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Snap July 4 Election Leaves Pension Reform In Disarray

The government's decision to call a snap general election for July 4 has left the U.K.'s pension sector in limbo, experts say, with uncertainty over whether the next administration will continue with an ambitious reform program.
December 05, 2024
PIC Insurance Co. Must Hand Control To Founder's Estate

The top appeals court for U.K. overseas territories upheld Thursday a finding that an Antiguan insurance company's board of directors was wrong to refuse to hand majority control of the business to its founder's estate.
December 05, 2024
Pension Funding Is 'Largely Stable,' Lifeboat Fund Says

The net funding position of defined benefit pension schemes in Britain has remained "largely stable" over the last year, the Pension Protection Fund said in a report Thursday.
December 05, 2024
FSB Names Insurers To Apply Resolution Standards

A global standard setter published on Thursday a first list of insurers required to apply its standards in preparing for failure, aiming to reassure markets.
December 05, 2024
Northern Ireland Broker Makes 3rd Acquisition Of Year

Northern Ireland insurance broker Abbey Autoline said Thursday it has made its third acquisition of the year, buying assets of rival regional player Wallace Insurance Brokers.
December 05, 2024
Senior MPs Join Call For Women's State Pension Redress

Senior figures from seven opposition parties in the House of Commons warned on Thursday that "time is running out" for women affected by historical failings in their state pension plans and urged the government to act on calls for immediate redress.
December 05, 2024
Lloyds Bank, Aviva Join Gov't Group To Aid Financial Access

The U.K. government said Thursday that a new financial inclusion committee has been set up to tackle the barriers that millions of vulnerable people face in getting access to banking, affordable credit and opportunities to save.
December 05, 2024
Insurance Giant Allianz Warns Of Rising Insolvencies In 2025

Company bosses and their insurers could face increased claims next year from a predicted rise in corporate insolvencies and class actions, Allianz warned Thursday.
December 04, 2024
More Diverse Audit Market Will 'Take Time,' Watchdog Says

Britain's top four accounting firms "continue to dominate" and earn almost all the fees in the audit market, even though smaller companies have grown their share in 2023, the accounting watchdog said Wednesday.
December 04, 2024
Pensions Watchdog Publishes Key Guide For Funding Code

The Pensions Regulator published on Wednesday long-awaited guidance for how trustees can assess the strength of the financial committed of an employer to a retirement savings plan.
December 04, 2024
3 Firms Steer £50M Pension Deal For Aerospace Co.

Pension insurer Rothesay said Wednesday that it has completed a £50 million ($63.3 million) full scheme buy-in with a plan sponsored by defense technology company Thales in a deal guided by Gowling WLG, Squire Patton Boggs LLP and Eversheds Sutherland.
December 04, 2024
Pension Funds Cite 'Political Uncertainty' Worry On Net-Zero

Political uncertainty and limited investment opportunities are among the biggest challenges holding back U.K. retirement savings plans from sticking to net-zero emissions policies, a trade association warned on Wednesday.
December 04, 2024
EU Gov'ts Endorse Plan For Sharing Customer Financial Data

The Council of the European Union backed a legislative proposal Wednesday to make it easier for financial institutions to share their customers' data in an attempt to boost competition, improve access to financial services and encourage innovation in the sector.
December 03, 2024
Property Biz Sues Insurer Over Axiom Mishandling Of Deposit

A real estate company has sued the insurer of Axiom Ince over the alleged failure of the law firm to safeguard a deposit of £950,000 ($1.2 million) from a property sale after it collapsed into administration in 2023.
December 03, 2024
Carey Olsen Steers £450M Pension Deal For Merchant Navy

MetLife will manage longevity risk for around £450 million ($567 million) of pensioner and dependent liabilities in the £1 billion Merchant Navy Ratings Pension Fund in a deal guided by Linklaters LLP, Eversheds Sutherland and Carey Olsen, an insurance broker said Tuesday.
December 03, 2024
City Firms Are Unprepared For GenAI Rollouts

U.K. financial firms are struggling to keep pace with the adoption of generative artificial intelligence due to gaps in workforce training and regulatory readiness, according to EY's second survey on the technology in financial services.
December 03, 2024
Troubled Insurtech Wefox Offloads Insurance Carrier Unit

German insurance technology company wefox has agreed to sell its Liechtenstein-based carrier wefox Insurance AG to a group of Swiss companies steered by pension service provider Berag AG.
December 03, 2024
Pension-Age Mortgages Now An 'Entrenched' Market Feature

The number of new mortgages that extend into borrowers' retirement has grown, with 40% of loans issued in the second quarter of 2024 set to run beyond pension age, according to recent data from the Bank of England.
December 03, 2024
Skadden-Led Zurich Buys AIG Travel Insurance Biz For $600M

Zurich Insurance Group said Tuesday that it has completed the $600 million acquisition of the personal travel insurance business of financial group AIG, which it reported will make it one of the largest entities in the sector.
December 03, 2024
Severity Of Cyber Risk 'Widely Underestimated' In UK

Britain is facing a "widening gap" in its ability to fight cyberthreats and must improve its defenses to combat the increasing severity and scale of hostile threats, the head of the country's top cybersecurity agency said on Tuesday.
December 02, 2024
BoE Finds Pension Funds Resilient After LDI Crisis

The Bank of England has said that the pensions sector has significantly improved its financial and operational resilience since the crisis that hit liability-driven investment funds two years ago.
December 02, 2024
Eversheds Aids Canada Life On £250M Pension Deal For Kion

German industrial supplier Kion Group AG has offloaded £250 million ($316 million) of its U.K. pension liabilities to Canada Life, the insurer said Monday, in a deal steered by Pinsent Masons LLP and Eversheds Sutherland.
December 02, 2024
Compensation Fund Open To Claims On Failed SIPP

Customers of a self-invested personal pension operator can now file compensation claims through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme following the company's administration and liquidation earlier this year.
December 02, 2024
FCA Urges Better AML Regulation Of Conveyancing

The supervisory body for watchdogs in the legal and accountancy sectors has told them that they must take further steps to prevent money laundering in the transfer of ownership in U.K. property transactions.
December 02, 2024
Gov't Revises UK Personal Injury Compensation Rate

The Labour government said on Monday that it has changed the personal injury discount rate in a move that experts predict will lower the cost of insurance premiums for drivers in England and Wales.
November 29, 2024
Pension Credit Applications Soar After Winter Payment Cut

Applications for pension credit have soared in the U.K. since the government announced in July that it would be axing winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners, statistics have shown.

Editor's Picks

Top Court Ruling In 'Whiplash' Test Case Could Hit Premiums

Personal injury claimants could get higher payouts from their motor insurance as a result of a test case ruling at Britain's highest court on Tuesday, although analysts warn that insurers could respond with higher premiums to cover the cost of bigger claims.
FCA Begins Crackdown On Poor-Value Insurance Products

The move by the Financial Conduct Authority to restrict sales of guaranteed asset protection insurance is a sign of a faster approach to market intervention, and could lead the regulator to scrutinize other underperforming products, consultants say.
Post-Election UK Pension Changes Could Be In The Fine Print

Regulatory lawyers are not expecting radical overhaul in pension policies if the government changes after this year's general election. But lawyers say that signals in the opposition Labour Party's policy language could hint at possible shifts in investment priorities for retirement savings.

Expert Analysis

The EU AI Act's Impact On Global Financial Regulation

The European Union’s new Artificial Intelligence Act, representing lawmakers’ first comprehensive attempt to regulate AI and giving special attention to the financial services sector, hopes to influence global legal and regulatory frameworks to maintain access to the EU market, say lawyers at Goodwin.
FCA Survey Results Reveal Rise In Nonfinancial Misconduct

After a Financial Conduct Authority survey recently reported a significant rise in nonfinancial misconduct, there are a number of preventive steps firms should take to create a healthy workplace environment and mitigate the risk of increased regulatory scrutiny, say lawyers at WilmerHale.
FCA's Broad Proposals Aim To Protect Customer Funds

The Financial Conduct Authority’s proposed changes to payments firms’ safeguarding requirements, with enhanced recordkeeping and fund segregation, seek to bolster existing regulatory provisions, but by introducing a statutory trust concept to cover customers’ assets, represent a set of onerous rules, says Matt Hancock at Greenberg Traurig.
Modernizing UK Trade Settlement Standard: The Road Ahead

Andrew Tsang and Tom Bacon at BCLP consider the rationale and challenges of a potential U.K. trade settlement acceleration, part of an initiative to modernize the financial market infrastructure, and suggest that incorporating distributed ledger technology as a synchronized recording system would facilitate the move.
A Look At UK, EU And US Cartel Enforcement Trends

The European Union, U.K. and U.S. competition agencies' recently issued joint statement on competition risks in generative artificial intelligence demonstrates increased cross-border collaboration on cartel investigations, meaning companies facing investigations in one jurisdiction should anticipate related investigations in other jurisdictions, say lawyers at Latham & Watkins.
What Green Claims Directive Proposal Means For Businesses

With the European Union’s recent adoption of a general approach to the proposed Green Claims Directive, which will regulate certain environmental claims and likely be finalized next year, companies keen to publicize their green credentials have even more reason to tread carefully, say Marcus Navin-Jones and Juge Gregg at Crowell & Moring.
EU Reports Signal Greenwashing Focus For Financial Sector

Reports from the European Supervisory Authorities on enforcement of sustainability information, plus related guidance issued by the European Securities and Markets Authority, represent a fundamental change in how businesses must operate to maintain integrity and public trust, say Amilcare Sada and Matteo Fanton at A&O Shearman.
Embedding Consumer Duty: 6 Areas Firms Should Prioritize

The Financial Conduct Authority has repeatedly emphasized that complying with the Consumer Duty is not a tick-box exercise but an ongoing responsibility, so firms need to show that the duty is at the heart of their practices by staying compliant in areas from cultural change to customer vulnerability, say Nicola Higgs and Becky Critchley at Latham.
Insuring Lender's Baseball Bet Leads To Major League Dispute

In RockFence v. Lloyd's, a California federal court seeks to define who qualifies as a professional baseball player for purposes of an insurance coverage payout, providing an illuminating case study of potential legal issues arising from baseball service loans, say Marshall Gilinsky and Seán McCabe at Anderson Kill.
What Steps Businesses Can Take After CrowdStrike Failure

Following last month’s global Microsoft platform outage caused by CrowdStrike’s failed security software update, businesses can expect complex disputes over liability resulting from multilayered agreements and should look to their various insurance policies for cover despite losses not stemming from a cyberattack, says Daniel Healy at Brown Rudnick.
What To Expect From Labour's Pension Schemes Bill

The Labour government’s recently announced Pension Schemes Bill, outlining key policy areas affecting the retirement savings sector, represents a positive step forward for both defined contribution scheme members and defined benefit superfunds, but there are some missing features, says Sonya Fraser at Arc Pensions.
What EU Opinion May Mean For ESG Product Classification

The recently issued European Supervisory Authority opinion on the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation offers key recommendations, including revising the definition of sustainable investments and making principal adverse impacts consideration mandatory, that could sway the European Commission’s final approach to product classification, say lawyers at Debevoise.
Insurance Rulings Show Court Hesitancy To Fix Policy Errors

Two recent Court of Appeal insurance decisions highlight that policyholders can only overcome policy drafting errors and claim coverage if there is a very obvious mistake, emphasizing courts' reluctance to rewrite contract terms that are capable of enforcement, says Aaron Le Marquer at Stewarts.
EU Investment Fund Standards Offer Welcome Clarity

The European Commission’s recently published regulatory technical standards for long-term investments, which granted managers greater flexibility with respect to open-ended European long-term investment funds, should help managers active in the space navigate the mandatory liquidity requirements for long-term investment funds, say Zac Mellor-Clark and Nishkaam Paul at Fried Frank.
10 Ways To Manage AI Risks In Service Contracts

With the European Union Artificial Intelligence Act coming into force on Aug. 1 and introducing a new regulatory risk, and with AI technology continuing to develop at pace, parties to services arrangements should employ mechanisms now to build in flexibility and get on the front foot, says James Longster at Travers Smith.