & investment labels analysis here […]

The start of a new year is a good opportunity to look back and take stock of the FCA’s activity. Now that January is behind us and the days are starting to get longer, we have looked back at the fines the FCA has imposed during the period from 2019 through 2022 inclusive and the […]

The introduction of the Consumer Duty (the Duty) is the biggest regulatory shift in financial services in recent years, with a very tight timescale for implementation set out in the FCA’s policy statement of 28 July 2022 (PS 22/9). We have scrutinised each of the FCA’s consultations leading up to its final rules and engaged […]

The introduction of the Consumer Duty is the biggest regulatory shift in financial services in recent years, with a very tight timescale for implementation set out in the FCA’s policy statement of 28 July 2022 (PS 22/9). We have scrutinised each of the FCA’s consultations leading up to its final rules and engaged with clients […]