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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 09, 2024
UK Insurers Post Leadership Diversity Gains

An insurance industry trade body said Monday the sector increased its senior management-level representation of women last year to 33% — but is still falling behind U.K. corporate averages.
December 09, 2024
Insurers Set To See Boost From UK Discount Rate Change

Insurers could enjoy a boost to underwriting profitability following a decision by the U.K. government to adjust the way in which damages are calculated for major injury claims, ratings agencies have said.
December 09, 2024
Audit Watchdog Floats Revised Rules For Pension Standards

Britain's accounting watchdog on Monday proposed a series of revisions to the actuarial rules used in the retirement savings sector to reflect recent changes in pension regulations and skyrocketing funding levels of schemes in the U.K.
December 09, 2024
Arthur J Gallagher Buying AssuredPartners For $13.5B

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has agreed to purchase independent insurance brokerage AssuredPartners for $13.5 billion in cash, in what its seller, private equity firm GTCR, said will be the largest sale of a U.S. insurance broker to a strategic acquiror in the history of the industry.
December 09, 2024
Insurer Launches Estate Planning Cover After Tax Changes

Royal London said on Monday that it has launched an insurance product designed to help consumers with their end-of-life planning, as a growing number of estates are set to become subject to inheritance tax after recent government changes.
December 09, 2024
Lloyd's, Beachcroft Launch Index For Injury Awards

A trade body of Lloyd's of London has said that it has launched an index of the average cost of personal injury awards around the world in association with DAC Beachcroft LLP.
December 06, 2024
Allianz Exec Avoids Prison For $7B Investor Fraud

A New York federal judge on Friday declined to sentence a former portfolio manager for Allianz SE's U.S. unit to any time in prison for lying to investors about the riskiness of a group of private investment funds that lost over $7 billion when the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
December 06, 2024
Gateley Sued Over 'Unviable' Housing Development Advice

In a negligence claim against Gateley PLC, a housing developer alleges a law firm later acquired by Gateley gave advice during the purchase of two development sites in Surrey that ultimately stopped the sites from becoming profitable.
December 06, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen Burberry file a copyright claim against discount store B&M, the former owner of Charlton Athletic file a debt claim against the football club, and British Airways and the U.K. government face a class action brought by flight passengers taken hostage at the start of the First Gulf War. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
December 06, 2024
Insurer Says £900K Construction Claim Has Come Too Late

An insurer has denied owing a housing association £910,000 ($1.2 million) for allegedly failing to cover construction costs after a building contractor went bust and said the claim has come too late.
December 06, 2024
UK Asset Managers Get More Time For Sustainability Reports

The Financial Conduct Authority proposed Friday to allow asset managers using a sustainability label an extra four months to produce the first required annual product-level sustainability report.
December 06, 2024
New Tool Rolled Out To Help Firms Meet Consumer Duty Rules

A nonprofit organization has rolled out a free tool designed to help financial services companies measure how well they are complying with the Financial Conduct Authority's Consumer Duty rules.
December 06, 2024
FCA Bosses To Face Treasury Panel After Bruising Month

The Financial Conduct Authority's top brass will be quizzed by an influential panel of lawmakers on Tuesday, hard on the heels of a series of setbacks that saw the regulator rowing back on controversial reforms and called "incompetent" in a parliamentary review.
December 06, 2024
Insured Losses From Disasters To Top $135B, Swiss Re Says

Insured losses from natural catastrophes are projected to pass $135 billion this year, marking the fifth consecutive year in which the total exceeded $100 billion, according to a report by the Swiss Re Institute.
December 06, 2024
Direct Line Tentatively Accepts Aviva's Higher £3.6B Offer

Direct Line said Friday it has accepted an improved £3.6 billion ($4.6 billion) cash-and-shares takeover offer from Aviva but cautioned that the deal is not final until its British insurance rival makes a firm offer by a deadline of Dec. 25.
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.

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.