McGuireWoods LLP (LexBlog United Kingdom)

This alert is a continuation from a March 3, 2021 post. On 3rd March 2021, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £100 million Taxpayer Protection Taskforce (Taskforce) to scrutinise claims made under Government financial business support schemes designed to help companies and individuals navigate their way through the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Janet...

On May 20, 2021, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consultation on its proposed policy framework for exercising two of its new powers under the Benchmarks Regulation, as introduced by the UK Financial Services Act 2021 (UK BMR). These powers are designed to facilitate an orderly wind down of critical benchmarks such as...

March 5, 2021 marks an important day in the LIBOR transition process as the ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA), UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and ISDA made important announcements on the cessation of LIBOR. In recent years the Bank of England and the FCA have made it clear that the lack of an active underlying market...

In today’s budget, UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a £100 million Taskforce to scrutinise claims made under business support schemes designed to help companies and workers navigate their way through the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Taxpayer Protection Taskforce will be examining claims made honestly but in error as well as those made...

On February 15, 2021, the UK Treasury published a consultation paper on potential legal ‘safe harbor’ rules for legacy LIBOR-referencing contracts which have been amended by the Financial Conduct Authority (the FCA) under the Financial Services Bill. Under the Financial Services Bill, as discussed in more detail in our earlier blog post, the FCA will...

Fraud has reached epidemic levels in the UK and should be seen as a national security issue, says think tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) in a paper published last week[1]. It is the crime to which UK citizens are most likely to fall victim[2]. Its impact on the private sector has consequences for...

On January 28, 2021, the UK Loan Market Association (LMA) published exposure drafts of two multicurrency term and revolving facilities agreements which incorporate, among others, backward-looking compounded risk-free rates (the Exposure Drafts). In addition, the LMA published commentary on the Exposure Drafts, which aims to assist market participants in understanding the terms thereof. The...

Since Brexit, the relationship between the European Union (EU) and the UK concerning law enforcement cooperation is now governed by the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the Agreement). The UK Government state that the safety and security of British citizens is a top priority. It argues that the Agreement provides a comprehensive package of operational...

The end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020 means the UK now has full autonomy over its data protection policies. As of 1 January 2021 the UK is recognised as a ‘third country’ under EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, which is an agreement in...

With the end of LIBOR drawing closer, the FCA, Bank of England and the Working Group on Sterling Risk-Free Reference Rates (the Working Group) are encouraging market participants to actively transition from referencing LIBOR rates in their loan agreements to risk-free rates (such as SONIA). In this respect, one important aspect that market participants need...

On November 23, 2020, the Loan Market Association (the “LMA”) announced the publication of several new and revised documents, with the purpose of helping market participants incorporate appropriate transition mechanisms into their loan documentation. 1. New exposure draft multicurrency term and revolving facilities agreement incorporating rate switch provisions (lookback with observation shift) (“

On November 18, 2020, the LIBOR administrator ICE Benchmark Administration (IBA) announced that they will consult on their intention to cease publication of GBP, EUR, CHF and JPY LIBOR settings across all tenors. Their announcement also indicated that IBA remain in talks with the FCA, other official sector bodies and panel banks regarding the future...

On 5 November, the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK’s financial services regulator, permanently banned three men convicted of non-financial criminal offences from ever working in the financial services industry, on the basis that they do not meet criteria defining a fit and proper person. For details about this latest development and implications for the industry,...

On October 21, 2020, the UK Government introduced the Financial Services Bill (the Bill) to Parliament. The Bill is seen as a vital step towards ensuring the UK’s continued status as a global finance hub in the post-Brexit world, and it also introduces the UK Government’s legislative fix for LIBOR-referencing contracts that face insurmountable barriers...

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) imposes strict obligations upon organizations that process the “personal data” of European individuals. Failure to comply with GDPR can result in large fines. The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), in recent months, issued a number of fines of £500,000 on global businesses with household names, and such fines have...

Background For some time there has been a perception that the UK is a safe refuge for corrupt individuals seeking to conceal their unlawfully acquired assets. This has particularly been the case with regard to persons from countries outside the UK. The Government has sought to address this by amending the Proceeds of Crime Act...

The UK Government will introduce a new Data Protection Bill (the “Bill”) this year. As highlighted in the Queen’s speech back in June, the Government has committed to introduce the new law and, on Monday, published a Statement of Intent. The Bill will not change the position that the EU’s new data protection legislation –...

Brussels-based antitrust partner Matthew Hall brings us an update on two ongoing UK antitrust class actions and one on the horizon. Antitrust class actions in the UK are beginning to take hold before the specialist Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT), but progress is not all smooth.  Two cases have been filed and another is about to...

In June the ICO updated its Subject Access Code of Practice, which gives guidance to data controllers on how to respond to subject access requests from data subjects. The Code itself is not legally binding, but provides advice on good practice to promote compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). With less than a year...

The UK government launched its 5-year National Cyber Security Strategy in November 2016, investing a reported £1.9 billion to protect UK businesses from cyber-attacks and make the country the safest place to live and do business online. This strategy has included the opening of the National Cyber Security Centre (part of GCHQ) and the creation...

The UK Government introduced the Criminal Finances Bill to Parliament today (13 October 2016), which will now start its passage through the parliamentary approval process before becoming law. The Government hopes that the Bill “will significantly improve the government’s ability to tackle money laundering and corruption, recover the proceeds of crime, and counter terrorist financing”, and...

Brussels Antitrust/Competition partner (and English lawyer) Matthew Hall brings us an update on antitrust class actions filed under new procedures in the UK. Antitrust class actions in the UK are beginning to take hold before the specialist Competition Appeal Tribunal (the “CAT”).  The two filed to date show the possibilities at different ends of the...

The EU’s Market Abuse Regulation (“MAR”) came into effect on July 3, 2016 replacing the EU’s Market Abuse Directive. Unlike the Directive, the MAR has direct effect in each EU member state, including the UK. The MAR, a civil market abuse regime, is intended to ensure the smooth functioning of the financial markets and enhance...

Brussels Antitrust/Competition partner (and English lawyer) Matthew Hall brings us this report on the first antitrust class action filed under new procedures in the UK. Much ink and conference time have been spent discussing it, but now we have a real example of an antitrust class action in the UK.  This is the first under the...

The UK’s Prime Minster David Cameron has just hosted the  “Anti-Corruption Summit”, a first of its kind, bringing together world leaders, business, and civil society with the goal of seeking to agree on a package of steps to: Expose corruption so there is nowhere to hide Punish the perpetrator and support those affected by corruption Drive...

Effective immediately, most UK companies, Societates Europaeae and UK Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) are required to maintain a register of People with Significant Control (“PSC Register”). Set out below is a brief summary of some of the requirements. The rules are complex, and you should take immediate steps to seek appropriate advice and put in...

We originally wrote in 2014 about charges that had been brought in September of that year by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office against the French Multinational’s UK subsidiary, Alstom Network UK Ltd, and two former employees and British nationals for corruption offences (under pre-Bribery Act era legislation) relating to transport projects in India, Poland, and Tunisia....

The current UK sanctions enforcement regime is a complicated web reflecting the requirements of UN Security Council Regulations, EU Regulations, and UK Primary and Secondary Legislation.  Penalties for breaches of sanctions are generally set out in the various statutory instruments that implement particular sanctions. The UK Government, through the Policing and Crime Bill that is...

Mass surveillance has come under scrutiny once again, now that the UK Court of Appeal has asked the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) to clarify whether it intended to “lay down mandatory requirements of EU law with which the national legislation of member states must comply,” following its decision last year that...

I recently attended a Fraud Conference in Miami where I heard a French lawyer insisting that since he was a defence advocate, his job was to defend his clients against fraud allegations, not to prosecute them.  Instead of cosying up to the authorities, and self-reporting, he regarded it as his duty to challenge the prosecutor and...