Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (LexBlog United Kingdom)

Our UK COVID-19 Considerations for Authorised Firms memorandum published earlier this month focused on the steps UK authorised firms can take to ensure their responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis are consistent with the expectations of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and summarised some of the key announcements and measures introduced by the FCA at...

On April 20, 2020, the UK Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced a new £500 million scheme (delivered by the UK Government in partnership with the British Business Bank) to provide convertible loans (alongside private third party matched investors) as bridge funding to innovative companies facing financial difficulties due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Chancellor indicated...

IFLR The premium segment of the UK’s Main Market offers investors the benefit of a gold plated package of shareholder rights, corporate governance and corporate disclosure above mandated EU-wide minimum standards that apply to all companies traded on regulated markets. In times of crisis these additional regulatory standards can hinder the efforts of a premium-listed...

Today, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) has issued a Statement of Policy containing a series of measures intended to assist listed companies during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These measures include: support for the Pre-Emption Group’s temporary guidance with respect to its Statement of Principles, including encouraging investors to support non-pre-emptive offerings of up to 20...

In the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has issued various statements emphasising the importance of business continuity arrangements for UK authorised firms. Responding appropriately to the unprecedented disruption caused by the coronavirus crisis poses significant challenges for senior managers. In this note, we focus on the steps UK authorised...

Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced late last week a series of measures designed to support the UK economy through the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These measures are in addition to the £30 billion stimulus package announced a week earlier on the same day that the Bank of England (BoE) cut interest rates to an historic low. The...

Our UK Corporate Finance Update: Coronavirus (COVID-19) – Related Measures and Guidance published earlier this week provided a summary of the initial measures taken, and guidance issued, as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic relevant to London-listed companies and their advisers. This newsflash provides a brief summary of measures announced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA),...

The UK’s main financial regulators announced a series of measures last week intended to alleviate some of the regulatory burdens facing firms and financial market infrastructures in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. These are in addition to initiatives announced by the Bank of England (BoE) and HM Treasury to support the wider economy,...

This memorandum highlights some annual general meeting (AGM) considerations for UK foreign private issuers (FPIs) with listings in the United States arising from coronavirus (COVID-19), including changing the format of their AGMs to include a virtual component, or delaying, postponing or adjourning their AGMs. As UK FPIs are not subject to the proxy requirements applicable...

Our UK Corporate Finance Update published earlier this year looked at key developments in corporate finance law, regulation and practice relevant to London-listed companies and their advisers over the last 12 months and forthcoming developments for 2020. With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this memorandum provides a brief summary of the first of...

The UK’s main financial regulators announced a series of measures last week intended to alleviate some of the regulatory burdens facing firms and financial market infrastructures in the wake of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. These are in addition to initiatives announced by the Bank of England (BoE) and HM Treasury to support the wider economy,...

The Bank of England has emphasized that the economic shock from coronavirus (COVID-19) will pose a challenge for the maintenance of liquidity and working capital by UK companies. With the objective of easing the cashflow difficulties likely to be widely faced by the UK corporate sector in the coming months, HM Treasury and the Bank...

The Proxy Advisors (Shareholders’ Rights) Regulations 2019 (“Regulations”) in the United Kingdom went into effect this past Monday. Proxy advisory services typically include research reports on public companies as well as proxy voting recommendations on how the proxy advisors’ clients, namely shareholders, should vote on all shareholder proposals, including those that are submitted by the...

On April 9, 2019, officials announced that London-based Standard Chartered Bank (“SCB”) reached resolutions with a half-dozen Federal, State, and UK agencies (DOJ, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office (“DANY”), the Federal Reserve Bank, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), the New York Department of Financial Services, and the U.K. Financial Conduct...

On December 19, 2018 the European Commission published the legislative proposals and delegated acts (the “Package”) which it had previously outlined in its Contingency Action Plan of November 13, 2018 to prepare for a “no-deal” scenario whereby the UK exits the EU on March 29, 2019 without a ratified withdrawal agreement in place. The Package...

On November 14, 2016, Sushovan Hussain, a United Kingdom citizen and resident and the former CFO of Autonomy Corporation plc, was indicted on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.  These charges arose out of the acquisition of Autonomy by Hewlett-Packard Company and Hewlett-Packard Vision B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of HP...